Ban SUV's NOW!

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JasonL I hear ya

Not just loons in the traffic, it seems like we are having a week around here like the post from about a month ago. It was the week from *ell, maybe its just the holiday stress, but it's industrial strength, this week.
 
Oh, Now I have to chime in......

Spats, you don't happen to drive on Route 65 into town do you? I wasn't sure if you lived near that area with the Wal Mart landslide? With that road being restricted, the SUV drivers certainly would be mad! Have you noticed how many SUVs have male drivers wearing shirts and ties? What happens if they have to get out of the SUV if they used the vehicle for its intended purpose?

When I went to choir practice last week my sister and I were walking up to our house when one of the members, an engineer offered us a ride in his Chevy Equinox. He bragged not only about how much he loved the way it was big but also that he "got a good deal on the lease". Oh, it took all I could not blurt out that he was soooo ripped off! (Suze Orman says leasing is a super rip off).

Ford shares a lot of the blame for the SUV craze, as they promoted the large SUVs like the Excursion, aka a shuttle bus, and de-emphasized the regular cars they made. If they have kept up promoting the Taureses (Taurii?) and their small cars they might not be in the trouble they are today now that people have wised up and do not want to buy SUVs anymore. Recently I emailed Ford and asked about their E-150 van that I would like to buy someday if I am in the air conditioning career. I find that this van is very well organized. I asked if they would make a flex fuel version with ethanol and the answer is no. But they make one of the Ford Explorer, an SUV few people need. Oh, well, just trying to do our part about foreign oil dependence.

The station wagons in the past were gas hogs but the people who bought them had large families and since there was a stigma about driving them, I think people drove them less. I mean, Greg Brady didn't want to be seen on a date with the Brady wagon and after Bobby put a hole in the convertible with an umbrella I don't think Mike ever let him take that car on a date ever again.

The fact that SUVs have four wheel drive I would think make the mileage worse than even big cars, as the four wheel equipment is heavy and probably creates more drag.

Oxydol, I agree with you about the shuttle vans but they help keep cars off the road with van-pooling. They are big and have the Ford "Power-Stroke!" diesel engine that is sooo loud.
 
Ok time to chime back in:

NeptuneBob: #1 Due to the accident i was in, #2 I work in Realestate and #3I like the feel and comfort of it, I LOVE MY EXPLORER...
I get 22 on the interstate, 20 in the city... I don't mind paying $2.50-$2.65 a gallon... My grandparents gave me a 1999 Ford Taurus SE with 3.0 12 V6 whin i lived in Flordia for 3 years as an encouragment to come visit and to keep the infiniti alive... Great car, but it got 17 In the City and 30 on the highway.. Overall, the Tauri would have gotten 23.5 avg mpgs, the explorer gets 21... I drive with the cruise on, with my foot off the gas.. I will admit i to get evil with very slow non speed limit abiding old farts..... But thats not an excuse... I have driven the majority of the SUV"S/Cars out there and will admit anything above an explorer or trail blazer is absurd... It is penis envy.... Ok, now i am only telling you part of this to prove the point of big suv+small pecker.. No offense.. One car i sold was a Hummer H2 (omg, what a horrible, horrible car) to a guy who asked me out... Ok... After several dates things rolled on to 3rd base and back home, so to speak... He was by far the most macho dude i have ever been with and it was not a pleasnt time, it was like pencilville all the way... I will leave it at that...
SUV's are great for those like me or who use them... But i will say my Grandmother doesn't need one... Its just another deadly weapon in an old persons hands.. I cringe every time she drives mine... She needs a Ford 500.. You can sit up like an SUV, but feel like your in an SUV...
Women here drive them alot... I see alot of guys driving the over grown dullay trucks with smelly a*s diesles... I think that every dude that has one has a small scnitzel...

People on cell phones are just as bad.. I don't talk and drive with mine UNLESS its on speaker phone in my lap, both hands on the wheel. I don't use mine in stores.. I go out side.... Women are bad for this as well

My Gripe: Women Putting Make UP on, People eating, Women doing there hair, People with unrestrained pets, BAdly behaved children and mother who futz with there kids while driving.....

