why do people in the UK drive such little cars?

Question

if i ever go to london im gonna take dads crew cab dually dodge,12"kift,44"swampers,stacks,etc

Answer 1

Hi I live in Northern Ireland so the answers are just as relevant to the rest of the UK and Europe. The main reason is to do with the way vehicles are taxed, insured, cost of fuel, roads and size of the city’s, towns and villages. Mass private ownership of the motor car arrived relatively late, only taking off after WW2 when people generally had more money to spend. It was for a long time it was considered a luxury to own one. Geographically you are never more than 70 miles from the sea so the bus coach and trains were the main mode of getting around. England had a vast network of train track which was used extensively until about 60 years ago, when people’s standard of living started to rise and the possibility of car ownership became a reality.
The road system has developed from narrow country lanes that have them selves developed from country tracks and laneways. England has still got a vast network of Green Lanes Ancient roads that are as the name implies are just unpaved tracks. Still roads in the strict sense of the word but most modern cars wouldn’t be able to drive on them, just 4X4`s. With that in mind small cars developed to cope with the size of the roads. We have 4 grades of roads 1-Motorways, A-roads, B-roads and green lanes.
Of course there is always the government trying to get there pint of blood out of the motorist. We have a Road Tax system that taxes you according to the size and BHP of the engine in your car. That has aided in the development of the small car over the years. Cheaper to run.
If you bought your car over here you would soon give it up as the price of fuel would be prohibitive to run it, and the sheer bulk of it would have you pulling your hair out at the roots. Parking it would be a nightmare. Besides someone in a Subaru Impretza would wipe the floor with you even in a straight drag race or round the twisty bits. This is only a general explination but it gives you an idea how the car culture developed.
If you do come over here, welcome, have fun and enjoy yourself.

Answer 2

Gas or as they say "petrol" is much more expensive over in the UK and Europe as well. This is mainly due to the high taxes the government has on fuel, but also due to the fact that they import all of their petrol. Anyway as a result, consumers have over time adapted to using smaller, and thus more fuel efficient vehicles. The same would occur here if the gas prices were $4+ a gallon, over time people would adapt to smaller cars.

For comparison purposes, gas is sold in the UK by the liter. There are 3.78 liters in 1 gallon. A liter of petrol is usually sold for around 95 pence (almost 1 pound). As of now, 1 pound is equal to 2 US dollars. So lets just use a pound per liter, that's 3.78 pounds per gallon, or $7.50 for a gallon of gas! When it averages around $2.20 a gallon here, you can see why they use so much less and drive smaller cars.

Answer 3

The law for driving force's controls mandates N for independent, P for Park and R for opposite, yet enables different warning indicators than D for force. The logic for this is to accommodate such issues as a demonstration of which equipment the motor vehicle field is using, including a million, 2, 3, and so on, or L3 for locked in 0.33 or decrease for complicated situations or towing. So E isn't any subject. For US, the law is FMVSS one hundred and one, further CMVSS one hundred and one for Canada. For EC the Directive would not comprise equipment field alerts, however the extra contemporary UNECE regulation 121 does and is expected to swap the Directive at it gradual interior here few years. additionally, international locations like Australia tend to understand the UNECE Regs instead to their national law. (could no longer locate FMVSS one hundred and one online, despite the fact that this is there someplace!)

Answer 4

Good luck with that. They drive little cars because the streets are so narrow and the parking spots are small. Not to mention the Pound to Dollar rate and the cost of fuel will eat your wallet.

Answer 5

Because the roads are alot smaller in europe and because gas prices are higher then in the states. Also, London is a very big city and there is alot of traffic.

Answer 6

Good luck with that beast in London! There's probably not a parking space in the entire city for that thing. LOL!

Answer 7

cause the roads are smaller, there is less space to drive and park and gas is way more expensive.

plus their were not founded on cars as transportation as the main way to get around like the USA is. they rely on trains, subways, etc.

Answer 8

they are way more economiacal over there..... plus most people walk and ride bikes also... why over load the streets with trucks you dont need. really do we need a Doge Ram 4X4 big horn and stuff. come on they are twice the size you need... why not just drive around in a semi

Answer 9

Gasoline is high, and their culture has never valued big cars.