[kodos78]

Why not trust people to buy the cars that they want? I can understand engineering cars so that they do not create excessive danger to pedestrians or other vehicles, but if a car is flimsy and gets 150mpg, and weighs 500lbs -- I'm all for it if all I'm endangering is myself!

This safety argument has to stop. For God's sake -- our children are encased in large child seats until they are almost old enough to shave these days!

And there will always be auto makers that pride themselves on safety -- like Volvo. People who are interested in safety will buy a Volvo. Those that don't, won't.

Otherwise, this is the classic protect people from themselves argument, that led to prohibition and in the case of automobiles -- leads to bloated cars where every vehicle requires a safety cage with thick doors and an assortment of airbags. Driving up the cost of the vehicle and the weight while lowering the MPG.

Originally Posted by mikesright

The problem with the argument of doing a smaller class of cars, especially ones with those kinds of limitations, is people would much rather get a decent medium-sized used car than buy a city car. The exception to the rule, the Smart, might sell 30,000 cars in a year, so it is almost a novelty in the car market.

I also hate all this talk about taking out crash standards, there needs to be a certain minimal level of protection for people in a crash, bottom line. We don't need car companies sacrificing safety for price or weight or fuel economy. The reason motorcycles aren't regulated is because there's little any manufacturer can do to make a motorcycle safer to the rider.