Had a lady cut me off yesterday, while putting on mascara...
Some other bimbo right behind was smoking (another big no no in my book), drinking coffee and yapping on the phone...
And right behind her was a women blow drying her hair (yes they do make 12 v adapter hair dryers)

One day, i saw a lady flossing her teeth...
Also have seen people brushing there teeth (um, ewwwwwwwwww)
My sister pays no attention to the road in her Chevy Subdivison, with her 3 kids in Miami Traffic... I drive while i am there (BTW, i hate her car it's too damn big)..She hands them juices, turns half way around to stop them from fighting... And plays movies... What kid needs a DVD player in the CAR??????>???? Didn't most of do without this pleasure as a kid taking road trips.. I know i did.... I had to listen to classical music or Urethra Franklin or the Supreams or later in life, listend to my cd player.. I took a trip with our youth group 7 years ago and they all wanted to watch movies in the van on the portible tv.. Not me, i sat up front and chatted with the youth paster all the way to Florida and back..

The worst two things i have ever seen though:
WHile in Raliegh last year, i saw a lady in a BRAND NEW Lexus LX 470 (a 65 thousand dollar overgrown land cruiser) with 6 dags and 2 big Golden Retrivers... In the car the cats where wandering all over the place, the dogs had there heads out the windows and she was on the phone, putting maekup on and eating a biscuit.. She couldn't stay in one lane.. The i saw her swerve all over the place bcause one of the cats attempted to got of the sunroof..

While living in orlando a few years ago, a lady and his wife totaled there NEW Ford Expedition i sold them, because his wife was A> on the phone, B. putting on hair accseories, C. playing with radio and D. Trying to drink coffee... They smashed a Honda Civic up pretty bad from what i recall.. They bought another Expeiditon though...... And they only had one small infant daughter....

I refuse to drive in atlanta... Its far too dangerous... Too many dumbasses driving wayyyy to fast... GRRR...

Just remember, there are some of who drive SUV"S and love them..

Ok lets go find a paper bag
 
Two corrections to the above:

Its not Urethra is Arethra Franklin (my spell checker doesn;t know her)

Grams only borrows my car when she has too.. Mind you shes only in her 70s, but still...
 
Nep - I don't travel that part of 65 where the mudslide was, but I do work in Sewickley so I travel from that part of 65. But I've seen more female drivers of SUVs and such.

Exploder321 - I was <b>in<b> my one female coworker's Explorer in the back seat, and I watched her put on makeup while driving looking in the rear view mirror to do so!!!
 
Some one Rear Ended Me Today..

Some one yapping on a cell phone hit the back corner of the explorer today... Tacked me off..... Not much damage, just a small dent and the bumpers out of wack... GRRRRRRRRRR..... His car had alot damage to it.. Will post pics once we can again..
 
ONe time I saw a car going SLOW and swerving all over the road. Granny? Drunk? Nope! A lady reading the newspaper. She had it stretched across the steering wheel and she was reading it. Yeah, that's safe.

My Garmin Streetpilot has Bluetooth built in, so when I get a call, all I have to do is touch the screen and start talking. Alot safer than trying to hold the phone and drive.

During the summer, all the parishes in south central Lousiana was SUPPOSED to crack down on the crazy drivers. What really happened was the different cities said "WE don't have the money to pay our police to do it" So it really never got done. Now Lafayette Parish posted signs along I49 saying "Slower traffic keep right". That's their way of saying "Deal with it".

My trick is wash their windshield for them. The windshield washers in my car have some oomph to them and they throw water towards the back. Only I'd be afraid I'd piss the already pissed off Cajun that's tailgating me and he might start shooting.

Absolutely right about the cops. They drive just as bad or worse. They feed on anger, aggression and hate. So good luck getting any help from them.

Rick, if you pay for the gas, I'll take the Caddy.
 
I've said it on another thread and I'll say it again. I LIKE TRUCKS AND LARGE SUVs! Large vehicles were all we owned for a while, starting with a '93 Ford Aerostar (aside from the Econoline, Ford's only other truck-based van which ran for 11 years). Later, we had a 3/4-ton '98 Suburban and a 1/2-ton '99 Yukon (bought used), both powered by the well-known 350 Chevy V8 small-block. In fact, when my dad bought an '00 Infiniti I30 at the beginning of the year, it was the first CAR he drove exclusively in 11 years!

