civilized ku # 31 ~ Small is beautiful - let me count the ways
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at 11:19AM 
Oh Canada • click to embiggenHugo became an international traveler over the Memorial Day weekend. He picked up a little French, wandered the streets of Old Montreal, had the bejesus scared out of him at the Montreal Science Centre's IMAX presentation of Dinosaurs 3D ("...dinosaurs going to eat me...") and discovered that Canada is about more than 'hockey guys' - on the drive to Montreal he sang the opening lines, "On Canada..." repeatedly.
I, on the other hand, had my ongoing desire for a Smart car enflamed to passion level 10. Hugo also asked, "Me get one too?". Little does he suspect that by the time he reaches driving age, a Smart car (or slightly larger variants like the Toyota Yaris, et al) may be the only choice he has.
The Smart car is sold in 36 countries around the planet. The gas-guzzling U.S. is not numbered among them. However, Mercedes (Smart is a division of Mercedes - can you even imagine Cadillac or Lincoln having such a product?) states that the car will be available in the U.S. in early 2008. Time for me to queue up.
Re: today's picture - can you even comprehend the number of ways in which small is beautiful in these pictures?
gravitas et nugalis
Featured Comments: Paul Maxim wrote; "Don't look for me when you're "queing up". I have absolutely nothing against smallness and I abhor waste. I do, however, drive an 8 - cylinder Jeep. Why do I drive such a vehicle? Simply because I'm 6' 6" tall and slightly claustrophobic. I also hate flying and so tend to do a lot of driving (our son lives in Nevada). Besides, with all the 18 wheelers running around out there at over 70 mph, a vehicle like the one pictured would be squashed like a bug and no one would even know that anything had happened! It would look like a skunk flattened on the highway ..."
My response - The Smart Car is certainly not for everyone or for all driving situations. Urban use is their strong suit, but for me, it would also be of great use in my daily 2-lane driving around the countryside along with short hops (20 miles or so) on an interstate which has a very uncongested flow of traffic.
Reader Comments (9)
Small streets, small cars, small shops, dense neighbourhoods, small people... :)
I wish we had more "Old Montreal" across the country. Unfortunately, even in cities the current design trend is wide roads, buildings set way back from the curb edge and single-use buildings with blank facades.
Have you ever seen a Smart car dealership? At least in Germany they look like a giant gumball machine. The cars are stacked on some kind of racks. I don't know if they come down like a vending machine or not. I have also seen smart cars in Paris parked with there rear bumper up against the curb. You know backed straight in and they didn't stick out past the other parked cars. And the largest auto you'll see in Paris is a Honda CRV. They also don't hold back traffic on the autobahn. They can go plenty fast.
Mark,
Don't look for me when you're "queing up". I have absolutely nothing against smallness and I abhor waste. I do, however, drive an 8 - cylinder Jeep. Why do I drive such a vehicle? Simply because I'm 6' 6" tall and slightly claustrophobic. I also hate flying and so tend to do a lot of driving (our son lives in Nevada). Besides, with all the 18 wheelers running around out there at over 70 mph, a vehicle like the one pictured would be squashed like a bug and no one would even know that anything had happened! It would look like a skunk flattened on the highway.
Some of this, of course, is tongue in cheek. But I do feel very cramped in vehicles like that, and it's difficult to see where all the camera gear and luggage would go on any kind of trip. "Living small" isn't always easy, even when you believe in it.
The "squashed like a bug" thing against small cars is misleading. The true measure of the safety of a car is deaths per 1000. A cars squashability is one part of many factors involved. Things like avoidance, rollover, stopping distance. Your big auto is probably much more dangerous. Most SUVs are. If your worried about dieing in an accident you should not drive a rollover car. Most accidents are single vehicle accidents. A Honda Civic is rated above all SUVs. I read that the Smart car will often bounce off a bigger car, not squish. I have no idea what its per 1000 rating is.
"I read that the Smart car will often bounce off a bigger car"
whoohoo! it's like a bumper car on steroids!
Where's the car seat go in one of those things?
A quick note to Bill Gotz:
While my post above was strictly in fun, your "statistics" are simply misleading. A report done by the Insurance Institiute for Highway Safety (March, 2004) showed a clear relationship between vehicle weight and driver deaths per billion miles (by vehicle type). The lighter the vehicle, the higher the death rate. I've looked at the data (I'm a statistician) and the correlation is very strong.
If you don't believe that, you and I can stage our own "crash test". You can drive the Honda Civic and I'll drive my Jeep. I've been driving Jeeps for years and have had two accidents involving smaller vehicles (one guy ran a stop sign and hit me). I walked away both times. The other driver wasn't so lucky.
I'm not defending "large" vehicles. As Mark said, what you drive depends on your needs. But saying smaller cars are safer (in general) is just plain silly.
"You can drive the Honda Civic and I'll drive my Jeep"
jeez Paul...can't we all just get along? but if not, I'd love to shoot a cinemascape of the aftermath!
Aaaron,
Yes, it would make a hell of a picture! I'd be walking away and Bill would be, well, somewhat less fortunate......
Seriously, I don't mean to antagonize anyone. Much of what I say is, as I said originally, "tongue in cheek". But I will admit to very much enjoying pushing other people's buttons just to see how they react. I've always been accused of not wanting to "play nice". It seems to me to be the best way to find out how other people really feel about something. Some people take it in stride and others fly off the handle immediately. And since I'm a "level playing field" kind of guy, anyone who wants to can push my buttons.
Anyone who wants to "just get along" should only visit sites like the Radiant Vista. It's way too easy to get a rise out of some of those folks!