More cars than there are drivers

Mike Kruger said:

There are now more cars in the US than there are drivers!

<<The average household now has 1.75 drivers but 1.90 "personal vehicles."

By comparison, the average household has 0.86 adult-size bicycles.

This puts me on the high side of both curves. My single person household has two cars and six
bicycles. :-)

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Kruger said:

There are now more cars in the US than there are drivers!

<<The average household now has 1.75 drivers but 1.90 "personal vehicles."

By comparison, the average household has 0.86 adult-size bicycles.

The car population has been gaining on the driver population for some time. Cars have become as
specialized as shoes, experts say, with different designs for different uses.>>

Non-sustainable consumerism, run rampant.

Car Free Day is coming up. Big fat soggy deal, eh?

cheers, Tom

--
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[point] bc [point] ca

Mike Kruger said snippity snip

Quoted message said:

Cars have become as specialized as shoes, experts say, with different designs for
different uses.>>

snip

that strikes me funny. i would guess that most automobile drivers ride exclusively on roads
regardless of what kind of car they're driving. and i would also guess that at least 95% (78.976% of
all statistics are made up) of all "off road vehicles" or SUVs never actually see any sort of
serious off road use. look at cyclists now. i have two bikes: a "road bike", and a "mountain bike."
there are also "touring bikes", hybrids, sport comfort bikes, bmx bikes, trick bikes, dirt jumping
bikes, time trial bikes, etc. and they are very infrequently put to their intended use. look at
towels. there are hand towels, bath towels, wash cloths, blah blah blah. fans: ceiling, window, box,
etc. for the zillion and one quarter things one can imagine there are a zillion and three quarters
variaitions on each. what the real root of the problem (if you can call it that) is, IMHO, oh no
here it comes the big dirty leftist word CONSUMERISM, and unless you use a sharpened stick to cook,
prepare, and eat your food while in the nude in your mud and dung hut, you are most likely guilty of
it. everyone wants more of whatever it is they want and who really wants six charcoal grey K-cars in
their garage? variation on a theme makes it convieniant to buy more stuff whether we need it or not.
BTW, anyone want to buy a mountain bike? alfred klek

John Everett said:

Mike Kruger said:

There are now more cars in the US than there are drivers!

<<The average household now has 1.75 drivers but 1.90 "personal vehicles."

By comparison, the average household has 0.86 adult-size bicycles.

This puts me on the high side of both curves. My single person household has two cars and six
bicycles. :-)

You're still missing 0.75 drivers. So if I were you I'd get rid of 5% of the cars and get yourself
3/4 worth of girlfriend. I wouldn't worry about the six bikes though. Sooner or later that'll be
absolutely normal.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

While I dont begrudge anyone of driving thier vehicles, I do find it absurd of the amount of
vehicles many familes have. But its not all thier fault of course. Its part of how our lifestyles
have changed. We have went from living in cities to living in rural subdivisons. While in the city
the kids can walk to the deli, the dad can walk to the hardware store etc. in the rural settings
alot of activities revolve around the automobile. Im not a SUV, or light truck hater, but its a fad
that isnt cool because these vehicles dont have to get good milege or stand up to many safty
restrictions. I've always been buy a product for what you need, and research the product. Obviously
when i watch a SUV roll by and a 75 yr old woman is driving it, most likely she isnt going to go off
roading. And in my area they arent buying them for bad weather cause we dont get bad weather. Its a
fad though, in the 80s it was the minivan. Im sure the next fad will be smaller cars or something
along those lines. I think we have fallen in love with our cars to terrible proportions. Just look
at obesity in this Nation. If we walked, and biked more often this wouldnt be happening.

"Alfred Klek" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Mike Kruger said snippity snip

Quoted message said:

Cars have become as specialized as shoes, experts say, with different designs for different
uses.>>

snip

that strikes me funny. i would guess that most automobile drivers ride exclusively on roads
regardless of what kind of car they're driving. and i would also guess that at least 95% (78.976%
of all statistics are made up) of all "off road vehicles" or SUVs never actually see any sort of
serious off road use. look at cyclists now. i have two bikes: a "road bike", and a "mountain
bike." there are also "touring bikes", hybrids, sport comfort bikes, bmx bikes, trick bikes, dirt
jumping bikes, time trial bikes, etc. and they are very infrequently put to their intended use.
look at towels. there are hand towels, bath towels, wash cloths, blah blah blah. fans: ceiling,
window, box, etc. for the zillion and one quarter things one can imagine there are a zillion and
three quarters variaitions on each. what the real root of the problem (if you can call it that)
is, IMHO, oh no here it comes the big dirty leftist word CONSUMERISM, and unless you use a
sharpened stick to cook, prepare, and eat your food while in the nude in your mud and dung hut,
you are most likely guilty of it. everyone wants more of whatever it is they want and who really
wants six charcoal grey K-cars in their garage? variation on a theme makes it convieniant to buy
more stuff whether we need it or not. BTW, anyone want to buy a mountain bike? alfred klek

Green Hill said:

weather cause we dont get bad weather. Its a fad though, in the 80s it was the minivan. Im sure
the next fad will be smaller cars or

At least the minivan was a useful fad. They were maximally functional for the people who used them,
and had a minimum of what wasn't needed by those people. They're damn comfortable, now, too...and
handle better than an SUV.

Notice that they all end up the same thing?

Station wagons: As much interior space as fits over four wheels.

Minivan: Same shape, just scaled up.

SUV: Station wagon, on large wheels.

And people call their SUVs "trucks", but they never put a load in them or get them dirty, let alone
go farther off road than a dirt road or a lawn.

The small cars have been here since the 70s, and don't appear to be going away. Personally, I don't
like them, but they're great for those who do.

--
Rick Onanian

ah yes the minivan, a fine fine vehicle. i spent a week in one once and it was pretty nice,
definately not the lap of luxury, but with 6 adults it was pretty good. did basically the same trip
in an SUV (dodge durango) a year later and felt less than happy for it (although i did become quite
freindly with the girl sitting next to me, college field trip rah rah rah). i agree with you all, an
SUV to my eyes is a bloated station wagon, and a station wagon is nice, an SUV is unpleaseant.
alfred klek

In article said:

ah yes the minivan, a fine fine vehicle. i spent a week in one once and it was pretty nice,
definately not the lap of luxury, but with 6 adults it was pretty good. did basically the same
trip in an SUV (dodge durango) a year later and felt less than happy for it (although i did become
quite freindly with the girl sitting next to me, college field trip rah rah rah). i agree with you
all, an SUV to my eyes is a bloated station wagon, and a station wagon is nice, an SUV is
unpleaseant. alfred klek

Minivans are great if you don't mind sloppy handling (but they're no worse than SUV's in this
regard). Mine is comfortable, OK on fuel, has fabulous sound quality from its radio and holds lots
of anything. It's really a perfect long-distance ride. I don't like SUV's because the ones I've
driven handle poorly and are uncomfortable. They apparently tend to have poor gas mileage too.

Of course, minivans suffer from terminal image problems. But I ride a bike in street clothes so what
do I know.