From today's e-economist newsletter:'What is the greatest division between America and Europe? You might think it is over attitudes to food or sport, policy towards China or something about the guardrails needed for capitalism. Not a bit of it. The biggest split is over cars. Americans expect to drive huge ones, ideally something that has the heft and noise of an elephant. Europeans are far likelier to opt for smaller beasts. When an American friend once visited, renting a stylish but tiny Fiat 500 at the airport, his teenage daughter was mortified, announcing it was obviously a toy vehicle and not fit for the road.'Admittedly, Europeans are also driving bigger cars than they used to. But Americans increasingly prefer monsters, relishing the thrill of revving up a big truck and judging that, for drivers and their passengers, bigger vehicles bring more safety. Unfortunately, as we set out in a new article published this weekend , this is becoming a fatal trend for others on or near the road. The monsters increasingly flatten pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of smaller cars. Last year one pollster noted that 41% of Americans thought SUVs and pickup trucks had grown too big. Too right.'Confirmation that the biggest threat to cyclists isn't their propensity to cycle through red lights but rather the mass of ever-larger steel boxes.
Robert Fish ● 83d