One for the Little Guys

Sitting on a subway in Stuttgart Germany I saw a smart car for the first time. I remember turning to the group of missionaries I was with and telling them how cool I thought it was.
"That little thing, I would totally run that over with my Dodge Ram if we were back in the states."
"I would love to get in an accident with you while I'm driving my dad's hummer."
"If I ever see your smart car in a parking lot I'm going to pick it up and throw it in the back of my truck."
I was starting to believe American's had grown up out of that phase though when I was looking for a new car about 2 years ago. I mentioned to several people I wanted to get a SMART car, this was just a wish since the car still wasn't available in America. I was shocked at the response. Without fail every response was nearly the same. "Your going to get killed." "Your first wreck is going to be your last." "I'd like to see what's left of that thing when you run into a SUV."
From their responses I began to wonder how many of my friends expected me to be driving through monster truck rallys on my way home from work. Having friends that plan on getting in so many wrecks is a little disconcerting considering how often I ride with them. Although I will admit the thought of someone picking up my car and putting it in the back of their truck is really funny. But personally I hate being in a big car, the smaller the better. Of course the only problem is--as I quickly found out while speaking to friends--everyone else likes to drive big cars. Which wouldn't be so bad but the people in those huge elephants appear to be the same people who think Mopac was intended to be a demolition derby. I was beginning to think there was no hope for the little guys on the road.
Until this summer, when an unexpected hero came to save the day. Who was our Knight in shinning armor...High Gas Prices! Suddenly driving the big trucks is becoming less and less appealing, and yesterday one of the friends who said I was going to be crushed by an oncoming Hummer just bought a Yaris. So while the rest of the country is complaining about outrageous gas prices I'm going to thank our quiet hero and encourage him to keep on climbing.

*Addendum: Actually large cars have contributed to turning our highways to into the bumper car range. Drivers who feel more safe driving are more likely to get in an accident. So driving a small car will actually decrease the chance of your getting in an accident. Although if we really wanted safe roads several economist have said installing a knife into the steering wheel pointed at the heart of the driver would decrease the number of accidents dramatically.

**Someone commented after seeing this post that I am another crazy environmentalist. To be clear I share the same view about environmentalist as Steven Landsburg.