Harald Reisinger
Lee 🌏Ever wonder why those #bicycles keep getting in the way...
BTW I didn't create this myself. I just spent 30 mins trying to find its origins but no joy. So apologies to the original creator and if anyone does know where it was first published and by who, let me know.
Kim Aldis@MrLee All round visibility in cars has also become worse. My Leaf, I can't see the front of the bonnet - streamlining - and the pillars, especially the rear ones, are much wider. The car has more cameras than the BBC, which helps but I'm very uncomfortable reversing the dam thing.
Martin Oetting@MrLee I love this, but I think it would be more truthful if it compared cars that sold equally well in the respective years. The Golf was already a mainstream car back in 1980. The Range Rover from 2022 is a luxury car that sells a lot less. I may be nitpicking, but if we want to show how the spaces of our cities are shrinking because of the sheer size of cars these days, we ought to show it with cars that actually sell. Maybe a comparison with a 2022 Golf could do the trick?
@oetting Yes. This is definitely an extreme example.
VHG 🇪🇺🇺🇦@MrLee yep! Thanks for sharing
iwan 🇺🇦
Steve Thomson@MrLee “Cars typically parked away from the kerbs” haha, replace “away from” with “on”
GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺@MrLee To be completely fair, the Range Rover is hardly the family car of the day and in fact a pretty bloated specimen even to today's standards. But yes, point taken.
Stacey 
@Eetschrijver @MrLee in the 🇺🇸 it’s that or larger. Even if not completely precise where you live, you can obviously see the point, no?
@bikingmzstacey @MrLee Well, that's what I said. That's what 'point taken' means, now doesn't it?
boolbonin@MrLee 😯 … Auch der Panda 312 zwar mit ABS, ELD, Berg- An- und Abfahrhilfe und Allrad, sowie Seiten-, Kopf- und Frontairbags, schafft es nicht ganz: 1630mm Breite also 2cm mehr, mist 😉
Hobbes
Max@MrLee Well, not anyone have a Range Rover today...
André@MrLee
Strange comparison. Back in 1980, a Range Rover was wider than a VW Golf.
Strange comparison. Back in 1980, a Range Rover was wider than a VW Golf.
@andre
Point taken but there were only a couple of SUVs like the Range Rover back then. Now they are everywhere.
Point taken but there were only a couple of SUVs like the Range Rover back then. Now they are everywhere.
Kenny Johnson@MrLee I'm sure average car widths have increased, but are either of those in the picture really average? When I was growing up in 1980 we had a Chevy Malibu (71.5" according to Google) and my best friend's mom had a station wagon (about 72"). My current car (Tuscon) is 73". I don't see a lot of Range Rovers in my neighborhood. Maybe it's regional.
Rodney Rutherford@MrLee big and small cars have been built for decades. Hand-picking one of each provides zero evidence of a trend.
Bob Harvey@MrLee it's true. I have a detached house with a garage. It was designed in 1958.
Not one car made since 2000 will go in and let me open the door. Not one.
People on this estate have been converting garages to living rooms.
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6476653
Two of my neighbour's houses. Notice on one of them the garage has been abandoned, and on the other even a Ford Fiesta lives outside.
Modernised house
QueenQuark@MrLee And Elon’s cybertruck hasn’t even hit the roads yet!
Attila Kinali@MrLee Even back in 1980, a Golf was a small, narrow car. The typical car back then was quite a bit wider.
Similarly, a Range Rover is a considerably wider car than the average car today. Quite a bit so, even.
While it is true that cars are getting wider, it's not as much as this picture's lie. According to the University of Duisburg-Essen, the average width of newly sold cars went from 1.68m in 1990 to 1.80m in 2017.
@attilakinali
The image is indicative of how cars are getting bigger. I 100% agree it doesn't tell a complete story. The increasing weight of cars as well as height as well as performance are all problems and not captured by this image but the message remains the same. Bigger vehicles are a problem for cyclists and pedestrians.
The image is indicative of how cars are getting bigger. I 100% agree it doesn't tell a complete story. The increasing weight of cars as well as height as well as performance are all problems and not captured by this image but the message remains the same. Bigger vehicles are a problem for cyclists and pedestrians.
@MrLee No, the image is not indicative. It overly exaggerates something so people can push their favorite narrative.
As I said, the actual data says that car width increased by a whooping 12cm between 1990 and 2017. For the three cars in your picture that's a total of 36cm, the size of a ruler, less space. On a 8m wide road nobody is going to notice that.
@attilakinali
It's not just the width that is a problem to Cyclists and Pedestrians. The height, width, length, the visibility, the weight, the performance and the design all matter.
That image illustrates this problem. Yes it's imperfect but the central point is valid. And it starts an important conversation about these Vehicles.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/07/a-deadly-problem-should-we-ban-suvs-from-our-cities
It's not just the width that is a problem to Cyclists and Pedestrians. The height, width, length, the visibility, the weight, the performance and the design all matter.
