• doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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    16 hours ago

    Safety regulations require things like better crumple zones. The seating areas aren’t significantly larger.

    • Photonic@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Nah that’s not just it. People used to drive sedans and hatchbacks, now everyone and their mother has an SUV

      • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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        5 hours ago

        It’s all related. You can’t add a thousand pounds of safety equipment and larger crumple zones and make a full size sedan that consistently gets 40+ mpg.

        Companies pivoted to the SUV because it didn’t have to have absurdly good fuel efficiency, and people liked being “bigger” despite often having less space than full size sedans.

        • Photonic@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          There’s no reason to make it worse just because it’s already a bit bad. Hatchbacks and sedans still exist and they really don’t have anywhere near 1000lbs of extra safety equipment.

          It’s just a trend that blew over from the US. Here is some more info.