Ramble, ramble, ramble.
Apr. 24th, 2004 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyhttp://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/04/20/global.warming.ap/index.html
Less than 2 percent of sales are vehicles that get more than 30 miles per gallon
And yet, those are the same people who go out of their way to whine about rising gas prices. I don't understand this. If you're so concerned about gas prices, why don't you change your actions? Then, if you're still upset, you can complain.
Do people think that SUVs are safer? I know I've seen commercials where larger cars (at somewhat cheap prices) are mentioned with the comment "do rich people deserve to feel safer?" There is some evidence to suggest that you are more at risk in an SUV than a smaller car. Actually, by using the highly advanced research tool known as "searching google". Just using the phrase "suv safety", the first 10 sites all made a point of mentioning:
High rollover rates for SUVs
Higher price of gas for SUVs
And my favorite:
Applying engine and fuel efficiency improvements since 1981 towards the improvement of fuel economy would have brought cars on average to approximately 40 mpg, and light trucks to 28 mpg, without any other special effort by automakers. On-the-shelf, currently available technology was also able to augment these gains.
The first two were even mentioned on unbiased sites (true or not, a site designed to fight SUVs is going to be biased).
Not that I know anything about cars. I live in a city which is decent enough to have a good public transportation system and which is fairly pedestrian friendly. Honestly, that's what the country needs, not better cars, but better sidewalks and busses. Oh, and ferries. Best part of my commute :)
Less than 2 percent of sales are vehicles that get more than 30 miles per gallon
And yet, those are the same people who go out of their way to whine about rising gas prices. I don't understand this. If you're so concerned about gas prices, why don't you change your actions? Then, if you're still upset, you can complain.
Do people think that SUVs are safer? I know I've seen commercials where larger cars (at somewhat cheap prices) are mentioned with the comment "do rich people deserve to feel safer?" There is some evidence to suggest that you are more at risk in an SUV than a smaller car. Actually, by using the highly advanced research tool known as "searching google". Just using the phrase "suv safety", the first 10 sites all made a point of mentioning:
High rollover rates for SUVs
Higher price of gas for SUVs
And my favorite:
Applying engine and fuel efficiency improvements since 1981 towards the improvement of fuel economy would have brought cars on average to approximately 40 mpg, and light trucks to 28 mpg, without any other special effort by automakers. On-the-shelf, currently available technology was also able to augment these gains.
The first two were even mentioned on unbiased sites (true or not, a site designed to fight SUVs is going to be biased).
Not that I know anything about cars. I live in a city which is decent enough to have a good public transportation system and which is fairly pedestrian friendly. Honestly, that's what the country needs, not better cars, but better sidewalks and busses. Oh, and ferries. Best part of my commute :)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-24 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-25 05:19 am (UTC)SUVs make the road much more dangerous for me, though my car is technically safer than SUVs (it's built better than most, etc). That could also be because it's a Mercedes-- and you DO get what you pay for.
Miami is 75% SUV. This means that I can rarely see around the hulking mammoths around me, and SUV drivers tend to be bullies that foam at the mouth when you don't back off. I've been hit by a couple. I got rear ended pretty damn hard once too. Luckily my car's heavy, if it had been a Toyota I would have gone spinning and it would have crumpled like tin foil.