Why Don't Today's Economy Cars Get 50 mpg?
There were cars capable of reaching 30 MPG in the '70s -- and a few that tickled 40 mpg in the '80s. So how come today's cars aren't doing much better than that? Excepting hybrids (and a handful of diesel-powered cars), the 40 mpg barrier remains largely intact. Why is that?It's a reasonable question. But consider a couple of things first:
Nostalgia For The Basic Car
If you could, would you buy a "back to basics" new car? In other words, would you consider a car without the comfort and safety features we take for granted today -- things like, for instance, air conditioning and power steering, power brakes and safety equipment like air bags, traction control and ABS?Back in the 1970s (and even into the 1980s) those amenities were often optional -- still considered "big ticket" (especially AC) on even medium-priced cars. Of course, things like GPS navigation, ABS brakes, multiple air bags and factory-installed stereos with CD players were unheard of. ABS brakes were rarely found on ordinary, family-type cars -- let alone economy cars -- until rather recently (mid-1990s).
New Truck Review: 2007 Toyota Tundra
No one thought much of the first Lexus LS sedan.Remember?
"Japanese" and "luxury car" could not even be uttered in the same sentence -- at least, not without a smirk. Today, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have learned the hard way to think otherwise.
Tomorrow, Ford, GM and Chrysler might have to, also -- when it comes to full-size trucks.
Ban cell phones? How about banning bad drivers instead?
A ban on using cell phones in cars is a lot like putting a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound. Neither does much about the underlying problem.In the case of cell phones, the underlying problem is bad driving -- not the phones as such. Write a law forbidding their use and bad drivers will still be bad drivers -- applying makeup, changing pants or reading the paper while driving instead of yapping on their phones. And even if all those other things were also made illegal, the basic problem -- scores of marginally skilled, inattentive or outright inept/reckless drivers -- remains.
Do something about that -- by closely scrutinizing any driver involved in an "at-fault" accident, for instance -- and the "problem" attributed to cell phones will quickly become a non-problem.
