I have several problems with SUV's, one of them being fuel efficiency. The fact that any car on the road would only get 17 miles to a gallon is absolutely reprehensible, especially given the price of gas and the amount of foreign oil we rely on. But that's not my biggest problem.
I drive a small car. Quite often, especially on the highway, an SUV or a truck will pull up behind me and drive incredibly close to my bumper. I was taught that if you can't see the bottom of the rear tires of the person in front of you, you're too close. It seems that SUV and truck drives have been taught that if you can see the bumper of the car in front of you, you're not close enough. I have been rear-ended twice by an SUV in the past 5 months. Thankfully, my car and I are fine, but most people hit by SUV's and trucks aren't as lucky. If an SUV or truck hits a regular car, the accident is much more severe for the driver of the regular sized car.
For this reason, I am suggesting that there be a special lane just for trucks and SUV's. It's just not safe for them to drive with the rest of us. It's difficult to be a defensive driver when all you can see is the big, fat SUV in front of you. Though I think it's environmentally irresponsible, I don't deny people the right to drive the car they choose, I just don't want them in the same lane with me. It's just not safe.
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23 comments:
We have just had our budget in the UK and we are taxing this type of car in an extremely harsh manner, which is a great idea.
The SUV drivers would be thrilled to have their own lane. It would of course be prohibativly expensive to add them to the Interstate system.
Exmi,
I wouldn't mind giving up the right lane so that SUV drivers could have it.
I think giving them the right lane would make it less safe for the drivers of smaller cars. Getting on and off the highway could get incredibly (more) dangerous for the smaller cars as they will have less visibility with ALL the large vehicles in the lane they are trying to enter.
And THEN there's those of us who drive minivans in order to carpool so that we can keep more cars OFF the road.
Why should they get their own lane? I think people who drive small cars should get their own lane.
Confession: my wife drives a Santa Fe, but it gets way better than 17mpg.
Okay, so we get our own lane. I don't care, I just dopn't want SUV drivers on my ass when I'm driving my child to day care. If they hit me, they could crush through my trunk and kill the baby (which hasn't been born yet, by the way). I agree with the minivan thing, but still, it is difficult to see around them, so sorry Always, but you'll have to be in the big car lane.
If SUV's are built for the off-road, give them trails to drive on. That would be cool. You'd have little maintainance and you actually get a chance to USE the four-wheel drive features and FEEL the V-8 POWA! YES!!!!!!
At last! An issue that I can agree on UL with. I've always found those clean SUVs that have obviously never even seen gravel to be really really annoying (especially the ones that slow down to ti[-toe over rough railroad crossings).
Screw 'em. Those are offroad vehicles. Let them drive on the medians.
...perhaps they thought they were supposed to be able to see the front bumper of the car in front?
Yeharr
Honestly, they simply should stop manufacturing SUVs and other large, unecessary vehicles (unless the owner can prove a true need, such as being in the construction industry). These gas guzzlers are the reason that fuel prices continue to increase and sources dwindle.
Agree with Saur, it's all for show and prestige and nothing to do with practicality and it impacts on our planet.
Part of the reason for the popularity of SUVs (I think), was the feeling that many people had that they couldnt drive a station wagon, like their parents did. That they belonged to a "cooler" generation. But if you've got kids, and stuff to haul, you need more than a sedan. So they bought the oh-so-macho/cool SUV instead (if they couldnt make themselves buy the totally uncool but more practical mini-van). But they were fooling themselves, because most SUVs are just tall station-wagons.
Now station wagons seem to be making a comeback, and with rising gass prices I suspect you'll see them replacing SUVs in greater numbers.
Yikes...I'm a bad bad liberal. I have a big 4x4 pickup. Of course where I live I use 4 wheel drive every day and a truck is a necessity. We also have a Honda Civic that gets 38 mpg. Guess which one we commute in?
I agree there should be a penalty for driving a gas guzzler.
I would happily trade my GG for a hybrid/alt fuel version. My next truck is probably going to be a diesel so I can burn biodiesel. There is a gas station nearby that sells it. It's not cheaper but it puts a little less money in $hrubco's pocket.
Also, if you are in the left lane going slow I will tail-gate you regardless of what I'm driving.
"Slower traffic keep right" or "Keep right except to pass." What is so hard to understand about that?
Let the market determine if SUV's ought to be built. If gas prices keep going up, it will be prohibitive to own one.
Remember the big push for economy cars back in the early 70's? Maybe you all don't. I'm dating myself. There was a huge push to own these little wind-up cars that get 1,000 miles to the gallon, but were impractical and dangerous. I think that is the common conception.
If GM, Ford or Chrylser-Daimler can come up with fuel efficiency, or alternative fuel vehicles that could maintain the size and power, they'd be selling like hotcakes.
The reason for the SUV's PC, is the size and power. It's nice to know you got it if you need it, especially in rural and mountainous areas.
Yanky: You should feel NO GUILT for having a 4x4. Your idea of bio-diesel is a good one. They do make engines run on cooking oil from deep-fat fryers. Same thing?
I want the Smart car to come to the US.
I don't care if they're built, but they're dangerous and I don't want one three feet from my bumper gpihng 50 miles an hour. They'll crush me if I have to stop suddently. I also don't want one in front of me. I can't see around it or over it to make sure I know what's going on several cars ahread of me, which is good driving practice.
Let's eliminate trucks then, unless they're these foreign wind-up jobs. We must eliminate pick up trucks, straight trucks,and semi's so that PC can see ahead.
I don't know, PC, this smacks of class envy.
Stumbled across this blog by accident but see many familiar faces.
I think fuel rationing would solve the SUV problem. It did in the 70's and probably be even more effective today in the age where everyone is going here or there all the time. Not only would it solve the SUV problem but it would solve our dependency on oil, urban expansion, gridlocked freeways, and really force the issue of alternative energy sources in vehicles.
Class envy? In what world? I don't envy those that pay $100 a week to fill up their cars, and I certainly don't see any benefit to the environment. I think your response shows that you take the opposite posiytion of mine just to spite me. SUV's are not a good thing. They're useless, they guzzle fuel, and they're actually dangerous to smaller cars based on several of the last auto safety reports. Even the hybrid SUV's are useless. Oversized trucks that aren't used for business are just as bad. They're just wasteful.
Well if you want to use government to eliminate what you think is wasteful, fine. I'd say if the stupidification of America continues on its present track, I'm sure SUV's will be outlawed.
If others want to waste money in gasoline, that's THEIR business, not yours. And if you want to make your criteria for what is wasteful and/or too large, run for office, declare martial law and then implement your important ideas. That's the greatness of being in America, along with coming across the border illegally, protest illegal immigration legislation and burn effigies and the American flag and protest without being arrested. Only in America!
The SUV is the worst and most irresponsible concept for personal transportation ever conceived by man! These gas guzzling, view blocking, over weight boxes on wheels are energy inefficient and dangerous. The publics irrational infatuation with these abominations on wheels is a disgrace as well as our policy makers lack of foresight in banning them outright. These dinosaurs, that never should have come into existence in the first place, are destined to become extinct and the sooner the better!
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