We already have the tiny Smartcars which putt along happily, and are still quite the novelty, but they still compete for the same space on the road. However, what if North American cities were suddenly inundated by herds of ultra small vehicles?
Ideally the small cars will be fuel efficient or, better still, run on alternate fuels, although that information is not forthcoming in the article. Assuming an individual vehicle does not worsen the air we breathe, what of the traffic problems and road safety. In India, their fear is that already congested roads will become even more clogged, and lead to major disruptions and traffic jams. Here I see something different.
In North American cities, as in many around the world, the road system delineates lane width. To date I have not seen a Smartcar driver take undue advantage of his or her diminutive stature. They must be leery of the larger vehicles and occupy their area much as a motorcycle is supposed to. Would we eventually get to multiple lane widths? Would shoulder areas suddenly open up to small traffic? Would smaller cars tend to tail gate more often, leading to more road rage? Would many more young drivers suddenly adopt their own car like a cell phone because it's affordable, and we let them?
Then what of safety? At least in a full size car we have some stronger, more costly, materials and the vehicle's mass can withstand small crashes. If a tiny car is hit by a full size car, or worse, a truck, the driver will have no chance.
The French and Japanese are already looking into cars for under $3,000. The Lada didn't work out here, thankfully, but are worse days yet to come?
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