Sick of selfish people driving SUVs?

Question

These awful cars need to be taken off the road. Children MIGHT be safer in them, but at the cost of any other poor child who happens to get in the way of one. Not only are they heavy and unsafe to pedestrians, but they also have massive blind spots.
Their sales are high because they pander to people's paranoia about safety as well as a lot of driver's personal insecurity and lack of self esteem. In the old days these latter drove fast sports cars, but now our roads are so blocked that they find no pleasure in this, so they go for size and muscle instead.
Then of course there are the environmental costs.
I live down a long farm track in the country, but I also know that anyone competant to drive can get a modern front wheel drive car through virtually anything, including quite deep snow.

I seem the have received mostly the answers I was expecting here - from a load of arrogant people totally concerned about their rights but unaware of their obligations to other people and the planet.

Answer 1

"I seem the have received mostly the answers I was expecting here - from a load of arrogant people totally concerned about their rights but unaware of their obligations to other people and the planet."

You seem to think that you and your values are the only ones that are correct, and anyone who dares to disagree with you is either "selfish": or "arrogant".

Free people will make choices that meet their wants and needs. Some chose to spend their money on vehicles that you disapprove of. Some do not drive at all. Some drive smaller vehicles. Some ride bicycles. Some use public transportation.

If a vehicle fits my needs, and I am happy with it, who are you to decide that I should not have it? Why do you think that you are better than me, in knowing what choice is best for me?

Doesn't your attitude seem to be "selfish" and "arrogant"?

Answer 2

So you know all these people do you|? You don't? Then how do you know they're awful? I assume you mean 4X4's, as many so called SUV's are 2 wheel drive. Blind spots? I made the mistake of hiring a Ford Focus to go from Cumbria to Somerset to London and back to Cumbria. Plenty of blind spots, small and claustrophobic. Did 43 to the gallon. My '97 Discovery is a pleasure to drive, does 34 to the gallon on a run, hardly a vast difference and has NO blind spots. Yes I feel safer, why the hell shouldn't I? I'm a responsible driver, so if some clot drives into me and comes off worst do you really think I am going to apologise for being in a safer vehicle? ALL vehicles are dangerous to pedestrians, but only if they hit them! Give me a good reason for getting rid of the Discovery and I'lll do it. Until then stop being unreasonable, insecure and jealous and get out and drive a REAL car.

Answer 3

I mostly agree but I cannot at this point agree to taking them off the road. I think that is too drastic. They do cause a lot of problems for smaller cars. I hate trying to see over or around one and so they make MY driving more dangerous. And yes, the drivers seem drunk with overconfidence which is stupid because sometimes I feel like saying, "go ahead and hit me, I need the money" to the idiots.

How about an accident surcharge on SUV's? If an SUV driver causes an accident, they should pay a small punitive award as well as regular damages to the victim. Since they have better visibility and the small car has worse when it is blocked, they have less excuse to get in accidents.

Answer 4

yep. dam strait. My Toyota Land Cruiser is fairly small but gets a whopping 13 mpg, is very heavy and will win every time one of you freaks in a minivan hits me. Concerning hitting a kid, it has the best visibility of any car I've owned. If a kit gets hit by a Yugo or a tank, the result is usually the same. And yes my other car, a HUGE Toyota Avalon front wheel drive will go anywhere the all wheel drive will go, it won't haul my trailer to the dump, or my camper to the woods. I can't end this without saying something about the environmental cost. My god, are you this blind to think that the kind of car we drive will make ANY difference in ANY aspect of the future of the planet? Wake up. The best thing that could happen would be to run out of oil.

Answer 5

i'm no longer a rich yuppie and that i've got an SUV. My commonplace motor vehicle gets 29mpg and my spouse and that i motor vehicle pool. We use the SUV, an older kind blazer, for pulling our tent trailer, or as quickly as we are hauling greater than a number of kit that the vehicle won't cope with. there are greater than a number of gas dropping autos in this u . s . a ., however the SUV is the famous Mini-van, and that they do get particularly sturdy gas mileage. human beings purchase SUV's because of the fact they be able to purchase what they choose. that's what makes usa great! you have a call!

Answer 6

I don't drive an SUV. I think if you get in the way of any vehicle, you likely will be hurt badly SUV or No SUV. I have much more trouble with those people in those hot little cars that pass in no passing zones, drive like maniacks. I am afraid that I might meet one head on some day. I have never heard of anyone purchasing them because they are safer on the people who drive them . I have seen people purchase them because they have lots of room for hauling people and or things on long trips etc. They are gas guzzlers and so I agree with you on one point.

They are not safer, they have more roll over accidents than any other type of vehicle.

Answer 7

Gerard - catch yourself on. I drive a ten year old Jeep on bio fuel. It was the cheapest vehicle I could get which would carry my kids, dogs, fishing gear and pull a trailer / boat.
I agree that some SUV's are purely for pose value but I think your complaints would be equally well directed at white van man or the fourteen year old driving a tractor and silage trailer the size of a double decker bus or the office worker applying make up as she drives or the lazy bugger driving his kids to school five hundred metres from his house or to collect a paper from the corner shop etc etc etc.

Answer 8

Gee, let's take Mini-Vans, Conversion Vans, and things like the Ford Explorer Sport Trac off the road, too...these obviously fit your standards, too. (Heavy, blind spots)

I drive an SUV...it's like the 21st century STATION WAGON, not a sports car, silly. My SUV has saved my hide in 2 accidents...which were not my fault... a normal car would have been smashed to peices in them. One was when an idiot in a non-4wheel drive vehicle was out in a snow storm and hit me after sliding through an intersection...and another was someone in a 4door sedan who was not paying attention to traffic and rear ended me.

As for environmental costs? I get 25 - 30 mpg, thank you very much--which is the norm for most CARS out there.

So, what idiot driver in an SUV ticked you off?

Answer 9

Just have a chuckle. Remember, SUV also means Slow Ungainly Vehicle.

Answer 10

I think a lot of people would rather be safe and risk killing other people than endure the same risks as everyone else. They obviously think that killing others is a small price to pay for their own safety.
I think it is a bit ludicrous to buy a 4 wheel drive off road vehicle for general town driving. It's like wearing a suit of armour to go to the bathroom!