What do you think of these single person, "retiree" cars?

Murrmurr said:
I just didn't want you to worry about your daughter. You said she owns a Smart car, yeah?

Grant said the Smart body has a well-built steel reinforced frame. That's what save them from any injuries. Plus, seatbelts.
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No..I said the opposite.. she owns a Toyota Rav4...someone recently gave her a lift somewhere in a tiny Smart car... she couldn't wait to get out of it..
 

hollydolly said:
we have these tiny cars here... they're really awful, there's no protection at the front at all if you were to crash...they're supposed to be for around town, but in reality they are more at risk around the busy town than out in the open..

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Shouldn't that tiny black car be driven on sidewalks?
 
When we lived in Arizona I had a street legal golf cart. It was legal on streets where the speed limit was 30 mph or less. The state issued license plates that were the same size as the ones for motorcycles. It was required to have a full set of lights, and a horn. I removed the golf bag rack and installed a large plastic chest that was great for grocery shopping. In that geezer community many folks had a real car and a cart.
 
I'll pass on all of those little things they want to call an auto. I'd feel safer on my riding mower which has a longer wheel base than one of those on the roadway.

After having an F150 pick up truck totaled after being broad-sided in the drivers door, I can imagine what would have happened to me in a midget car. :eek:

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fuzzybuddy said:
There's a flood of tiny electric "retiree" cars. What do you think of these tiny electric cars, supposedly made for retired seniors.
A while ago, there was a tiny car parked next to me. It was a two seater. The problem was this was at the grocery store, and they didn't have any room for their grocery bags. I won't get into the gas vs electric war.
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Oh Noooo! It's cute but odd looking and what I call a half a car. I'd hate to be in an accident while riding in that. And how about this crazy looking thing....

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“No thanks” on the tiny cars from me as well. I want to improve my chances of surviving an accident, which is a real concern with traffic heavy, fast, and aggressive.

In my part of rural America, the opposite extreme seems to hold sway; Bubba seems to want the biggest pickup that he can get, even though he rides solo, and rarely hauls anything. Must be an “image” thing, or perhaps compensatory… 🤔
 
Hi,
Those mini vehicles certainly have their place, but not here in my part of Texas. Statistics show that approximately 1/3 of the vehicles here are regular size pick up trucks (yes, I have one as do my neighbors). Another third is SUVs, and the remaining third is the typical small/medium sedan.

IMO, the mini cars would be death traps here - not much safer than a motor bike.

Now in a sane world there would be minimal problems, but 75-80 percent of drivers here are "distracted", mostly by cell phones, but also drugs (includes caffeine), make-up application, and downright anger. Honestly, the only reason I first bought a full size pick-up was for safety and especially my wife's nerves.
 
Here is our two seater retiree vehicle. We drive about 2000 miles a year in it. We can drive it to about 50 different golf courses, 100 restaurants, 12 country clubs, multiple grocery stores, too many shops to count. We can even drive it to Dr offices and the hospital.

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Here is a whole bunch of those little cars, even stacked up on shelves. All are for sale if you need one. Probably over a hundred in this one room.
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Around here use of a freeway can be just about essential to get to medical facilities or large department stores. Can’t imagine one of those tiny vehicles on a freeway, but for local shopping probably ok. Locally we are having a problem with electric bikes, largely driven by kids without a drivers license. Bikes designed to be pedaled and just assisted by an electric motor seem ok, but some are little more than motorcycles in disguise.
 
In my area of rural America, the majority of pick ups are used for either your property or for your job. If a family has two, one is a back up for their main pick up.

@Mobilman44, I replaced my totaled F-150 with another F-150. Now it's time to replace our mid-size passenger car & will be getting an Explorer (mid-size SUV) a because of safety issues like you said. I understand no vehicle is infallible, but I can't see buying a small vehicle if you have the option not to.

Ohio passed a law a while back which allows golf carts that have been modified to be street legal & driven by a licensed driver on roads under 35MPH. When this happened, they were the rage in certain areas. Now the rage is over & I seen one about a month ago for the first time in forever in town. The biggest problem I had (and still have) was when town folk took their carts out into the country where the speed limit is well over 35 MPH.

A few weeks ago the local paper had a story where a town to the west of was having problems with underage kids driving non-street legal carts all over town ignoring the law. It all started when a local man started selling golf carts to everyone. I've been looking for updates on the story, but haven't seen more on it yet.
 

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