[thefactor]

the rest of the world does not realize that the US is different. we drive farther distances to work. we have more parking spaces. we drive with more people in the car. we do not need this car. except maybe people in NYC or san fran where parking and gas are at a premuim. but there are better choices out there.

now, if you made special lanes for these types of cars that would cut my commute in half, now we're talking.

[Nowhere Man]

the rest of the world does not realize that the US is different. we drive farther distances to work. we have more parking spaces. we drive with more people in the car. we do not need this car. except maybe people in NYC or san fran where parking and gas are at a premuim. but there are better choices out there.

True, a lot of people in foreign countries, mainly Europe, don't realize how many open spaces we have and we have longer distances here to overcome. We are and will always be married to the automobile, it is an American (and Canadian) thing. I knew someone who served in the Army, he was stationed in the then West Germany. He joked, in Europe, the "towns are 2 kiloton apart, here in the U.S., they are more like 200 kilotons apart." You can walk or bike from town to town, village to village over there, you can't do so well here.

This Smart Car, well, if it was for 3 or 5 thousand bucks, I could go for one, I go 3 miles to work everyday, but I think I'll keep my 1994 Ford "Exploder," I can haul things in it. My grade school buddy has a F-150 crew cab pickup, it's laid up now, so he asked me to help him take home a 52" HDTV, no way you'll get that home in a Smart Car. Then again, that car is nothing buy food for bigger cars, it's so small that it makes a Hyundai look like a 1965 Mercury. B-)