The Driving Woman

for the record, I don't bother with helmets, or knee or elbow pads. we have this great little plastic bubble with a hatch that we just plop our daughter in in the morning and we're safe-to-go. so convenient! ;-)

Guys: If you grow another human being inside your body, you are allowed to be as concerned as you want about its safety once it is outside your body.

^... yes you are correct, you can do just about whatever you want.
 
Just like everyone else can look at you and think your nuts.
 
Whatever happened to what does not kill you, makes you stronger?
 
Theres a thoery out their, that alot of the aleragies / issues with breathing etc, are caused because we live in a too clean world. When your not exposed to dust/viruis/bacteria, your body doesn't build naturally defenses and so later on in life, your much more senstive to things.
 
at some point in life you have to let people make mistakes/learn, Unless you want to watch out for them until they die.

"Guys: If you grow another human being inside your body, you are allowed to be as concerned as you want about its safety once it is outside your body."
 
Your statement is a ridiculous attack against all men and those women that haven't given birth. It's inappropriate.

Nobody has mentioned the absolutely horrible 2nd row legroom. I'm 6'3", and I can't fit in the 2nd row at all, unless the driver's seat is way up. I test drove the Mazda5 and the Kia Rondo, and while the Mazda5 was definitely the better driver of the two, the Rondo was much, much more roomy, despite being shorter overall (179 vs. 181.5). I was suspicious before a test drive, but I fit fine in the Rondo's 2nd row with the driver's seat all the way back.
 
Rondo 41.3/38.2/31.3
Mazda5 40.7/35.2/30.7
 
I'm not saying the Mazda5 doesn't have it's advantages, like slightly better fuel economy and optional HID headlights, bluetooth, LED tail lights, and rain sensing wipers, but for me, it fails at the most basic level. This class is by far about moving people, and at that, the Rondo is far better. That in my book makes up for the Rondo's shortcomings.

I agree that anyone is entitled to be concerned for their safety ANYtime. However, my point is that ESC may be overkill in respect to this particular vehicle. Anything, even safety, taken to an extreme will produce bizarre results. I for one don't intend to live in a bubble for the rest of my life.

I'm a little surprised at the strange logic regarding safety surfacing in this discussion. The "we survived, so you will too" mentality emphasizes nostalgia over common sense. While I miss certain elements of my slightly more carefree youth, I'm not about to risk killing my child just because I once thought it was fun to ride in the back of a pickup truck at 70 miles an hour.
 
On a related note, we, like many families, rarely wore seat belts in the late 70s, until my father became a paramedic and began scraping ejected bodies off the pavement.
 
As for how far to go with safety measures, if it's available, adds actual safety value, and you can afford it, why not get it? Within these parameters, I'm not sure there's such a thing as overkill for the average consumer.

ewilfong, I generally agree with you, but....
 
ESC is a good thing, but it's overemphasized right now. AWD may provide more safety, but isn't a requirement while ESC is. There are countless more examples, but I won't drag that out.
 
I think what many of us are trying to say (maybe with too much exaggeration) is that ESC is overrated and not the end-all. A vehicle with ESC may be quite a bit less safe than one with ESC, depending on other factors. As such, we're not convinced vehicles like the Mazda5 should be excluded on ESC alone.

I am not attacking men or women who haven't given birth. I am just saying that if you gave birth to a child, it gives you the right to be completely, irrationally obsessed about anything that might possibly or impossibly happen to that child.

any time you start to do things " irrationally "... your bound for trouble.
 
And ewilfong ... There is merit to the 'we made it so will you'.
 
The strong surive, the weak get weeded out. to sound very harsh... we keep trying to protect the weakest indivuduals, by making the whole weaker.
 
But thats a different disscussion, there becomes a limt as to how safe you can be.
 
How much are you going to allow your kids to do?
 
can they ride a bike? skateboard? how about ski? swim? run around the yard? are you walls hard or did you pad them?
 
Or are you just going to tie them up to the sofa sot hat they are safe?

I think the concerns about the outside child seat location are unfounded. If you have more then one child, both seats are on the outside at all times. I would like the felxibility of the middle seat for toting little friends around.
 
For the tall guy...I am pretty sure if you are sepnding a lot of time riding in the back, you are inthe wrong car for you. This is a cool good looking mommy mobile. Kids are not going to have any compaints and other adults are probably only along for a short ride.... :-)

I'm with you to an extent, opfreak, but I can't help but think we're on different pages here. You're talking about letting kids run around and be kids, and I'm talking about trying to reduce the risk of head trauma, among other injuries, in a side impact collision. If you have no choice but to put the kid in the outboard position, you live with it, but why not be proactive if you can?
 
