If the cab-forward layout is allowed for the big-rigs, why not in light-duty ones?

[freebeard]

Found this somewhere. It reminded me of this thread.

[CFECO]

Originally Posted by niky

Double-edged sword. How many people have died over the years because of ever increasing SUV sizes... SUVs which are more likely to kill you when they run into you or when they roll over?

If everyone drove golf carts, then arguments about size and safety wouldn't exist.

And no matter how big an SUV you have, when you get hit by a big rig whose driver is nodding off, you lose. Period.

Not all of us can drive a golf cart, we have trailers to pull, mountains to traverse, materials to haul. My 84 Diesel Suburban 4x4 was a GREAT truck, it had pulling power ( not very fast uphill), it would go anywhere I needed, I could sleep in the back out of the weather, it got 20+ mpg, it could carry plywood, and 20' material on the roof.

[niky]

Ah, but you could do that with a golf-cart with a small diesel. You can tow any load with any size of engine, with the right gearbox.

(If you can put up with crawling at a walking pace going up hill... )

It's a conundrum, and a bigger conundrum that people who just need a vehicle good for one (bicycle/motorcycle), people who need vehicles good for two people or one and a lot of groceries (small car), people who need vehicles to carry several passengers (minivans), people who need big trucks for work (SUVs/pickups) and people who need to deliver ten tons or more of goods (big rigs) all have to share the same road.

[CFECO]

"(If you can put up with crawling at a walking pace going up hill... )"

We have minimum speeds on our major highways, pulling the travel trailer up the hill outside of Benson AZ with a golf cart will get one; run over by semi trucks, arrested for obstruction of traffic, and probably shot by most everyone else....It is NOT an option.

[niky]

It was suggested in jest.

The problem, like I said: is that we expect vehicles of such vastly varied sizes, weights and capabilities to share a ribbon of asphalt that's usually no more than two or three lanes wide.

The original golf cart line was not to suggest that everyone should be driving in golf carts. It was just to say that safety is relative and that buying a bigger car isn't always the answer, because there's always going to be something bigger than you out there.

[CFECO]

10-4 there good buddy...!

[Grant-53]

Mass, material strength, and design configuration all go into making a crash worthy car. No design is idiot proof because idiots are so creative Safety includes crash avoidance as well crush space. Crush space only works if there is material to deform in a manner that spares the occupants trauma.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by niky

Double-edged sword. How many people have died over the years because of ever increasing SUV sizes... SUVs which are more likely to kill you when they run into you or when they roll over?

If everyone drove golf carts, then arguments about size and safety wouldn't exist.

And no matter how big an SUV you have, when you get hit by a big rig whose driver is nodding off, you lose. Period.

Less people in the SUVs and more people in small cars, so some people will play the odds and go big for safety for them and their family. Government getting involved only makes the wealthy able to have the big gas guzzlers while everybody else is forced into something they otherwise would never choose. Also most people can't have 5 different cars to use depending on the exact situation they need at the moment. So a single driver in a full size 8 passenger 4x4 SUV in the middle of summer may need the 4x4 in winter, or the towing ability on vacation, or 6 passengers, 2 dogs, and 2 weeks worth of luggage. Maybe if they made some kind of train car where you could hook multiple 2 passenger powered modules together to get the passenger and power level you needed, that would be cool. Still the guy with 4 of them hitched up hitting the guy in a single is going to "win". I also am all for dividing most high speed highways, we have a 4 lane close to here that could really use a divider down the middle.

[niky]

Being on the receiving end of a four ton SUV is less a problem here outside America. Gas taxes, displacement and footprint taxes and the like ensure that. People have gotten used to hiring panel vans for any heavy load carrying they need to do (farm owners and construction company managers do use SUVs and pick-ups, though, but even those are smaller than the US nortm).

Still, our safety problem is car versus bus or truck (with a lot of passenger and cargo movement reliant on those two, as most people choose not to drive due to gas prices) is an even worse comparison than car versus SUV.

The multi-module car would be an ideal solution if you could get people to buy the add-on modules. But even if the other guy has a five-car train, he's sitting in the first car. In a head-on, he's now in the middle of a six car sandwich. Not a great place to be.

[CFECO]

Maybe the multi-module vehicle could have the power unit as the front one, and add on passenger and cargo modules, behind the operators module..?