Greener Needs More than Smaller
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by: margaret
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Word Count: 283
As small-car fever continues to spread throughout the world, more and more consumers are turning to these compact cars, which cost less to purchase and to run. In Europe, and on other continents such as India, these compacts fit right in with the other vehicles on the road, which include already small cars and mopeds, motorcycles and scooters that fit well on small, narrow streets.
In America, we've made our streets wide to accommodate SUVs that feature three rows of seating, RVs and eighteen-wheelers. Because public transportation in America (outside of metropolitan areas) is far more limited than that in other nations, it is unlikely that these super-sized cars will disappear. As speed limits on highways continue to become less restrictive and as roads become larger (more lanes for more traffic), will it be safe to take mini-cars out on the big roads?
The Mini Cooper, the Smart Car and the 2010 Ford Fiesta--great for the environment and for consumers' wallets...will they safely become anything more (on the large scale) than just a tour-about-town car? It's probable that we, as Americans, will have to undertake additional measures to ensure the safety of green-car drivers. Maybe that means lowering speed limits. Going slower improves fuel economy anyway; it's not the speed of the highway that yields fewer visits to the pump, but rather the consistency.
Perhaps increasing public transportation systems will make our shift into greener travel more fluid, and more safe. Ultimately, it is not enough to simply emulate smaller cars. We must also emulate the traffic and transport sistuations, in other words, our driving and travel environments, to those that are conducive to the almost-exclusive use of smaller cars.
About the Author
Margaret is a writer for ERUNIX, Inc.
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