Narrow cars

Since Toyota bought back my truck a few months ago the family has had only one vehicle. For the most part, having one vehicle has not been an inconvenience. Chris and I have to coordinate more but so far we have not needed to be in two distant and different places at the same time. I have also been riding my bike more.

However, we do need a second vehicle and so I keep looking. Sometimes I think about getting a very small car but every time I look at them I keep on thinking "why the hell are they so narrow?" Brunel in the mid 1800's demonstrated that wider vehicles had a superior level of safety, speed, and comfort. So why do car manufactures continue to sell us narrow small cars?

Update: Geoffrey's response was "Narrow streets." Most of these cars are designed for non-US markets where cities and towns have historical centers that have narrow streets.

-- Andrew