http://www.npr.org/2013/08/23/214723...ious-car-study

 

It says "If you have a big car, show you may be more likely to break the law." I think it depends on what laws are being broken...like speed limits, or running a stop light, or something being caused by aggression...I think maybe one of those I mentioned have been broken by MINI's at least a few times... But otherwise, I can understand what they are getting at.

 

Just remember in the words of George Carlin...(paraphrased to remove curses!!)....
Anybody driving slower than you is stupid, and anybody driving faster is a lunatic!!

 

Well, it is NPR,....
Once it had news...
But it seems to just a a PR outlet for liberal press....
Everything seems to have an agenda...
Remember...drive a small car, save the world...drive big, you must be evil!!

 

What a stupid question, right along the lines of "Do people with blue eyes make stinkier farts? Details at 11"

 

Rubbish, absolutely rubbish!

 

Ahhh, a big bank bailout, military uber-alles, Sarah Palin fan speaks...

 

"Wow, could this $^&#@ go any slower-WOW, look at that maniac GO!"

 

But still better than the Faux News propaganda channel.

 

The Italian job was done with small cars. :-)

 

I think there is an invincibility factor that goes with driving a big powerful car. That can encourage a lot of reckless driving. So if we're talking suburban vs smart car, I think it would be safe the smart in general would be more cautious and considerate or "ethical".
I'd throw at least half of minis in with sports car drivers who drive like they're on an F1 road course.

Of course this is NPR and it doesn't support your world view so all their news must be lies made up by the liberals. Those idiots, don't they know that changes to climate, and respiratory illness are only cause by an angry Christian god not the horrible substances we pump into the atmosphere!
(Liberals and Conservatives both please quit being blind morons the world isn't simply black and white, try listening and maybe you'll see the truth is usually somewhere in the middle)

 

Here's another article....may have already been posted. I know that BMW drivers in this area suffer from a severe lack of turn signal fluid, and an inability to operate a blue tooth or not text while driving....as for Prius drivers on the freeways here...there's a special place in hell for them.

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2013/0...s-survey-says/

 

Wrong question, really. The article is about small cars vs big cars, and the corrupting effects of power -- nothing MINI-specific.

I've read other studies that show hybrid owners (think Prius) are more likely to be unethical and less charitable because they feel like they've earned the right to be jerks -- "I just saved the planet, don't you know, so the rules apply to others, not me."

Bicyclists exhibit some of the same attitude, acting as if their righteous cycling exempts them from the rules of the road. (Temptation to run Stop lights is also encouraged by Newton's laws, which trump traffic laws every time.)

While it's true the MINI is a small car, it's also true that the base model is less powerful (and more like a Prius) -- while the S models provide power greater than than most cars of the same size, and therefore S drivers may not be such a good fit for the small-car-ethos. The effects of posture (cramped space vs spacious interiors) would apply to both models.

My feeling is that anytime a consumer values style over substance (think Apple and MINI), then there is a good chance that person is a narcissistic hedonist -- "damn the polar bears and poor people, I've got mine!" (BTW, I buy both MINI and Apple, so if I'm pointing at you, there are 3 fingers pointing back at me.)

Then there is the issue of making a virtue of necessity. Am I a more ethical driver because my small car does not allow me to intimidate other drivers? It's not like I have the choice.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Napoleon complex! "You think you can intimidate me because I'm small? Watch this, a-hole!" (crazy traffic maneuver ensues)

 

Funny stuff - minibagel. Thanks
Keep politics outta this forum

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

Just by being on NPR - this has ZERO credibility.

 

+1

 

Rob (and now minirab), Recently, I've been examining the nature of belief - that is, how and why we come to believe what we do. I am particularly interested in beliefs which appear to allow no room for doubt, so I'd like to discuss your opinion in greater detail.

But not here, obviously, because the contributors to this thread have made it clear they don't want any politics inserted into the discussion. (Nor do I - my interest is more in learning how things work, than trying to prove I'm right and you're wrong.)

Maybe you'd like to move your observation over to the "Off topic" forum where we can discuss the nature of reality in greater detail?

Until then, here is a little exercise in logic that demonstrates why I don't find your argument to be very satisfying.

NPR is biased, therefore they have no credibility.
Everyone's point of view is subjective, therefore no one has any credibility.
I am part of everyone, therefore I have no credibility.

 

I know it's partly my fault for starting it, but since this thread seems to only be headed downhill at this point, perhaps the mods would do us all a favor and close it?

 

I consider myself a cautious, courteous driver whether I'm piloting a boat, driving my motor home, motorcycle, the Corvette or Porsche (when I had them), or even my wife's SUV. I don't believe the vehicle defines the person driving it. No matter where or how I go it's still me that's there and I'm at a pretty stable point in my life.

 

Well, you did start by asking a rather philosophical question - which is what attracted my attention. And now it's getting too philosophical? Must we add ethics and philosophy to religion and politics, which are in that category of topics-that-cannot-be-discussed-in-public in America anymore?

Some posts have been off-topic, maybe, but "downhill" seems kind of harsh.

To whaap: I wish I could say the same, but if truthful, I must admit that I was a more "cautious, courteous driver" before I got the MINI. (I, also, am supposed to be at a stable point in my life, but ...)

My cautious behavior in the past was dictated, in part, by owning cars that were incapable of being driven any other way. My first car as a teenager was a 1948 Plymouth 4-door - 95 bhp - and it was no hot rod. From there, a series of Japanese 4 cylinder pickup trucks. Practical enough, but no performance of any kind.

The MINI seems to reward bad behavior, but I am struggling with it, and trying to be a better person.

 

Personally I don't like driving urban assault vehicles. However, this isn't research. It seems more like bigotry to me. Shouldn't we avoid labeling and being prejudice of a whole group of people that we don't know?

 

No problem with discussion of philosophy or ethics, but the editorializing about various media outlets -- left or right -- seems like an unwise detour.

Carry on.

 

Agreed!

RE, chini,
True, when labeling a group of people, there is always the danger of stereotyping -- but making a general conclusion based on numerous specific observations (inductive reasoning) is a reasonable way to look at the world. Inductive reasoning doesn't PROVE anything, it just suggests probability.

The MIT laboratory research simply suggests that drivers are more likely to ignore the rules when they are in a spacious car interior than when in a smaller interior. They field-checked their theory by counting cars which were double parked in NYC, and found a higher percentage of cars with spacious interiors were illegally parked. The study really tested the theory that it is your posture in the car that affects behavior, and not the exterior size of the car. In fact, their study was not limited to only behavior in cars, but also in other spaces. (You can read the results as published by the researchers here: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/dan...sty.PsySci.pdf)

I doubt there is anything you could say about MINI drivers as a group that would hold up in every case. And the OP's tag line "Are MINI drivers more ethical?" isn't really the question the research was tying to answer. The spacious-interior-effect demonstrated by the research could easily be less than some other effect which determines what kind of people buy MINIs and how they drive them.

 

Sorry. I just think your propensity for stealing, cheating or breaking the law is more about how you were brought up rather than the size of your vehicle.