Tam is talking about city cars right here. I like her comment: “What you people see as a Ford Explorer seriously deficient in crash protection, I see as a bike with really good weatherstripping.”
Much as I don’t like the idea of limited crash protection, I’ve been edging toward the idea of a smaller car (possibly a hybrid, probably not) for the numerous trips downtown that I take every week. (Yeah, for a guy who telecommutes, I sure do drive downtown a lot.) But I just can’t justify it yet.
I did look semi-seriously at a Dodge Calibre about a year ago*, but hell, I almost get better mileage out of my ’02 Intrepid (pretty consistently 20MPG or better on the highway; I sort of stopped keeping track several years ago), and I’m a lot more comfortable in the Intrepid. Plus, the Intrepid is paid for and will probably last me at least another three or four years.
What is starting to bug me, though, is the proliferation of what we used to call “mini-bikes” taking up space on main roads. When I was a kid, it was illegal to ride those things on city streets. Maybe the law has changed (I have no idea; I stopped wanting a minibike or a go-cart about the same time I got my first car), but here’s my question: If it is legal to ride them on city streets now, why are they not required to be licensed, and what are the insurance implications if they get into an accident with a licensed and insured vehicle?
On top of that, far too many of them seem to be ridden by the under-16 crowd, at least in this neighborhood. That doesn’t seem lawful to me.
I remember several years ago seeing a kid who couldn’t have been more than 12 years old stopped on Lafayette Road by IPD for riding a minibike (or, OK, what today people are charitably calling “scooters”). The kid was pissed, but for my money, the cop was right to put the kibosh on that.
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* As I think about it, it must have been two years ago, because I wouldn’t have bothered looking at a Dodge after the bailouts…
6 Replies to “To smallenize or not to smallenize, that is the question”
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A <50cc scooter does not need plates or a DL in IN. I like that. It’s almost like freedom.
Of course, that does mean that they are the favored vehicles of the OWI crowd, but freedom has its downsides, too.
Ack!
The first paragraph should have read “A LESS-THAN SIGN 50cc scooter is not a motor vehicle in IN, and therefore does not need plates or a DL. I like this; it’s almost like freedom.”
Fixed it. Just had to substitute the escape code for it, ampersand-l-t-semicolon 🙂
I agree in principle, but as they become more prevalent on the road, seems like they should become more subject to the same rules that apply to motorcycles and automobiles. (Of course I have been saying the same thing about bicycles for years but nobody listens to me.)
FWIW I actually did see a gokart whiz down my street yesterday afternoon. No plates; no insurance (I assume); no reason for being on a main secondary road where people speed despite speed bumps and mothers walking with small children who do not have sidewalks to walk on…
No, more reason to remove restrictions from automobiles and motorcycles.
If there’s an accident, let the legal system deal with it. If not, then no harm means no foul.
(Insert wookie-suit howl here.) 😉
Maybe.
I’ve never been one to don the full Wookie, myself. There are too many idiots in the world who would simply not be able to function in a fully libertarian world.
Including, sad to say, many soi-disant libertarians 🙂
The learning curve would be a steep one but, hey! Lots more parking spaces when all’s said and done. 😉
(And, yeah, it’s perfect world daydreaming, but that’s what us sensitive artistes do.)