

Go Green -- Buy a Used Car. It's Better Than a Hybrid - robg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/the-ultimate-pr.html

======
robg
Update: The new batteries make the carbon footprint much less drastic.

See: <http://www.slate.com/id/2186786/pagenum/all/#page_start>

------
noodle
yeah, the fact of the matter is that vehicles evolved into heavy, feature-
laden apartments-on-wheels. however, they also evolved much higher quality
safety standards.

the more stuff you put into a vehicle, the heavier it will become, and the
more gas it will take to make it go.

you can buy an old civic and get 50 to 60 MPG, but you won't have power
anything, and if you get hit by a driving-their-SUV-going-90-while-cell-phone-
texting sorority girl, you're going to be dead.

just commenting on the price of progress, not making a judgment in either
direction.

~~~
geebee
I'm not sure what safety standards you're referring to... certainly, cars
evolved higher safety standards, but SUV's threw most of that out the window.
Many (but not all) SUV's are pretty much shells bolted on to a light truck
frame. They are very top-heavy, and prone to rolling, and they don't have the
structural integrity of minivans and sedans - furthermore, they are built into
a very stiff frame that doesn't have much give.

The net result is a car that is considerably more likely to inflict severe
injury or death toward pedestrians and drivers _outside_ the car, yet
remarkably enough also reduces the safety of the people _inside_ the car. SUVs
may make people _feel_ safe - in this sense, they are "the triumph of
marketing over engineering".

If you're interested in protection, a heavy, single frame car that stays lower
to the ground is probably your best bet (though you will risk some injury when
and SUV hits you up high and circumvents some of your buffering, a heavy frame
and a vastly lower probability of rolling will offset this for a net gain in
safety). It's also preferable when your increase in safety doesn't come at the
expense of people outside your car (though, like I said earlier, SUVs don't
really increase safety for their occupants).