As far as the ESC goes, I accept that the Mazda5 may still be a worthy contender without it, but how will my child be weakened if I buy a car with ESC?

ewilfong I dont really disagree with you.
 
Though, If you step back, the argument over safety now, has now boiled down to something, that in the grand scheme of things is petty.

researchqueen, if things get to the "irrationally obsessed" level, that's never good......... LOL!
 
Bryn, I initially didn't understand what you meant by "outboard" seating position, but now that I do, I' thinking you're getting to the "irrationally obsessed" level. (No offence intended.) Well, firstly, the Mazda5 has side air curtains, so it will protect the child. Secondly, the car seat will offer some protection, I'm sure.
I mean, if you worry about things like that then we might as well wear helmets and special suits like motobyke riders do in order to get the best protection in an accident!!!!!!!!
 
Ladies, chill out!!! :-)

Everyone should just walk around dressed like the stig. Fireprotection suits as well, you never know when the car might catch on fire.
 
oh cars should also have fire supression system. another few grand all in the name of safety.

What are the changes for MY 2008? I like the Mazda5 in concept, but had a couple of problems on a test drive:
-not enough front leg room
-not enough rear cargo space
 
I don't see the point of driving a van unless you need all three rows (i.e., three or more kids) on a regular basis. And with that many people on board, you need a lot more room for stuff behind the third row than the Mazda5 has.
 
I agree it would be nice to offer the MT with the top engine, but they probably don't sell enough of these to justify importing so many different configurations. They have to play the odds which sadly indicate a vast majority prefer the slushbox. Perhaps if they begin selling better they'll add that option.
 
Regarding the bench seat... I know the middle is the very safest spot, but eventually you have to move them over to one side. If you ever have a second child, you'll likely have them in the two outboard positions, it's very difficult to fit two ginormous car seats side-by-side. And if you ever use that third row on a regular basis, you'll appreciate the ability to walk through instead of having to fold the seat all the time.

Ahightower, I think the major change for MY 2008 Mazda 5 is the use of a 5-speed auto to replace the previous 4-speed. IMO, it's one of the long overdue "what were they thinking" changes. Another one would be to install ESC......while I don't see it as a big deal, I think it's still a gross error for them to omit it.......and since ESC is already available on the Mazda 3 platform that the Mazda 5 is based on, I just fail to see a sensible reason for its omission.
 
Actually, there is only one engine choice: the 2.3L engine. (It is a slightly detuned version of the Mazda 3 2.3L engine.....I reckon they've traded some power for torque.)
There are three trim levels: the base model, the Touring and the GT. Only the base model offers the MT as an option. Once again, I don't see a sensible reason for that, except that somehow, a person who wants the MT is unlikely to want the more luxurious trims. Yeah, you're right: it doesn't make sense. I for sure like the MT with the luxurious trim.......it's the same configuration I have for my Protege5. (The Mazda 3, 6, and most BMWs are available with MT on the most luxurious trims.)
 
But even assuming this wrong assumption is correct (maybe because of the economic reasons you gave), what I fail to understand is why MT should at least not be available on the higher trim models IF the customer is willing to custom-order and wait. I just cannot see how difficult it would be to place an MT in a GT trim in a custom-ordered vehicle.....if that MT is available on the exact same model and engine choice in lower trim!
 
I don't think the Mazda 5 is meant for carrying 6 people AND their luggage. The Grand Caravan and Odessey serve that purpose. I think the Mazda 5 is meant to carpool kids, take a family of 6 to the movies, or any 6 people for same-day trips where luggage won't be needed.
(In the case of carpooling schoolkids, they can put their backpacks on their laps just like they would if they were to take the bus or train.)

I don't understand why anyone would care about stability control. If you are worried about loosing control, use the money to take an advanced driving course.
 
If you think some computer program written to cover a general list of potential situations can save your life, you are going to end up in the ditch or wrapped around a tree.
 
The trend to electronic nannies taking the place of driving skill is really frightning.
 
As for not putting your child in the outside position, it's amazing how that suddenly becomes OK when the second one is born and it's not possible to put both in the middle.

Blackadder --
I wasn't the one who mentioned irrationality, Genius163 was, but I do think that the opinion of many of the single folks who are writing in may just change a bit when they have kids of their own.
 
As for replacing driving skills with electronic nannies: They are hardly mutually exclusive. I do performance driving school every year, and blow it out on the skid pad over and over. I still want ESC for emergencies. I know too many people who've been seriously injured in car wrecks, and ESC does make a difference in some situations.

Sorry researchqueen....sometimes I confuse you and genius163. :)
 
Perhaps you're right about parenthood and "irrationality". We'll see what happens when I eventually have a family.......