Driving a larger vehicle does give you more 'control' on the road, so to speak, which is why I love them in the first place. I'm shy, easily intimidated, but NO ONE will be intimidating me on the ROAD. Unless it's a big-rig, very few motorists will want to tailgate you. I drive a V8-powered (non-Hemi) Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab and love it. Yes, it may not hug the road and be easily maneuverable like a car, but I can still fly down the highway at 80 in dry conditions with no problem. And, I drive aggressive enough to where no one messes with me.

Jason, I think it's time to trade that Bug in on a Dodge 3500 Mega Cab with a Cummins diesel, or an F-350 PowerStroke, both in a dually version. No one in an SUV will bother you ever again, and you can start tailgating THEM for a change!

--Austin
 
What kid needs a DVD player in the CAR???????????

What kid DOESN'T need a DVD player in the car?!?!?!?! I have one in my minivan, and I use it all of the time to watch my TV, movies, and when I want to watch something on a bigger screen than an iPod. Nothing shuts kids up on a long trip than movies and a DVD player in the car. Best option we chose.
 
Austin if I could deal with a larger vehicle I would. I simply am not able to dryve a very large vehicle. I learned to drive in my parents' 1973 Cutlass Supreme. Top me it was a barge. After having a Pacer & a Citation, I bought a 1986 Cutlass Cierra. I didn't even test drive one, had a brocker obtain it for me. As I waas driving form downtown Houston back to Cypress, I knew I had made a big mistake, it was just too big for me. 6 weeks later it was totaled, not my fault. When I got my 1986 Olds Calais, I felt much more at home. And I've had my 1991 Mazda 626 LX since brand new.
 
I just simply see no need for the dvd players.. Ran to the store tonight and was distracted by a birghtly glowing moniter in the back of a Dodge Caravan... They where watching the Bratz i think....

I survived without.. When ever grandma and grandpa would head to florida for 2 months (mind you i was still in elementry school, but some how did homework daily, i think grams and the school fed exed stuff back and forth) they used to take me along to "watch" me (mom and dad never got along).. ANy who.. I used to have to listen to Behtovan, Bach, Perry Como, Patsy Cline, anything they fancied... I also used to have to listen to there conversations.. The one that stuck in my head from about age 8, was when they where disscussing who wore undies and bras and who did not from there tennis club when they where in the dressing rooms... Also had to here all about Jock Straps and many many other things.. My family is not very proper around themselves lemme tell ya... They talk about all kinds of bodily functions and everything else...
I loved every stinkin minute of it.. Grams and granps travled alot and i usualy whent with them, i am amazed i passed elementry and middle school (although i techincly never whent to 8th grade and half of 7th because i was "home schooled" by sylvan as my family hated the principal). I used to tell my friend very proudly that i had a second home, it was the back seat of grams explorer... It was a nice back seat too.. Except when i wore shorts, then the leather stuck to my legs....
When i got my tape player and then later cd player, i used to shut it off, just to here them banter and partake in there conversations... KIds need this nowadays, not just the portable babby sitter to vegitate in front of..

I am very very mature most of the time for a 23 year old.. I don't even dress like one... I was raised by mom and grams and around adults alot as a kid... So when people my age go party, get stoned and what not, i just shake my head and walk away.. I have been drunk twice, have been stoned once, didn't like either... Made me feel out of control.. Grams and mom has even bought me (excuse this) condoms on a few occasions for me.... I thank them and the times i had on these trips and journeys for where i am at and my somewhat calmed down demener..
I thank her
 
I know of an SUV book

If you want to know more about how we got SUVs, you might want to check out High and Mighty - SUVs, The Most Dangerous Vehicles and how they got that way by Keith Bradsher. It explains about about how Ford promoted SUVs and how one designer wanted to appeal the "Reptile within us" to make us want to buy them. Maybe someone else here and read it, I would like to know your opinion afterwards.

The book doesn't talk about leasing but I think it is possible that "getting a good deal on a lease" is one reason so many people have SUVs. But, as Suze says, Never, EVER, Lease!

