Our fellow road users.

[snorri]

An interesting article on the the various types of motor vehicles we share the road with and reasons for the owners choice of vehicle.
http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/Gladwell Big and Bad.htm

 

[Drago]

My Smart is a 2004 model.

In 2004 the American NTSB safety tested 15 new SUVs that came to market that year. The Smart outperformed all but one of them.

Well, to my mind if a 4000lb+ truck is less safe than a 700kg city car then they are utter fools for buying the former on safety grounds. But fools they are - that's the country that ended up with Donald and Hilary as their presidential candidates, so I don't think they are able to demonstrate any track record of common sense or wise decisions. making.

 

[al78]

My Smart is a 2004 model.

In 2004 the American NTSB safety tested 15 new SUVs that came to market that year. The Smart outperformed all but one of them.

Well, to my mind if a 4000lb+ truck is less safe than a 700kg city car then they are utter fools for buying the former on safety grounds. But fools they are - that's the country that ended up with Donald and Hilary as their presidential candidates, so I don't think they are able to demonstrate any track record of common sense or wise decisions. making.

It is to do with perception. If the 4000lb truck feels safer (from the drivers perspective) than the 700kg car, they will choose the 4000lb truck. Not foolish, merely the human fallacy of emotion overriding logic and real data, something not unique to Americans.