Folks,
I am normally a tolerant soul but I am beginning to hate SUVs with a
passion! They are parked in profusion on our street that used to look
pretty with nice lawns, trees and flowers. Now all you see are SUVs - and
garages stacked with "stuff". You cannot see the shops on the downtown
street because SUVs block the view. My wife volunteers at the local school
and at just before 9am outside there is a great bevy of SUVs burning gas
like mad while delivering tiny individuals that live just around the
corner. There are accidents waiting to happen there as the high-up SUV
drivers cannot see the little bodies weaving in and out beneath their line
of vision. Now we have FAST SUVs and just wait till junior borrows one of
these juggernauts to go dancing!! My office is a converted house with
tenants under and at the back. We used to be able to park eight cars at
the front now, because of the narrow entrance, we have only 3 SUVs there.
Naturally there is a continual war with the SUV owners. Couple this with
the endless waits in parking lots caused by housewives battling with
dimensionally depraved vehicles with their loads of groceries totalling
just a few pounds, and you begin to see my slowly igniting temper.
A recent TV program gave an analysis of SUV owners who said they bought
them for safety (which is statistically inaccurate) and because of the
off-road capability (?). The conclusion arrived at by the program was that
they were bought because of the American "bigger is better syndrome" and
the need to look "macho" (insecurity).
Anyway lets us be grateful for the current war in Iraq because when it is
finished there will be lots of second hand tanks and Hummers we can buy.
God, that has made me feel better !!
At 09:22 PM 4/2/2003 -0500, Dean T. Lake wrote:
> > Not all of us. Some of us realize if we hit a small car in a big car,
> > those in the big car are going to have a better chance than those in
> > the small car.
>
>Andrew,
>
>No question about that! But since you done got me started: The laws of
>physics to which I refer are: One. That four wheel drive does not preclude
>sliding out of control on ice. Two. That trucks are not very good choices
>for irratically negotiating traffic at high speed (you hit on this one with
>your rollover observation). And Three. (as I alluded to in my first post)
>Being in a large vehicle does not reduce by very much the need for
>restraints in event of an accident. There must be a number Four, but it's
>late.
>
>I'm not anti-SUV at all. I adore our Jeep (the family wagon is a '96 Jeep
>Grand Cherokee - not huge but not exactly small either). We take the Jeep
>off road often as one of our familly activities - including Camp Jeep
>whenever it comes to Virginia. We also tow the racing B with it. We also
>stuff fire wood from floor to ceiling in the cargo area (today I liberated
>ants hibernating in the debris that came alive in the 70+ degree warmth!)
>We ride in friends' Suburbans every now and then and think they are so very
>nice at conveying two families at once. But the reality is that most of the
>time most of the SUV's on the road are driven by one unaccompanied
>individual with no cargo who neither needs nor can adequately handle one -
>and just forget about off road excursions. I feel the same twinge when I
>look at wealthy indivuals behind the wheel of new Porsches, BMW's and
>Jaguars. They usually don't even comprehend the significance of the
>vehicle's capabilties and history, let alone take advantage of them. Anyone
>with the means has the right to own and drive any car they want. At the
>same time I have the right to hold them in contempt! Funny thing is, I've
>never met an MG owner I didn't like - even those persnickety concours types.
>;-)
>
>Dean
Regards
Barrie
Barrie Robinson
barrier@bconnex.net
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