in france and mostly paris, cars park bumper to bumper when parallel parked, people would shove parked cars with their bumpers to make space to park and to get out.
how would american and canadian car culture change if this practice became acceptable overnight? would it mean less people would be motivated to buy nice cars because they can get damaged? would more people install things like bumper protectors and bash bars to give their car an edge? would people start driving even bigger and tougher truck/suv’s, or smaller and cheaper cars? would it mean the cost of the car hobby would go up, since you had to spend more money and effort to be more protective of your enthusiast car? would the public respect that we enthusiasts want to keep our cars nice and free from damage?
and finally, in this new world, what type of car would you be daily driving and would you be modifying it to suit these new circumstances?
My friend lives in Montréal and I can assure you that the parking situation there is identical. All the cars have scratched up bumpers, multiple dents, and often rust as well. People there generally don’t have super fancy cars; in Canada, we even have a term that refers to super base model compact cars: “Le Québec Special”
quebec’s car market is the closest to france’s, and their attitudes to cars even more so.
how would this change affect the more bourgeois areas like gta or vancouver is discussion worthy, everyone drives a flawless lexus or european luxury.
I think you use the term “everyone” very loosely. I would say mainstream Japanese and Korean brands are overwhelmingly dominant in Toronto.