Loading…

www.amazon.com
 
I disagree with some of that, agree with other parts of it.. Although, i never overload my car and am very careful...
I am a lttile self centered and am a little unsecure about my driving at times...

This does remind me of the man who recently killed a 3 year old here when his Diesel Excursion ran over a kid on a bike, cause he never herd him..

Now i must go kiss my explorer and think about you all stoning me in it as i drive up to a wash in it :)!!
 
Your joking Austin-westy, right?

You talk as though driving for you is so intimidating that the mere thought of it gives you anxiety. Which, it may well do. I hope not. I realize there is alot of Theatrics in texas but is it really THAT bad?

Driving is NOT a competitive sport or routine. Unfortunately, there are people who have mistakenly taken to Detroits erroneous marketing campaigns or are actually mentally unstable and shouldn't be driving. Jason seems to be fed up with the MINORITY of people like that. As others get to be as well.

Suggesting buying a bigger vehicle strictly to go out and "intimidate" others is a NO. for obvious reasons. Least of which is that any smart person doesn't buy into the 'bigger is better' crap. Large vehicles can be just as easily ditched as any others since we all have to obey the same self-protection rules. It is irrelevent what size vehicle one drives. This brings to mind a funny real-life incident I was involved with in 2003.

As far as Jason, clearly he has a conscience on several levels. He's driving an efficient car that has minimal air pollution, so he seems concerned about the environment. Also, he is aware of other drivers on the road, though he just needs to de-sensitize to these obvious obnoxious drivers by simply learning to ignore them. Now that is commendable.

As for the incident, chuckle, chuckle. I was driving south on I-90 in Madison, WI in my Toyota 4 cycl. 2 wheel dr. RAV4 going, I admit, about 78 miles an hour in the uncrowded left lane. The road was open, all 3 lanes. Some A________(explicitive) in a Black lincoln suv thing, (scrap metal on wheels looking fresh from the showroom floor) cuts in front of me from no where, then slows down? I go around, the idiot speeds up and cuts in front AGAIN and slows down. remember all 3 lanes were open. Again I speed up to pass and this idiot is speeding as well. Of course I'm keeping pace (it was a Toyota). A semi is coming up in the center lane. It apparently thought I would slow down. NO! At this point we were speeding from 85 to 90. I started cutting over into the left lane, (even though the right lane was open).

The Ass was honking, ha. I was ignoring. It continued to speed up. I continued to cut over, it continued to honk. It thought, it was in the right. I easily manuvered in and cut the piece of trash off. It drove off the road into the meridian(the grass). I continued on at 78 mph in the left lane where I belonged.

I have no idea what was driving it. I doubt it was a woman because a woman wouldn't do something so stupid. I certainly hope it was republican (what else would it be?). I don't even know what state it was from. I didn't look back to see if it hit something like a guard rail. I hope it did but it was mainly grass. I know there were no other cars or vehicles involved.

To me it was extreme defensive driving I don't know that I would repeat it. Also perhaps it was a political statement. I shutter to think that some idiot would look at that as just a game and have enjoyed it, even though they got their butt kicked.

In the 40s and 50s Detroit learned to connect marketing to Male Ego. Hence the concept penis mobile was born. It's pathetic and way out dated in 2006. A car is an appliance. It should be safe, efficient, reliable, quiet, affordable, and inexpensive to insure.

The majority Smart Americans agree as Ford and GM, still trying to do business 'the old way' is creeking it's way into bancruptcy due to its massive failings. No doubt they will try and pursue a Billion dollar Government Bail-out like Chrysler did in the near future. We'll see about that.

LOL, I had a tenant once in '98 he was like 5'-4 thin single guy. LoL He was driving a early 80s gray beatup Suburban with no real need (and smoked cigars). I didn't laugh to his face, though I suggested he get something smaller as the driveway was tight parking. His idea of smaller was like a someother newer GM slightly smaller suv. What ever. LOL.

At 6'-1" I admit that certain vehicles seem to fit me better, such as a grand marquis or a Ford F-250 super cab then my Honda Civic might seem to. But I'm not falling for that lame thinking.

I still have to laugh at petite people who buy rediculously large vehicles, then require a ladder to get into it. a phone book to sit on in order to see over the steering wheel, and yet still can't park correctly. (I think we can do better)
 

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