>From a pure cost of fuel to operate-vs.-build standpoint, that may be
correct. And I know that what I'm about to say wasn't the point of this
thread but, to me, the more important strike against old gas guzzlers as
every day transportion is 1) harmful emissions and 2) passenger safety.
(note that I am not targeting LBCs because they are so relatively rare
compared to the total population of cars on the road that their
contribution to the environment, harmful or not, is too insignificant to
reasonably measure). On safety, new vehicles are far safer in an accident
than any vehicle that was built 20 or more years ago. I read an article
recently that had the results of insurance industry studies that showed
that collisions that would have likely led to fatalities 25 years ago are
now resulting in only minor injuries thanks to airbags, pre-designed
crumple zones, engines that drop out of the way instead of intruding on
the passenger compartment, etc. I feel much better knowing the people I
love are riding in a newer car with airbags, antilock brakes,etc, than I
would with them battling traffic every day in a 25 year old anything. On
the emissions point, everytime I get stuck in traffic behind a circa 1980
Buick, Ford, Chevy, etc, I can literally smell the unburned hydrocarbons
they are pouring out. I'm not an enviro-nazi, and I don't want to ever
give up the right to drive my TR6 (even it's belching unburned
hydrocarbons). But there are valid arguments for continuing engineering
improvements with cars.
Cheers, Greg Hutmacher
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 09:01:07 -0500
From: Dave Massey <105671.471@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: What to do w/ Old Fluif
Message text written by INTERNET:Percybal@aol.com
> Randall, I read your response and wondered if the same comments
might not be attributed to the TOTAL costs of running an old car versus
the TOTAL costs of a newly manufactured vehicle.....just change used
oil to old car and virgin oil to new car........perhaps an interesting
thread.
<
One of the upshots of this thread (covered a few years back) is that it
takes about as much energy to produce a car as it will consume in its
lifetime. So the argument used years ago about taking gas guzzlers off
the
road and replacing them with more fuel efficient cars is flawed.
Dave
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