How to justify a scooter vs. a car

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Actually we are paying about 6-8 dollars per gallon to keep it at $4.00

How so? Or is the answer going to get off into irrelevant (and mistaken) politics?

As for safety, last week I went to my neighbor's 21-year old daughter's funeral. At the urging of family and boyfriend, she'd traded the cute little yellow sports car her dad bought her for graduation for a supposedly safer big 4WD. So she & boyfriend were driving along a perfectly straight road when they somehow wandered off onto the shoulder, rolling the truck and killing both of them.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by dcb

LOL, that was 50mpg without even trying, I'm getting 92mpg currently. What does your average car get again?

You apparently have more self-restraint in motorcycle riding than I ever had :-)

I don't know what mpg your average car gets, since my Insight is decided non-average :-) Long-term average (5 years, 75K miles) is 70.2 mpg - and that's even given the way I drive :-)

And carrying dogs? thats easy

Not when the dog insists on riding with her head in your lap :-)

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

How so? Or is the answer going to get off into irrelevant (and mistaken) politics?

It would get this thread way off topic but here's a link and if you want to start another thread in the lounge feel free it just need to stay related to fuel and not get off topic.

[JohnnyGrey]

Some quick googling produces:

· Motorcyclists are about 26 times more likely to die in a crash than someone riding in a passenger car, and are 5 times as likely to be injured.

· Per mile traveled in 1998, motorcyclists were about 16 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die, and about 3 times as likely to be injured, in a motor vehicle crash.

[dcb]

Did that come with any data?!? 26 X for fatal but only 5x times for injured is suspect.

I've been injured on a bike far more times than I've been killed

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

It would get this thread way off topic but here's a link...

Well, not as much politics as I thought, but still quite a bit. Even leaving out the wrong bits, though, it's not fair to assume that the alternative(s) to any of those costs are going to be free. As for example, including accident response costs as an oil subsidy doesn't work: if we had a pure electric vehicle fleet, switched to passenger rail, or whatever we'd still have about the same number of traffic accidents.

[JohnnyGrey]

Did that come with any data?!? 26 X for fatal but only 5x times for injured is suspect.

I've been injured on a bike far more times than I've been killed

Doesn't work like that. These numbers are relative to cars. It's easy to determine whether you die or not, however injury is a very gray area. In a car, I could have a sore neck for a few days and you on a bike, could be missing half your skin. The severity isn't really considered, only that you're "injured".

[dcb]

Anyway, kidding aside, back to the OP, there are plenty of good, and not entirely selfish, reasons to consider driving the smallest vehicle you can. It takes a little discipline to get past the fear mongering and see the bigger picture, but I would never ever discourage someone who wants to make a smaller footprint. There's no telling what people can do when they put their mind to it.

But, I would not expect your parents blessing, unless they are REALLY progressive. Your dad sound pretty cool, I can't blame him for being shook up after an accident. I remember wrecking a car when I was young and had a little bit of a struggle getting back behind the wheel, not that me behind a wheel is a good thing

[ebacherville]

if you drive a motorcycle or scooter... My tips.. been riding on 2 wheels for 20 years.. first vehicle was on 2 wheels.

1. ALWAYS wear a helmet.. no exceptions.. yes even at 35mph on a 50cc scooter..
2. drive like every vehicle on the road is piloted by a comi-cozy A.D.D. piliot.. Defensive driving is key..
3. Know your bike, know its limits. know your limits.. don't push them
4. speed kills.. faster you go the more those odds that you die go up
5. always in every situation have a exit strategy, if its driving into the shoulder or speeding up or slowing down, or sliding the bike on its side.. whatever, always look for a why out of the situation if something went bad.. like a car pulling out in front of you.. If you have a exit strategy you might be able to pull it off when you need it... with out the strategy you'll be sure to crash.