Yep....these days we tend to point the finger of blame at anything other than that person we see in the mirror at lot.

Cars can do a lot of things, but we have to decide what we want the most and get the vehicle that excels at that. If acceleration is priority, that probably means a different car. It probably means a lover fuel econonomy, but everyone has to be realisitic in what they want out of a car.

 

Hmm. I live in Houston also and drive on all of the major freeways. It can get aggressive on the roads I suppose. Still love the car, think ahead, stay alert, and have learned to fall behind others when merging as opposed to trying to stay ahead of them like I did in my former car...a turbocharged Volvo.

I truely don't think its dangerous at all to have a hybrid just different if you are used to being the fast guy who passes instead of the slow guy who gets passed. And to be honest...the car isn't THAT slow. It's really OK.

But hey...if you are more comfortable in a bigger faster car...well thats why we all have a choice. I'm done with 19 MPG and high levels of emissions...

 

I disagree, we do not have the choice anymore. The ones having the financial capacity to buy a $20K and higher car do very antisocial action when buying a lower than 40mpg car !

Pierre

 

How is that exactly? What if somebody buys a car that gets 15mpg but only drives 2 miles to work each day? Versus somebody buying a 60mpg car but drives 100 miles to work each day. That to me is more antisocial (IMO).

 

Rather than decide who is antisocial why don't we do our best in minimizing harm to the environment in our families, be available to inform those who ask us about what they can do, and work for candidates and legislation that seems to support our way of thinking. That sometimes means weighing out the various social issues we use to judge our candidates and prioritizing which are truly the most important in the big picture.

 

jaykay,

I agree most of our efforts should be to make a positive difference. Having said that, the thread starter should have known what kind of car he was getting into - it's a Civic, not a BMW. Just like my Insight is clearly not a Porshe. If it were me, I would not go project blame on a product for a bad decision on my part.

 

Yes, but if you have to do a lot of driving each day for work, then it's much less antisocial to drive the 60 mpg car. It isn't antisocial to have a job like that- I know a lot of people who travel for work. Salesmen, insurance adjusters... heck, truckers! Personally, I have a fairly long commute, but there's a REASON for it, and because I knew I was going to be doing a fair bit of driving, it was even more important for me to decide to get an efficient car. What's wrong with that logic? It works for me.

I hope that people keep in mind that the safety on the roads is not just collective (ie: one area of the country has more aggressive drivers than another, or one type of car has a better crash test rating than another) but it's also, and primarily, individual. It's the person behind the wheel that we have the most control over in these matters- you buy a car because it's 'safe' according to the tests or the specs, but then it's up to you, as a driver, to take your own safety, and the safety of those around you, into your hands.

Be accountable, everyone- take responsibility and take action to make yourself a safer driver instead of making generalizations and worrying so much about what other people are doing. There will probably always be unsafe drivers on the roads- drunks, young and reckless idiots, whomever. The only thing you can ultimately control is yourself.

 

livvie, this is my reply of me taken in another furum. "Well, my neighbor takes her car, pick-up another neighbor, drive 2 miles, go get the train together, go downtown and comback together at the afternoon. She certainly consumes 1/10 (1/20 together) of the fuel I consume with my hybrid in a week. Therefore, no the hybrid is not always a must. But yes, there are thousands and thousands of other cases where "an hybrid is not appropriate for me" will be denial."

I'am the first to say that we are still car drivers. The efficient public transport like they have un Europe is the only appropriate answer to the environemental crise coming. In north america where almost everyone adulate their individual vehicle there is a long way before the governments will give the appropriate aternative to the individual vehicle. I'am more than pesimistic and there is no day I regret to have put kids on this planet.

I will add, if somebody actually have only 2 miles per day to do there is absolutly no reason to not have a small little nice car like a Yaris to make these 2 miles and do it at 45mpg. Please explain me why they should have a 15mpg car, with all it represent to do 2 miles per day ?!

I live in a town with a good train network. In the aera where I live, I would say only 10% take the train and 90% take the car to go in the same downtown. If everybody would take the appropriate vehicle for their needs, the salesman could take their SUV without absolutly no shame and even the big families could use their 10mpg mini-bus because everybody would take the appropriate vehicle for their needs. The strupid business man in his bmw doesn't need at all his &*?% bmw to go downtown.

I live with the same bad feeling. I drive 50 miles in a heading where there is no public transport (oppsite to downtown) with the fuel consumtion it represent and tell you I will leave this (good) job the day a fair part of the population will put their SUV in garbage likely because the goverments will have given to them an alternative.

ouf!

Pierre

 

Thanks but in reality, certain cities are quite a bit more dangerous for smaller slower cars than others. I suppose one can control themselves by moving to..umm..like Dubuque Iowa or something.

LIke I said, though, the car isn't dangerous but it doesnt have the speed to pass maneuver in more agressive driving environments. Still a safe car. I enjoy mine immensely. Might trade it in though when Lithium batteries or beter become the mainstay.

 

I drive the car that I want to drive because I'm into cars. I do not feel guilty that my carbon output is 1 1/2 more than my hybrid. As if the hybrid number is impressive (it's not). My commute is short enough that I know my yearly output doesn't even register compared to the majority of the commuters out there. I take public transport whenever possible because of convenience not because of some morale high ground. If we address the issue in those terms and the side benifit is lower pollution, great. Win win for everybody. Until that happens, I don't see the population as a whole changing any time soon.