SUV drivers -> Eat this!

[Fear]

:P

Do SUVs Make You Stupid?
Pointless, dangerous and vain as ever, land tanks still sell millions. Only one explanation possible

http://sfgate.com/columnists/morford/

[Shakespeare]

1. I LOOOOOOOOOVE Mark Morford.

Love, love, love him.

He does the BEST anti-Bush rants.

[Fear]

2. LOL, yup, I know I know, perhaps more for a bunch of republ. but it was

such a great article.

[meisje]

3. What make a SUV different from a Conversion Van???

[BrklynLiberal]

4. I am trying to build up my courage to hit "SEND" on the email I have set

up to forward that article to my SUV owning friends. I just love that article. I have always felt that it was so hypocritical of these particular people to not take plastic bags at the grocery store, and then drive an SUV and think that it is OK.

[Fear]

12. did you?????, keep us posted please!

:D

[eleonora]

5. hahahaha!

Great article, thanks :)

[Itchinjim]

6. Here in Iowa, every time it snows,

the ditches are filled with overturned SUVs driven by apparent idiots who for some reason believe that they are invincible and end up doing some unintentional "off roading". I confess that I laugh at them as I drive by in my old two wheel drive Ford Ranger that has been stuck twice, count 'em, twice, in the ten years I've owned it. Maybe that $35k+ price tag should include driving lessions.

[Wapsie B]

38. Yup.

I was leaving Des Moines after being snowed in after a snowstorm. The median on I-35 was littered with so many SUV's I thought the rapture had occured while I was asleep.

[miss_kitty]

44. Hahahahahaha! last night on the news

up near the Canadian border-Icy icy roads, huge wind gusts, pushing vehicles off the road and over as well-this one guy says (who, BTW id'd as a semi driver) driving his SUV-blown right into the median. what's he say? "I had it in 4 high, I don't know why this happened!" Buwahahahaha! As if 4 high would glue that sad assed all weather tread to the ice!

[LSK]

7. so does that mean I should sell my 1994 S10 blazer???

But then when it snows 10 inches again like it did this week I'll miss the 4x4 + nice ground clearance.

And I guess I wont be able to help my brother in law pickup that transmission tonite.

And I guess the next time I move it will only take twice as many trips.

And I guess I will have to throw my mountain bike on a roofrack instead of just putting it in the back.

----

Yeah I know the average soccer mom doesn't need an Excursion. But I hate generalizations that SUVs are wastes and useless. They are in fact the most potentially useful vehicle on the road. The problem is most people are never going to take advantage of them.

[Ron Green]

21. Every task that you mentioned is one I have accomplished in my old

Plymouth Voyager mini-van. In fact, during a move I was amazed to discover the mini-van held much more stuff than a Dodge Durango that we were also using.

The overall harm caused by the SUV "movement" is that people THINK they are more useful than they really are.

[Bouncy Ball]

8. Wow.

GREAT article. He rocks.

[arcane1]

9. I'd have Mark Morford's baby

:loveya::loveya::loveya::loveya:

[Lady Effingbroke]

10. I actually know people whose purchase of a vehicle was based upon how many

cup holders it had. :crazy: :silly: :wtf: :dunce:

[SmileyBoy]

11. Mark Morford is GOD!!!!

I absolutely ADORE him.

[meganmonkey]

13. You can sign up to get emails when he has new columns

See "Subscribe to Notes & Errata" in the box to the right of the beginning of the article. It's always a nice pick-me-up at work for me.

[48pan]

14. SUV's Rock and here's why...

[Ron Green]

15. Are you saying that they do better in snow? I think that's been disproven.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

16. I drive a small SUV and don't consider myself a menace

It's a Mitsubishi Outlander, one of the smallest SUVs. It gets pretty good gas mileage (21/26). I try to be considerate of other drivers and am not a mile off the ground. I don't drive any more recklessly on snow and ice than I would in a non-SUV because I'm a scaredycat. I agree with criticism of large SUVs with aggressive drivers, but I don't think ALL SUV owners should be painted with such a broad brush.

[48pan]

22. You don't have to apologize for what you drive...

The whiny morons in Grand Voyagers are getting crappy mileage and they are helpless in a quarter inch of snow.

As a motorcycle rider, the drivers we fear the most are Volvos and minivans. The drivers of each seem to be oblivious to their surroundings.

The gas mileage of each is lousy. They are just looking for somebody to hate.

[Midlodemocrat]

30. Hey, I drive a grand caravan

...and I am not a whiny moron. It gets around 20 -24 mpg, and is very, very good in the snow.

[48pan]

31. Now you know

what SUV people think about being stereotyped.

[Midlodemocrat]

45. I never said anything about SUV drivers.

[48pan]

19. Don't make me laugh...

I'll take a 4-wheel drive SUV or pickup over anything in the New Hampshire winter. There is no substitute for good ground clearance and 4-wheel drive (except for those times when only a Ski-Doo is right).

