Smart Car after:
This is tragic and scary.
It's the trade-off that American car buyers face: safety versus economy. The short-sighted strategy of Amercian auto makers to focus on SUVs has had another side-effect, besides running an inconic U.S. industry into the ground. Flooding the market with monsterously large vehicles in suburban areas (what was wrong with station wagons?) has made car buyers feel that they need to go equally big to be safe.
I know this was a strong concern when my folks bought a car for Lizzy, my 16-year old sister. "Just wait until you have a kid, and you'll understand," said my Mom India. She was right! Now, with two girls, I totally understand wanting them to be safe, which is why we used Informed for Life to check the safety of several models, and settled on a 2005 Honda Odyssey to transport by girls around.
Until the current crop of SUVs ages into the junkyard and Detroit starts producing, and Americans start buying, smaller vehicles, early adopters of light, "smart" cars will continue to feel very vulnerable in urban traffic. If they're lucky enough to feel anything at all.
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