The Mazda MX-5 Miata and Chevrolet (GM) Corvette, aren't certified to carry two 200-pound adults, according to a government formula aimed at tire safety.
Many five-passenger vehicles are rated about 850 pounds, maxxing out if their five occupants weigh more than 170 pounds each. Six 200-pounders would overload the seven-passenger Dodge Grand Caravan minivan."
Car weight limits are a big, fat problemSounds like one part of the government is not talking to the other part. The Federal government reports 66% of Americans are overweight or obese. I don't think those tires are going to last long; not as long as Americans keep going through the fast-food drive thru.
Automakers say the limits reflect a mandated federal formula that requires them to rate passengers at 150 pounds each. The limit may not be realistic "given American propensity for food, but that is the regulation," says Mazda safety director Dan Ryan.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says automakers can set the weight limit at whatever they deem appropriate.
In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control pegged average weights at 190 pounds for men, 163 for women.
David Champion, Consumer Reports head of auto testing, says automakers aren't building cars that can stand up to loads of bigger passengers. A family car "should be capable of carrying five reasonably sized people, not five midgets.
1 comment:
This story is unrelated to this specific post but I simply had to share it. The other day on a local radio station (in Calgary, Alberta, Canada), the announcer asked people to call in and tell what would be the first thing they would do if they won the lottery. Well, this one dame with the I.Q. of a dead slug, said she would go to McDonald's and order EVERY SINGLE ITEM ON THE MENU and just keep going until she'd eaten it all!
I immediately thought of you and several other healthy food bloggers, doing everything possible on this earth to choose LIFE, and this mental midget, imagining the possibility of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, in effect choosing death as her first wish. Now THAT is insanity. You know, if she'd said that she'd fly down to Vegas and eat her way through the entire menu at one of Emeril's restaurants or go to some foodie heaven in NYC or Paris-- you know, somewhere that the food, while fattening, would at least be incredibly delicious -- I could get my mind around it. But McDonald's?! GAK! JD
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