SMALL CARS JAZZ UP THE STREETS OF SAN JUAN
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Smart Car Photograph by Ian Britton courtesy of FreeFoto.com |
They are a common sight throughout San Juan, those adorable small cars that strut around catching everyone' eye with their singular looks and jazzy colors.
Small enough to easily navigate congested urban streets or swing into the tightest of parking spots, the Smart "Fortwo" and the Mini Cooper are gaining ground among car buyers seeking fuel efficiency and pride of ownership in an indisputable attention grabber. With a length of 8.8 feet, Smart is about half the size of a traditional car and has a fuel efficiency of 33 miles per gallon in the city and 41 mpg on the highway. The Mini Cooper is under 12 feet long with fuel efficiency of 28 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway.
Sales of the Mini are holding up despite the troubled economy and are almost on par with last year, if somewhat lower, according to Andrés Soler, a salesman for Autogermana, exclusive BMW and Mini dealers. He said people are switching over from large cars and SUVs to the Mini because of its fuel efficiency and safety features. It is a favorite of 16-year-old drivers and young adults as "old" as 91 years, he said.
The Mini, convertible or hardtop edition, has two doors while the Clubman model offers a little extra length and three doors. The lineup of 2011 models includes the Mini Countryman, featuring four doors and all-wheel drive. "It's going to be fantastic," said Soler. Prices of the mini reflect its status as "the only compact car in the premium category." Base price is $26,995 but add all the features and the sticker price rockets to $60,000. Soler said prices for the 2011 models are scheduled to increase by $900.
Available since February through Triangle Honda, the Smart car is catching on among car buyers with some 600 units sold in the past six months, according to salesman Johnny Lopez. You can pick up a demonstration vehicle for as low as $13,995 while 2010 models are going for $17,995, he said. New 2011 models are due in January but no word yet on pricing.
Notwithstanding their appeal, small cars inevitably raise questions of safety. Both the Mini and Smart rank high in both crash and rollover ratings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Still, these tests -- and the ensuing ratings -- are meant to test a specific make of car against another car of similar size and weight. The problem is that drivers don't have the luxury of choosing which cars they might crash into; that, alas, is strictly at the mercy of fate.
It's unavoidable for small cars to be at a disadvantage when pitted against a larger vehicle in a crash. A 2009 Associated Press story reported that tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that drivers of 2009 versions of the Smart "fortwo," Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris "could face significant leg and head injuries in severe front-end crashes with larger, mid-size vehicles...The tests were conducted at 40 miles per hour, representing a severe crash." Reacting to these results, automakers countered that these types of crashes rarely happen on the road,the AP story said.
To find out more on the safety of these and other vehicles, one good place to check is autos.msn.com, a website that provides all sort of car data including reviews and safety information. Among other things, it provides crash test ratings based on the crash test data gathered by IIHS and NHTSA. You can look up safety ratings by year, make of car, and model. Also to be found on the website is video of crash tests with commentary on the effect of the crash on passenger dummies.
FATAL DECEMBER
December is not a good month to have a car accident in Puerto Rico.That's because accidents that occur during this month are more likely to prove fatal, according to the Police Department. The same holds true for May and July.
The months with the highest number of accidents? That dubious honor goes to October and November. Agent Ramón Hernández, of the Police Department's Traffic Bureau, could not explain what accounts for the uptake. He said that during those two months traffic accidents usually "shoot up."
In the 10 months between January and October 2010, police have recorded 191,919 traffic accidents. There were 243,687 last year so the hope is that once November and December are factored in, the total for 2010 won't surpass 2009. Fewer traffic accidents would probably be the result of increased police patrolling and higher gasoline prices which keep many drivers from undertaking longer trips, Hernández said.
Consumer Planet chanced on the above information while pursuing a far more elusive question: namely, what automobile makes are more frequently involved in accidents islandwide. Regrettably, that question remains unanswered for now but we will continue to track it down for a future issue.
Silence is instructive.
Not doing is beneficial.
This is understood by very few.
Tao Te Ching
Simple Tip
The easiest way to cook frozen vegetables is simply to place a steamer tray in a pan filled with water, boil and then turn off the heat. Place vegetables in the pan and let steam a few minutes to wonderful crunchy perfection. This works too for fresh vegetables like collards that require very little cooking.
CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION
A story in the October issue of Vogue magazine highlighted the work of Harvard-trained doctor Daphne Miller. She is the author of "The Jungle Effect: Healthiest Diets from Around the World -- Why They Work and How to Make Them Work for you," a book that explores the connection between eating and health. In researching the book, Miller travelled the globe and explored indigenous diets in areas where diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer and breast and prostate cancer are rare. She found that these healthy diets are based on fresh, nutrient-rich foods such as omega-3 rich fish, vegetables, and slow-release carbs that are slowly digested by the body, keeping blood sugar and insulin levels lower. "The healing quality of the diet has as much to do with the proportions and combinations of the ingredients as their high quality," Miller told Vogue.
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Photograph by Carl P. Blasor |
"In nature, the lure of the unknown, the intuitive, even the invisible reminds me that the land, the ocean, and the sky above will never vanish. They are longer than our idea of forever." Diane Keaton
Copyright ©2010 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved
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