How much does your car weigh?

We often don’t think about it, the actual weight of our vehicle.   You will never carry it, so it is not like a skateboard, when you can say two pounds.   You will never really push and/or carry it like a bike, so you are never really trying to get it to weigh less, like you do with a bike.

Hopefully, you never have it run over your toe, so you know its not the 38 pound child plus the 2 pound scooter.

So what does your car weigh?  Would it surprise you to know, that one of the “lightest” cars around is the Smart Car with a weight of 1609 pounds?   You cannot lift it, you are not strong enough.

On the other end of the spectrum, a Hummer weighs 6614 pounds.   The most popular car, the Honda Accord weighs 3175 pounds.

Why am I talking about the weight of a vehicle?

As we discuss in our online driver safety course, physics are in play when you drive.

As Newton’s 2nd Law of Physics states, “The acceleration produced by a particular force acting on a body is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force and inversely proportional to the mass of the body.”  The key is the mass of the body and last I checked, there are not a lot of people who could exert Newton’s 3rd Law, as people do not even weigh what a smart car does.

The point is, when you are driving a car, you interacting with the forces of physics and your vehicle weighs, A LOT.   It is best to focus on the task at hand, drive and put the phone in the back seat.   Distracted Driving… is the equivalent of shooting a gun randomly into the air on New Years, you have no idea where the bullet will land.

Another sad but real story from the DOT below.   Drive safely.