We are in a gas crisis in all but the name, gas in my area is over $6 a gallon and even in states where it’s normally “cheap” (taxpayer subsidized) it’s still well over $4. Its been six years since COVID and since then we saw it peak, drop to slightly lower but still higher than ever before covid, and now this. It also appears that gas, even if it does go down, will never be “cheap” again.
and yet, even with all of that I still see new giant cars rolling off the logs. Giant Santa Fes, brand new F150s, brand new plates. People are still buying these. Not luxury “I can spend whatever I want” rich folks, everyday people buying these things.
What is going on in peoples heads? I know most never take gas into account when buying a car and then are all shocked pikachu at the pump, but seriously even now it’s not an issue?
I have seen maybe, maybe one new car that was a hybrid out of my anecdotal experience. No one considering those, or an EV, or god forbid biking or taking transit. (In my area both are very viable alternatives).
I’m just so exasperated at how stupid people are being. They think 50k for a car is expensive and then never take into account what powers the damn thing.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
There’s a pervasive idea that small cars are unsafe because of the people who drive larger cars.
Unfortunately that does indeed seem to be supported by the data. So we have this arms race of everyone wanting the larger cars for their own safety at the cost of everyone else’s, especially non-drivers.
There’s no talking people out of it because it does have a safety benefit. Even if someone hates giant cars, they overwhelmingly feel they have to get one because everyone else is. It’s another way capitalism pits individuals against each other to the detriment of everyone involved. The best way to address it would be to ban oversized cars (or cars in general) so the safety threat is eliminated.
There is actually, it is called “crash compatibility”. When everyone drives small cars or roughly the same sized cars it’s considered crash-compatible, meaning the cars will crumple correctly. With everyone driving 2-ton tanks now though that’s more or less gone out the window, as you driving a reasonable car compared to someone who was convinced that they needed a military vehicle to pick up groceries, theirs will win. I’m definitely not defending that though, because it did kick off this arms race, where now it’s “Well I killed everyone else in this accident, but I survived” when before it was simply “Everyone (probably) survived”