Smart Cars (Atlanta, Between: homes, landscaping, live in)

[primaltech]

These little guys fascinate me. They're so tiny. They're like, golf carts.

Seems like I've been seeing them more and more, especially in the city. But even out in the 'burbs as well.

I can't help but think, these things are half the size of most vehicles. It's just a thought experiment here obviously, but if everyone drove one of these Smart Cars, in theory, couldn't we fit a whole lot more cars in the existing lanes, thus reducing congestion by a ton?

Also, they just seem safer/better, especially in cities, because of their slow acceleration and slower speed, and their smaller size makes them a little less deadly I would guess.

Another added benefit, parking decks and lots could be made much smaller and more compact, if all vehicles were about this size/footprint.

And finally, these Smart Cars are always at at least 1/2 capacity, as opposed to the typical 1/4 in 4-seaters. And a lot of the time they're at full passenger capacity. So the average of capacity usage of Smart Cars in the world is probably 60% to 70%. (Between 1 and 2 people.)

I say, bring on the Smart Car revolution, to fix Atlanta. I love these little guys, and they look really cool.

(I'm not very tall, so I personally don't mind compact cars.

[krogerDisco]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Also, they just seem safer/better, especially in cities, because of their slow acceleration and slower speed, and their smaller size makes them a little less deadly I would guess.

Actually, larger cars are safer for the passenger. However, they are well designed to be reasonably safe.

[evannole]

Consumer Reports has consistently rated them as among the worst modern cars they've tested. One year they scored a 28/100. And they apparently get terrible mileage, considering their small size and small engines.

If I lived in the urban core and never strayed from it, I might consider one. But otherwise, no thanks.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by krogerDisco

Actually, larger cars are safer for the passenger. However, they are well designed to be reasonably safe.

I meant, they're less deadly objects to others outside the vehicle (peds, bikes, other cars). Since they weigh probably only about 1,500 pounds, and they're 8 feet long and 5 feet wide. And they're slow.

And yeah they're more deadly if you're in one of these and the other guy is in a F150 or something. Of course. But if everyone had a Smart Car, I'm betting there'd be a whole lot fewer road fatalities in general.

[primaltech]

The short length obviously is the main reason why they could help ease traffic if they were widely adopted.

But now that I think about it, the fact that they're only 5' wide (4.97 ft actually), means that in my 'Smart Car world', we could made streets and roads much narrower, with the same count of lanes, and give all that space to wide sidewalks/bike lanes/bus lanes/street parking/nice landscaping, etc.

And freeways could have more lanes, just by re-striping. Make the freeway lanes 50% narrower, 8' instead of the current 12', and get 50% more lanes, for free. (Freight trucks obviously would have to have their own separated lanes.)

So both the width and length would give us significantly more capacity with our current roads.

Make cars smaller!

[ATLTJL]

My dad got one when they first came to America. He saw them in Europe and was fascinated, like you. He was on a waiting list and everything and got one shortly after they were released here.

I never go to see it because before I could even visit, he had already become so fed up with all the things that went wrong with it that he demanded a refund. Apparently, the car had terrible issues.

He bought a Toyota Yaris instead and loves it.

Personally, I refuse to drive a car that small for two big reasons:

1) I'm 6 feet tall, so I like a car I don't have to fold myself up into. BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY:
2) I've driven small cars before and it really scares me when tractor trailers blow by me and I can feel the car getting blow around in the draft. I like a car that has some weight to it and at least 16 inch tires so I don't get knocked around by those trucks. I don't need a big SUV or anything, but I will always (at least in Atlanta) have at least a mid-size sedan so it will stay in the lane I want it in.

[red92s]

Hard pass. They get like 30-something MPG and age really poorly. I'd rather have a Honda Grom and $8,000 extra dollars in my pocket.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by primaltech

These little guys fascinate me. They're so tiny. They're like, golf carts.

Seems like I've been seeing them more and more, especially in the city. But even out in the 'burbs as well.

I can't help but think, these things are half the size of most vehicles. It's just a thought experiment here obviously, but if everyone drove one of these Smart Cars, in theory, couldn't we fit a whole lot more cars in the existing lanes, thus reducing congestion by a ton?

Also, they just seem safer/better, especially in cities, because of their slow acceleration and slower speed, and their smaller size makes them a little less deadly I would guess.

Another added benefit, parking decks and lots could be made much smaller and more compact, if all vehicles were about this size/footprint.

And finally, these Smart Cars are always at at least 1/2 capacity, as opposed to the typical 1/4 in 4-seaters. And a lot of the time they're at full passenger capacity. So the average of capacity usage of Smart Cars in the world is probably 60% to 70%. (Between 1 and 2 people.)

I say, bring on the Smart Car revolution, to fix Atlanta. I love these little guys, and they look really cool.

(I'm not very tall, so I personally don't mind compact cars.

Still need the standard 10' lane for emergency vehicles.

[roxyrn]

Perfect match for those who live in tiny homes.

[Cameron H]

They suck.