Comments on: Top Ten Reasons Americans Like Our Cars So Darn Big

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 18:39:19 +0000

M, most American car seats must be designed to hold children that weigh up to 40 pounds. Then in many states, the booster seats must be designed to hold children that weigh up to 60 pounds. Some states are trying to increase that to 80 pounds. These standards assume that 40 pounds means 4 years old and that 60 pounds means 6 years old, but if the child is tall and slender, they must still be able to fit into a car seat with a 5-point harness or a booster seat until well after these ages. So a child’s car seat typically takes up at least as much room as an adult. Also, because of the “egg carton” design of these devices, it is frequently difficult to arrange the seat belt buckles so that three seats fit side-by-side on the back seat and can be properly strapped in. In addition, Infant car seats must face backwards until the child is one year of age, and I have rented a number of small cars that don’t have enough room behind the front seat to allow an infant car seat to fit, especially if the adult in the front seat is tall. Call it doofus car design or overly protective nanny-state safety law if you like, but I assure you that if you can’t show the hospital a car with a properly installed infant car seat, you can’t take the baby home, and you can be ticketed or even jailed if for some reason a police officer discovers your children are improperly restrained in your vehicle.

By: M

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:43:41 +0000

OK, so I’m British. We do small cars. But WTF with not being able to get people into cars? Are all people in the USA that enormous? I’ve got five adults into a Fiat Punto, two of whom were over six foot, three of whom were on the ‘ample’ side. I’m over six foot, and I’ve been one of three people in the rear seat of a Ford Ka. I can think of few cars that don’t have three seatbelts in the back seat; fitting child seats into all three will depend on the design of the seat, but probably not impossible. You could certainly do two and a booster seat. More children than that is ecologically unsound to start with anyway :)

By: hippie

hippie — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 21:33:12 +0000

I love this!! Thank you :)

hippie x

By: Mendy

Mendy — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:13:51 +0000

My Dad has always driven suburbans, even before they became fashionable. Back then the only people that used those things were ATF, FBI, and the Highway Maintenance people. I think that SUV’s got to be so cool because they’ll carry as much as a minivan or stationwagon, but those of my generation don’t feel the “stigma” of driving “Dad’s Car”.

I know that is a stupid reason, and you just about couldn’t give me an SUV. But I stand by my husband’s need for his pickup. You just can’t haul off four hundred pounds of junk to the recycler in a PT cruiser or a sedan. Country living requires a pickup, if for no other reason, than helping your relatives and friends move. ;)

By: RowanCrisp

RowanCrisp — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:42:55 +0000

I’ve got two kids on a full-time basis and a third who spends summers with us - my station wagon handles it just fine, really. And because I do my own engine work - can we say 35 MPG?

The husband wants to sell it and buy a hybrid, which I’m all for so long as he finds a four-door one that will fit the girls.

By: Helen

Helen — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 05:46:28 +0000

# 12: “If there’s a collision, I want your kids to die, not mine. I realise this is a strong possibility if you’re in a small car, and it doesn’t bother me at all.”

By: Shannon

Shannon — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 00:35:26 +0000

My dad got an Infiniti SUV. He uses it to haul everything from 2×4s to bricks to my crap to even a whole drum set(he dropped it off in Atlanta with my brother- good riddance he said). He doesn’t need a SUV, but apparently he finds it easy to deal with, and plus, driving a big pickup truck in TN? a fashion no-no :D

By: gengwall

gengwall — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 21:12:23 +0000

I remember the days of our family trips when we jammed 9 people into our big ol’ station wagon. Man those things were huge.

“Remember, you can’t all “pile into” cars anymore”

Makes me laugh. I also remember driving in those big station wagons seat belt free. We have a radio anouncer up here that refers to the days when kids were “floaters” in the car. The seat belt was dad sticking his arm out between the seats to prevent anyone in the middle from coming through to the front on a quick stop. I remember our dad would have us all crash in the back of the wagon on the way home from our grandparents and he would face us with our feet forward so we wouldn’t break our necks in the event of a head on collision. Boy, those were the days.

