MIT Media Lab Rolls Out Folding Car

kkleiner writes "You think European cars are small now, wait till the Hiriko takes to the roads in Spain's northern Basque country. The two-seater is about the size of a SmartCar, but when parked, the car can actually fold. After folding, the car takes up about a third of a normal parking space. The Hiriko, Basque for 'urban car,' folds as the rear of the car slides underneath its chassis. Every square foot counts."

Re:not to mention getting run over by SUVs

[Osgeld]

cause the occupants of an SUV wont be killed if they hit a brick in the road

Hemmed in?

[eth1]

So what happens when you park and fold the car, then someone comes and uses the extra space to park? You're stuck.

It's bad enough with cars that don't fold when idiots park so close you can't get back out.

Now maybe if it shortens the car enough that you can "parallel park" head in... Of course then you'd have to expand the car into traffic and sit there while you load up/get in.

Re:not to mention getting run over by SUVs

[DragonWriter]

size / weight is absolutely an issue. I have spoken to many parents who want to buy their 16 year old as big of a car as possible, because they know that 16 year olds are idiots and will wreck the car. Visibility doesnt matter, and responsibility isnt programmed into the kids yet. The parents are concerned for only one thing, the safety of THEIR kid.

They are also poorly informed. SUVs -- and larger cars in general -- are only "better" in terms of safety when you consider injuries/deaths to occupants per accident.

Once you consider the increased frequency of accidents of larger vehicles, the safety advantage for occupants of the large car disappears.

I am not defending this, and it actually makes me sick, but it is impossible to dismiss the advantage of size in a collision.

It is likewise impossible to dismiss the advantage of size if your goal is to maximize the frequency of collisions a vehicle will experience.