That image illustrates this problem. Yes it's imperfect but the central point is valid. And it starts an important conversation about these Vehicles.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/07/a-deadly-problem-should-we-ban-suvs-from-our-cities
@MrLee Yes, I totally agree. I wouldn't want to cycle in the US at all, with all the trucks around.
But keep in mind that it is not conducive to a constructive discussion if someone lies about the topic. And this picture is a big fat lie. A lie that you are perpetuating by sharing it.
Ding 
@MrLee would be interesting to see the graphic include cars from 1950-70 - some huge boats back then
@MrLee
Saw it on
https://www.google.com/amp/s/coolinfographics.com/blog/2012/11/9/car-sizes-through-the-years.html%3Fformat%3Damp
Saw it on
https://www.google.com/amp/s/coolinfographics.com/blog/2012/11/9/car-sizes-through-the-years.html%3Fformat%3Damp
Car Sizes Through the Years — Cool Infographics
It has been a gradual change, however it is definitely there. Our cars have gotten bigger. Automotive.com walks us through some of our favorite car’s growth spurts in the Car Sizes Through the Years infographic. One of the great joys of living in Los Angeles is the wide variety of cars you see
@Dingfelder
lovely. thanks 👍
lovely. thanks 👍
Cecelia@Dingfelder Ah! I keep saying the Civic now is bigger than the larger Accord used to be!
Even trucks today. Can’t get a nice small one. They’ll all do big now.
Cyberspice@MrLee @christineburns a BMW mini is bigger than a classic mini but they have a similar amount of space inside. All the modern safety requirements for cars have made the body shell fatter. Space for airbags and struts etc.
@cyberspice @christineburns
Yes. I do accept that.
Though it's worth noting that material science and construction techniques have improved so we can make cars safer with minimal extra bulk. A safer classic mini doesn't need to be a lot bigger.
Yes. I do accept that.
Though it's worth noting that material science and construction techniques have improved so we can make cars safer with minimal extra bulk. A safer classic mini doesn't need to be a lot bigger.
Anne-Marie de Jong
Rachel Maria@MrLee Am I wrong in assuming this would also apply to Motorcyclists?
@rachel_maria65
I think a little less so as you are using in a whole lane, mostly. However busy city riding, where you are doing a lot of filtering (lane splitting) it is an issue.
I think a little less so as you are using in a whole lane, mostly. However busy city riding, where you are doing a lot of filtering (lane splitting) it is an issue.
@MrLee I was about to go from left to right on the 101 NB & a CHP shot right past my car. I did not hit him but he scared the poo outta me 🤨
Markus@MrLee
As a result, we should eliminate one car lane
As a result, we should eliminate one car lane
Daniele@MrLee Image description:
We see a drawing of a street in 1980 and 2022. Same width, same population: two cars rolling, one cyclist rolling, one parked car.
In 1980 the parked car is right next to the kerb, the cyclist has enough space to drive while still being far enough from the two cars (two Golf VW, typical family car of the time).
In 2022 the cars are larger (a Ranger Rover 2220), the parked car is far enough from the kerb, because the driver doesn't want to scratch the expensive
alloy wheels.
As a result, the cyclist is very near to the cars, and has little space to move.
@dp Cool. So pretty much like Audio Described on the TV 👍
@MrLee That is a great picture allowing to understand a key phenomenon on a glance!
Do not hesitate, though, to describe it, for blind or bad-sighted users: it is quite easy to do so in Mastodon, using the dedicated field! :)
Do not hesitate, though, to describe it, for blind or bad-sighted users: it is quite easy to do so in Mastodon, using the dedicated field! :)
publictorsten@MrLee To be honest: The VW Golf in 1980 was definitely not a family car.
@publictorsten
Yep. I've noted this before. The image is more illustrative of what cyclists are currently experiencing. I think the height of these SUV's a problem too, when it comes to visibility and cyclists safety. Hope you appreciate the sentiment. 🙏🏻
Yep. I've noted this before. The image is more illustrative of what cyclists are currently experiencing. I think the height of these SUV's a problem too, when it comes to visibility and cyclists safety. Hope you appreciate the sentiment. 🙏🏻
@MrLee I certainly do.
Tom Boucher@MrLee Maybe outside the US, but Conversion Vans, or large station wagons were the rage here in middle of the state.
I spent a lot of time in them in carpools to/from school from 1978 - 1986 or so, then when I could drive it was a full size pickup truck that was as old as I was.
The Ford verison of the vans were 5,253 mm long, with a wb 3,505.2 mm and were 2,011.7–2,143.8 mm tall and 2,029 mm wide. A golf was an oddity in middle class america.
The attitude about bike riders has changed.
@trekkie Yeh, the image is not from the USA, for sure.
@MrLee the difference is, that the one is a Golf and the other one is a Range Rover. The Range Rover was ever bigger than a Golf, so you are comparing apples with pears...