Monday, July 28, 2008

Sorry, Al Gore

Sorry, Mr. Gore. We're keeping our SUV.



$120 for a tank of gas is a pain, but we can cut back on driving. I will not put my children into one of the fashionable clown cars that the liberals want us all saving the environment in. My Mazda3 is about as small as I am willing to go. It was affordable and gets good mileage and has many airbags. But I know enough physics to understand that, depending on who hits me, I could lose, no matter how safe my car is. I accept that risk. Did you know that federal crash tests are mostly performed with collisions between cars of like size and weight? A 5-star safety rated subcompact is still going to get creamed by a 3-ton truck. There's just no way around it. Airbags are nice, but size matters.

Meanwhile, I feel better knowing my wife and kids are running around in something heavier. If some punk in a Civic rear-ends her, it'll be his loss. Is it wrong to care more for one's own family than for random strangers who might have to eat your trailer hitch if they tailgate? I don't think so.

4 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Hmmm...could that punk possibly be Turk? :) Although I agree that bigger cars are safer, I hope you don't think we love our child less because we drive around in a Camry and a Civic due to economics. We simply cannot afford to drive around in a bigger car.

Daddio said...

Ha ha! Oh great, look what I started. I forgot about your Civic, which is no smaller than my Mazda. And I was thinking of younger punks. And I was mainly thinking of these teeny tiny cars that are getting so popular, like the one in the video. Many only seat two people. Believe me, if our family could fit in a Camry, that's what we'd have. We used to have a fairly small SUV, no bigger or safer than a normal mid-size car. I'm not saying I'd drive a tank no matter what. That would be wasteful. Believe me, your cars are both bigger than the microcars (Honda Fit, Fiat 500, Mini Cooper, Mercedes A- and B-class coming soon) that are becoming so popular these days.

Elizabeth said...

Lol! This is hilarious! I just came back onto your blog to erase what I wrote because I felt I wrote it in haste. I'd have to say if we could afford the car you guys drive in, believe me, we would. I think the video scared the hell out of me too and a part of me maybe does feel like we sacrifice safety over economics, though I want to stress we never did that intentionally. You could have been all over my comment so I appreciate you treating me like the kindly brother in Christ you are to me in your response to my comment. :)

nicole said...

Those little smart cars freak me out. We do drive a smaller crossover, and it was purchased partly b/c we did not care for the size of our minivan. I'm just still in denial about needing a car that seats five children and that car looking like a station wagon. In my mind I'm rolling in a Corvette.
Your post made me laugh while agreeing with your points.