Most days, I drive our Chevy Bolt. The Bolt is Chevy’s basic electric vehicle offering, a small compact car. For a car, it’s pretty small—so the seats are not far off the ground.
That means that when I drive the Bolt, I’m pretty much as low as you can go without sitting on the asphalt.
In the past year—it seems like most drivers are literally looking down on me.
With the little bit of Internet research I dedicated to it, I couldn’t find any firm answers on the percentage of registered vehicles that are SUVs and pickups—but based on recent sales information alone in the state of Colorado, I can say with some confidence:
There are a lot of big trucks out there on the road.
And it’s not just the trucks—it’s the “crossover” vehicles, too—where drivers loom over me when I pull up alongside their cars at a light in my diminutive Bolt.
What is so alarming about this is the psychological effect it has on me: I’m a little more worried about driving than I used to be.
Surrounded by big trucks in traffic, I feel a little queasy. The urge to buy big is one of comfort more than utility—most F-150 owners have not hauled anything—and I think that comfort is more about psychological safety than the roomier interiors.
Taylor Coe 