Quote:
Originally Posted by LazyScot
There was a fascinating article in the New Scientist (I think about a year ago) dealing with the difficulty of providing signs that would make sense after such long periods of time. (Assuming that the engineering issues could be solved.) One point that came up (I think) was the even if the warnings were understood, would people heed them -- think of the warnings on the tombs of the Eygptian pharaos.
|
I remember reading a similar article nearly 30 years ago-- in
Scientific American, I think. It's a problem I don't think we've solved yet. (I'm not a fan of the "launch it into the sun" plan, for a variety of reasons.)
I often think that if all passenger vehicles had to include the "miles per gallon/kilometers per litre" calculator that the Prius and Civic Hybrid have, people would be a lot more conscious of their fuel use, and would be able to make more informed decisions. I know that my driving habits changed quite a bit after I started driving a Civic Hybrid, and I became much more efficient. That carries over into my driving non-hybrids, too. I'd rather see a policy of making this kind of display mandatory than prohibitions against building gas vehicles or whatever. I'd like to see it have the status of an odometer, unalterable by law, so that someone buying a used or new car could see for themselves what mileage it gets.
Again, the idea would be to help people make informed decisions, not to try to make the decisions for them. There are times when a less efficient vehicle really is the right one for the job. (Our Prius can't be used to pull a trailer, for example.)