By: Elena

Elena — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 20:57:47 +0000

I actually drive an Outback and it’s great in the snow, but I have one kid, 1 husband, and a 1 huge dog. Station wagons don’t give you anymore seating space than sedans. You cannot fit three car seats in the back seat of most station wagons, so I repeat: more than two small kids means either a minivan or an SUV. Remember, you can’t all “pile into” cars anymore; everyone has to be properly seated and belted. Also, even sedans were humongous back in the day.

When I was a kid, we had a Suburban. There were 7 people in my family and back then vans really did suck in the snow (not heavy enough) so that left my parents with few options. We never had two cars, so it had to be big.

I hate SUV’s, and I think people are fools to think they are safer or better, but I just think that it bears mentioning that big families really do have less options.

By: carlaviii

carlaviii — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 20:57:40 +0000

RonF, I wish. My car-shopping is currently defined by which models I can still get a manual transmission with. We thought about getting a hybrid, last time we were in the market, but when we did the math vs. the mileage we get in a small manual car, it wasn’t worth the higher sticker price. Maybe next time, if the technology gets cheaper…

My DH used to prefer automatics. After a couple years on a manual, he rented an automatic while on a trip and kept complaining that the engine was revving way too hard all the time. :)

By: RonF

RonF — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:36:52 +0000

carlavii, one thing that I’d change about cars if I could would be to have manual transmissions as at least an option on every car on the road. It would save gas and save huge amounts on money on transmission repairs.

By: Mendy

Mendy — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:59:09 +0000

Jake,

My PT gets about 24 in town and about 35 on the highway. But, I’ve got a 6 cylinder. There are a few people I know that have the four cylinders that get about 18 mpg average, but that is because the engine is seriously underpowered for the car.

But I didn’t buy it for the mileage. If I’d wanted a vehicle with great mileage I’d have bought another motorcycle. I don’t like driving anything that sits as high as a truck, and so I got what I liked driving and would seat two adults, three kids, and a saint bernard.

By: RonF

RonF — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:21:50 +0000

Everyone I know that drives a truck uses it in their job. The one guy who owns the biggest truck 1) got it as a diesel and 2) uses it on occasion to pull our Troop trailer, for which he definitely needs the power.

By: carlaviii

carlaviii — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:43:49 +0000

Consumer Reports says that gets 13 mpg.

No way. The DH’s been driving a PT Cruiser for a few years now and it’s never gotten mileage that bad. I want to say mid-20s, but we haven’t calculated it in a while.

Then again, it’s a stick shift.

By: Jake Squid

Jake Squid — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 21:29:46 +0000

A PT Cruiser? Consumer Reports says that gets 13 mpg. I’ve been wondering about that since I saw it… does the gas tank have perforations that slowly empty the tank of pre-used gas? I can’t imagine that such a little car gets significantly worse mileage than my van. So, what mileage do you get in it?

By: Mendy

Mendy — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 21:10:38 +0000

I live in the deep south, and in my area I tend to see men driving trucks (mostly large) and women with kids driving SUV’s. I think it is a shame that my neighbors are engaged in “keeping up with the Jonese” and all seem to drive large gas guzzling vehicles.

I drive a smallish PT cruiser, and my husband has a mid-sized pick up. When I don’t have to ferry children, though I ride my motorcycle to save on the cost of gas.

By: Lu

Lu — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:22:14 +0000

I hang clothes from mine. The dryer leads a contemplative existence unless cloudy weather lasts more than 3 days. Good thing we don’t live in Seattle.

By: gengwall

gengwall — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:56:22 +0000

carlaviii - don’t you mean

“Ferraris and Porches and Jags…OH MY!”

By: RonF

RonF — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:55:54 +0000

Lu, I’ve got the only clothesline in the neighborhood too. I never hang clothes from it though (tossing them into the dryer takes a lot less time). I use it to dry tents and patrol flys and the occasional sleeping bag. I’m sure that pleases the neighbors ….

By: RonF

RonF — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:54:31 +0000

Earth to men…No woman cares about the size of your Hoo-haw. She sooo doesn’t. If you have the moves, honey, you are rocking the boat. If not, you can be piloting the Queen Mary and you’re never going to leave port. (Unless you’re too big…in which case she is miserable and in pain. Why would you think that was fun for her?)

Hey, maribelle, the problem is that these guys haven’t studied their basic rock ‘n roll. If they had, they’d know that “it ain’t the meat, it’s the motion that makes your (daddy/momma) wanna rock.”