Society's got priorities wrong.
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most car travels are 1 person or sometimes 2 person
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the majority of car travels are quite short, less than 40km.
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many car travels are just to get some groceries or drop of a little package or just say "hi" to someone, carrying nothing but themselves.
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cars are fucking expensive, to buy and to maintain
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accidents become way worse with heavier vehicles
Microcar is a valid answer to all of these, while still being sheltered from weather.
How are urban places (i'm in Belgium) with almost permanent super heavy road traffic congestion, bad climate statistics, high polution values, very limited available space left, no self-sustaining energy production and high traffic accident statistics still pooring in billions and billions in subsidies year after year into "regular" big heavy SUV-like vehicles instead of these? It's beyond my comprehension. The only real valid reason i somewhat get is the collective scare of being in a crash and not wanting to be in the smaller vehicle. We could save the climate, we choose not to.
- MICROLINO: 17.990 €
- OPEL ROCKS: 8.699 €
- CITROEN AMI: 7.790 €
- RENAULT TWIZY: 13.000 €
- FIAT TOPOLINO: 9.890 €
A lot of people here casually spend more on a sunday racing bike every few years for fucks sake.
First of all it's tiny and limited to 45km/h which is the top speed of an e-bike in the states. I don't want to be hit by a microcar, but I'd hate to get hit by a loaded class 3 cargo bike either. And I'd far rather either of those than some obnoxious dually equipped pickup truck.
Second of all, some people don't want to be out biking in inclement weather..... Or even at all. And that's OK.
Small light electric vehicles like ebikes or electric microcars are a great way to supplement gaps in good public transit and walkable cities. On top of that, unlike full size electric cars which reinforce car dependence, these types of vehicles encourage small, slow streets for cars in urban areas, mixed with bike, walking, and public transit infrastructure.
You're right, these are very good arguments. I'm just too biased towards bikes, so I become overly critical of microcars. The two are complementary modes of transport, for sure. Still, a compulsory driving license for microcars should be standard around the world.
They do have a license requirement, it's just not a full drivers license. At least for anyone born after 1987. Before that, these vehicles were meant to save rural widows from starvation so they really had no requirement except for insurance. Here is more info!
https://www.connexionfrance.com/practical/explainer-what-are-the-rules-on-licence-free-cars-in-france/267381
I know what you mean though, anything that looks like a car based solution always looks like a trap to encourage more car dependence.