(no subject)

[twirlgrrl]

Last night on Oak St I saw a little white Smart Car (love those things!) completely tricked out for Christmas. It had four dinner-plate-size snowflakes made of blue and white lights swinging across the back window, and on the roof, two "presents" consisting of box-shaped lights (one yellow, one red) with light-string bows on top. Adorable! The car was mostly white but had black cow spots on its sides, so it's festive even when it's not Christmas. The best part was the license plate: OMG HAHA.

Comments

[righteousbaby.livejournal.com]

Since I'm in love with all things Christmas, that would have been so cool to see!

I was in love with smart cars until someone pointed out that you get hit once in one of those, you're as good as dead. They probably work better in europe, where you're not competing with SUV's and mac trucks.

[twirlgrrl.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eghIfyHP0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8

I mean, a head-on crash with a big car will probably kill or maim you no matter what car you drive, and full-size cars are more protective than teeny tiny cars, but it does depend a lot on engineering. I think I would feel too vulnerable to drive a car as tiny as the Smart car with a kid in it--that's one of the reasons I wouldn't trade my Prius for one right now. But I think the Smart cars are way safer than they look! It's kindof exciting.

[righteousbaby.livejournal.com]

Those videos made me even more sure of my stance! I get the whole 'cage' being strong, but in all the videos, compared to other cars, if you're hit head on your legs will end up in your ears! With the 'average' car, the front gets pushed in, but it wouldn't turn you into an accordion.

that's just me though! ;)

[twirlgrrl.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't see anything about the leg area specifically, so I assumed the cage includes that part of the car. It's true that the front of the car is awfully short! But I bet it's better reinforced than my old '66 W bus was. I remember driving around in that thing, my knees up against the single metal panel front, and watching the road go by through the air slits in the panels at my shins. LOL!

[twirlgrrl.livejournal.com]

P.S. Speaking of accordions... my ex used to work for BMW, and it was amazing to see the crashed cars brought in. They were just completely MANGLED accordion-style. But that's why BMWs are so safe--they are designed to crumple in a million layers to take the brunt of the crash impact and spare the driver. It works, but it means that it's really easy to total a Bimmer! This was during the .com boom; so many people would waltz in and buy a new BMW with their vaporware money, go nuts on the roadway with their powerful new little racecar, and total the car within weeks. I've never seen so many crashed cars that didn't even have their permanent license plates yet.

[ninjalie.livejournal.com]

Aww quirkyness like that makes me miss SF and you.

[twirlgrrl.livejournal.com]

:)