Neighborhood Electric Vehicles + regular traffic = "deadly combination"

[wtmusic]

"ARLINGTON, VA — More states are allowing a relatively new breed of vehicle on public roads, but crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show why the mix of low-speed vehicles (LSVs) or minitrucks and regular traffic is a deadly combination. LSVs are designed for tooling around residential neighborhoods, and minitrucks are for hauling cargo off-road. While these vehicles have a lot of appeal as a way to reduce emissions and cut fuel use, they don't have to meet the basic safety standards that cars and pickups do, and they aren't designed to protect their occupants in crashes.

"By allowing LSVs and minitrucks on more and more kinds of roads, states are carving out exceptions to 40 years of auto safety regulations that save lives," says David Zuby, the Institute's chief research officer. "It's a troubling trend that flies in the face of the work insurers, automakers, and the federal government have done to reduce crash risk."

Practically every state allows LSVs, also called neighborhood electric vehicles, on certain roads, mostly with 35 mph or lower speed limits. Eight years ago just over a dozen states permitted them. Now 46 do. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines appropriate performance and safety standards but has no say in where LSVs are driven. The same goes for minitrucks, which are legal to operate on some roads in 16 states, even though they weren't designed to meet US safety or emission standards. The trend to grant minitrucks access to regular roads began in 2007 and is growing at a quick pace."

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr052010.html

[RKP5637]

1. I've seen them around here now. IMO they look like miniature coffins running

around. If we all had them that would be one thing, but I've seen them skirting along in front of 18 wheelers in traffic in town. I'm surprised the driver of the rig can even see them.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

2. Assumed risk...

Nobody is forcing people to buy cars like this. People should have the common sence to realize driving a car with a small mass subjects them to greater accelerations in the event of a crash... and that avoiding such a crash may be entirely out of their control.

If someone wants to drive one of these cars then I have no problem with that.
Heck, as a promotional offer, dealerships should offer doublewide burial plots in local cemetaries...
that way when you crash they can just bury the entire heap of metal in one fell swoop!

[wtmusic]

3. IMO there is a perception that all licensable vehicles are tested for safety.

Not so.

The Smart ForTwo (tested) creamed the GEM (untested), although it's not that much bigger.

[Speck Tater]

4. So I should get a MOPED instead?

It's time to get realistic. You pays your money and you makes your choice. I would take the chance with the small electric because I mostly only drive short distances in an area that's all 25 MPH limit and in 49 years of driving I've never had an accident. I figure that being a very defensive driver the odds are in my favor.

[denverbill]

5. +1. According to some people, we should all drive Abrams tanks to protect ourselves from SUV's.

It's also apparently stupid to walk or ride a bike because imagine the carnage if one of these small electrics smacks into you at 25 mph as you cross a street.

Like you said, drive defensively, and don't take them out in areas where people drive nutso.

[hunter]

6. Obviously, we need to ban "regular traffic."

We need to get those deadly polluting gasoline and diesel powered monsters off of our neighborhood streets.