Hakan and Keith, I've been reading this thread with interest, and certainly agree with the points being brought up. As for americans not being inherently bad drivers, my take is that the problem is almost the opposite. Many believe that they are inherently better drivers, therefore taking unnecessary risks. Add to this the fact that many "ugly americans" feel that their time is much more valuable than that of anyone else on the road, and therefore others just need to get out of their way. Many of these people buy the big SUVs in order to emphasize to others how important it is that they stay out of their way, and use them as tools of intimidation. If you don't believe this, just drive at or near the speed limit on any US interstate, even staying in the right lane at all times. Anectdotal, I know, but I have had enough experiences with this to be convinced that it happens on a daily basis. Which brings me to the question which brought me to writing this drivel. Are you aware of any studies that look at percentages of traffic fatalities are caused by oversize vehicle vs small vehicle collisions. I think that this would be interesting.
The other Brian --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Hakan > > >Keith, > > > >It is worth mentioning that they survive with less accident fatalities than > >US, what ever criteria you base it on. In some cases two third less, like > >Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries. It is also worth mentioning > >that the speed limits in Europe are generally higher than US. I like to > >think that the large difference has much to do with the vehicles. The > >Europeans and the Japanese might be very much better drivers, but that the > >Americans are that bad, I do not belive. > > Neither do I. > > >The difference is to too large, to > >be only explained by general driving skills and safety consciousness. > > I've never seen a satisfactory explanation, one that fully fits the > fact, and it is a fact. > > >For > >many years, at least three decades, Mercedes and VOLVO has been world > >leaders in car safety and at the same time fuel consumption in its class of > >cars. > > > >To find an explanation for the large difference between US and > >Europe/Japan? It cannot only be that the Americans do not know how to > >drive, it must also have something to do with knowing how to make cars also. > > Maybe, but I doubt it's just mechanical. The type of cars? > > >I know that I probably upset nearly the total male population in US, it is > >nothing that is so sacred as a man and his car, but we have to look a bit > >on the realities also. > > LOL! I think you may have just hit the reality though, in your usual > inimitable style. Let's upset 'em a bit more... "Male", "sacred"... > Men are dumb, eh, we all know that, dumb and gullible. Could there be > a case for saying that in the US the car is much more an extension of > the male ego than is the case in Europe and Japan? Of course you find > such attitudes in Europe and Japan, but seldom to the same degree, > and it's not nearly as systemic, institutionalised, "normal". It's > laid on thick as treacle in every aspect of the US car culture apart > from Ralph Nader. Especially in the marketing. > > I'd said this about the alleged accident-proneness of small cars: > "It's held that they're *inherently* more dangerous, and that a large > proportion of the fatalities involving them are single-car > accidents." And it got ignored. True or not, what you definitely can > say about small cars is that there's a lot less ego-food in them than > in a huge blundering unstoppable phallic symbol like a Suburban or an > Explorer. That would make fertile ground for this kind of anti- fuel > economy spin, and it sure did "take", didn't it? Emasculation! > > Male ego and traffic are not a healthy combination. It's something > you go through as a teenager, at that painful stage when chasing > girls doesn't work very well unless you have a car, and not just any > car. (Maybe less so in Europe and Japan.) Some people get stuck > there. I suppose chucking a hundred billion or so cleverly spent > dollars at it every year, year after year, could get an entire > culture stuck there. It seems soccer moms (whatever they are) buy big > SUVs too, and there might not be any direct statistical correlation > between high accident rates and overactive male egos, but there > wouldn't have to be any such correlation if that type of approach had > helped to swamp the market with such vehicles. > > Maybe bigger vehicles are indeed safer. Brian said Americans buy them > for that reason, which I doubt. Whether they're safer or not, I'm > sure they make you *feel* safer when you're driving them. That would > surely be a false security, it would mean you'd drive less safely. So > even if they are safer, they end up being more dangerous. Someone > once said road accidents could be eradicated if cars had no safety > features at all, were very fragile, made of thin, see-through glass, > with little sense of being enclosed, and built very close to the > ground. (And zero sex-appeal.) That could be true. Not that we'll > ever find out, LOL! > > Best > > Keith > > > >Hakan > > > >At 15:42 13/04/2004, you wrote: > > ><snip> > > >Now how come you don't know that, engineer's acumen and all, and I > > >do, sans engineering, and I'm not even an American and have never > > >lived there? And if it's true, then how do you explain all these > > >hundreds of millions of stubbornly surviving Europeans and Japanese? > > >Especially as they're generally more safety conscious than Americans > > >are (and less spun)? > > ><snip> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. 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