A couple of years ago, I took a trip outside of the United States and noticed something almost immediately: the cars were smaller.  I was riding in my family member’s car, which was a Nissan model, but it was comparatively smaller than the models that we have in America.  It made me think: “Why do we need such big cars to accommodate us?”

It is sometimes baffling to me to drive on the roadways and pull up next to some college-age kid driving a Ford F150 with nothing in it but himself and looking clean as a whistle.  I can’t help but think that anyone who owns a pickup truck is actually utilizing it for some sort of construction work or something else that requires a lot of dirt and transportation of heavy, dirty things.  Instead, you have folks riding around in these Hummers and Chevy Silverados with the television screens in the back and huge, shiny, impeccably clean rims that spin once the vehicle is stopped.

Ridiculous.

It would seem that Americans could stand to downsize their vehicles a little.  If the Europeans can do it, then so can we. While the Smart Car may not be quite as practical for a family of four, there are certainly other more economical vehicles out there besides Hummers and Escalades.

Tags: Auto Transportation // Add Comment »