Why Our Cars are Killing Us

 The Economist, to which I subscribe, recently (September 7) had a leader called America's killer cars.  (You may hit a paywall for that article).  I can't find it offhand, but within a week or so the San Francisco Chronicle also had an article, or possibly an editorial, on the same subject; I remember reading it.  And it's very unusual for the Chron and the Economist to cover the same subject.

Basically, those huge cars, and especially trucks, that you see your neighbors driving are much more likely to kill you in a collision than a smaller car.  And because of the weight of the lithium batteries, the new electric versions of big trucks are even worse (per the Economist, "The Ford F-150 Lightning weighs about 40% more than its petrol engine cousin...")  And you may have noticed that the old-fashioned sedan is really out of style these days.

It isn't just the size of the cars and trucks.  The design of our roads is lethal - Americans insist on 4 way intersections instead of roundabouts, especially in rural areas - bad for both drivers and pedestrians.  And the wide roads and lanes we like encourage us all to drive faster.

I've never been interested in huge cars.  In fact, my last car but one was a Mini Cooper, which I replaced in 2017, partly because I wanted to be able to give rides to my friends and the Cooper had only 2 doors.  But also, I wanted a hybrid.  I bought a Kia Niro, at least partly because I hate Priuses.  The Niro is a very nice car for the narrow streets in the Oakland hills - tight handling, good brakes, and the 4 doors I wanted.  But even the Niro has a square, high front grille that is hard to see over sometimes, especially when I've climbed a hill and am trying to pull into a flat intersection - I just pray that anyone in the crosswalk can see me, because I can't see them.  

The Niro is a "crossover" - a small SUV, often the smallest SUV in the parking lot.  It weighs a little over 3,000 lb.  But one in 3 new cars in America these days weighs over 5,000 lb., and if my little Kia collides with one of those, I know who will lose.  And I'm constantly amazed by the number of my urban neighbors who feel they're best served by a pickup truck, the bigger the better - I associate pickup trucks with farms and farmers, but I'm obviously out of step on that today.  And why do you need a vehicle so big you have to have a stepladder to climb into the seat?

I'm not suggesting any answers to this; I don't know what they might be.  Just - everyone drive carefully, and slow down!  The accident you avoid could save your life.