kottke.org
Huge study from The Economist about car bloat in the US. “For every life that the heaviest 1% of SUVs and trucks save, there are more than a dozen lives lost in other vehicles.” ‘Safety for me, danger for you’ is an American motto at this point. https://www.economist.com/interactive/united-states/2024/08/31/americans-love-affair-with-big-cars-is-killing-them
Americans’ love affair with big cars is killing them

New analysis shows that the heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save in crashes

The Economist
Sep 18, 2024 at 2:46pmkottke bot
Show threadxs4me2Sep 18, 2024

@kottke

Unsafe, unneeded and wasting energy…

Show threadShadow06Sep 18, 2024

@kottke I miss small trucks.

Even the tacoma is big now.

Show threadGlennSep 18, 2024
@kottke This motto explains all the people who say that they need a gun just in case so they can defend themselves.
Show threadFish HeadSep 18, 2024

@kottke

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/rsk9o4/til_modern_american_suvs_and_pickup_trucks_are/

Show threadBruce Heerssen Sep 18, 2024
@kottke
I drive a Nissan Frontier, which is classified as a mid-sized pick-up truck. It was the smallest new pick-up I could find. It's approximately the same size as a standard full size pick-up from the 1980s.
Show threadPaul BrownjohnSep 18, 2024

@kottke

Not forgetting that massive SUVs are dreadful gas-guzzlers and therefore make a disproportionate contribution not only to CO2 and NOx emmissions but to plastics pollution due to the relatively more massive amounts of tyre tread dust and brake pad dust they produce compared to an ordinary family car.

Show threadNIBSep 18, 2024

@kottke Mirror, if you want to bypass the paywall

https://archive.is/4vsZB