[Solon]

26. There is no substitute for brakes and good handling in winter...

Unless its off road, I'll take my Celica over any SUV in winter. My sister almost died because an SUV driver didn't know what the hell they were doing. They slid right through a stopsign and T boned her Sebring, totalling it, good thing it was on the passenger side. I think at the very least, all SUV drivers should be TRAINED in the use of SUVs, to many drive them like cars, something you should NEVER do. That's plus the fact that most SUVs have brake systems that not only suck, but are dangerous, because they can't handle the extra weight. Unlike many SUV drivers, I at least have control over my vehicle when there is snow, ice, or water on the road. Even on dry road, I could only imagine how hard it would be to swerve out of the way in an emergency.

[48pan]

27. Yes... There is a substitute...

"There is no substitute for brakes and good handling in winter..."

Yes. There is. If you can't go, your brakes and handling are completely, utterly worthless.

All drivers should be educated. Blaming the SUV for the bad driving is silly. Most SUVs have anti-lock brakes that work fine. By your logic, anyone not driving a Ferrari is dangerous. Your Celica brakes and handling aren't as good as Ferrari, so your Celica is no good (by your logic).

Each vehicle has its uses and its characteristics. I have control of my vehicle.

Around here most of the Celica drivers are kids with loud pipes and big tires. They drive like fools. I don't condemn either the Celica or its owners as a group just because of some idiots who can't (or won't) drive safely.

Personally, minivans with kids in the back screaming at the distracted mom, and Volvos with oblivious cell phone talkers scare me way more than any SUV. Old guys with hats and any blue-hair with thick glasses who can't see over the wheel are pretty scary too.

[Solon]

28. Actually, I would imagine a Ferrari to be worst than my car at handling...

at least at lower speeds, like less than 100mph. As far as the get up and go part, its front wheel drive with a 5 speed manual transmission, how well do you think that handles in winter? Its been my experience that most trucks and SUVs, at least in my area, have difficulty staying in one lane on the highway when there is more than 2 inches of snow on the ground. Most of the time they have the 4WD engaged and all you see is snow kicking up past all four tires while they struggle to not go sideways. Its like the guy who hit my sister's car, it wasn't even technically the drivers fault, the brakes couldn't slow the damned thing down because they were rated for mid sized pickup, whereas the body for it, a Durango, was too damned heavy for the brakes. That's inexcusable as far as I'm concerned, and the fact that Dodge doesn't really give a shit about its drivers or those around them, just tells you something.

Its piss poor design and piss poor poseurs that are the problem, you can say it is a problem for every vehicle out there, but at the very least, the makers of these vehicles should put more consideration in the safety of these SUVs. When they have to put warnings on the damned things, basically saying that they didn't design it right in the first place, why the hell would you buy something like that?

[Ron Green]

51. The fact is, an SUV is a more dangerous vehicle than almost any other, for

various reasons. You may be a better driver than most; good for you. However, we use private vehicles for our transportaion system in this country, and most people are not professional or expert drivers. But they do buy SUV's for all kinds of silly reasons, and overall they are NOT good vehicles for our society. There is lots of research that shows how dangerous they are, not only to other vehicles but to the people in them. I know you're an exception, and all that, but these are just plain facts.

[DiverDave]

17. Because someone was

to lazy to put the BBQ'er away for the winter, SUV's rock?

[48pan]

20. Put the BBQ AWAY?

Not going to happen. Brush off the snow and bring on the steaks!!!

[Frogtutor]

24. We get little, if any, snow, but my 4wd Cherokee is awesome for driving

on remote Texas beaches!

[BiggJawn]

55. Oh, THAT little snowpile?

I've driven VW Kombi's (the OLD ones) and Ford Tempos in snow like that.

[Frogtutor]

18. What about relatively small SUV's?

I LOVE my Jeep Cherokee, but I damn sure don't want to be lumped together with Hummer owners!

[Ron Green]

23. The Cherokee is actually one of the better ones, according to the rollover

tests. I think it might be built on an auto chassis rather than a truck frame. The worst offenders are the Expeditions, Excursions and Suburbans, etc. that are just half-ton or three-quarter ton pickups with a bunch of sheet metal and sound insulation and cup holders, with the price jacked way up. They are sold based on fear (fear of a collision, fear of a small penis, fear of not being able to see over other cars, whatever), and as they age and their brakes and tires wear out they will fall into the hands of inexperienced and intoxicated uninsured drivers. That's the scariest part of it.

[Frogtutor]

25. Good to know, and I hear ya! n/t

[jellybelly]

29. I drive a big SUV

I hate small cars...I don't know what the big deal is about SUVs. Some people prefer big cars, I would own a Hummer if I could afford it.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

32. The big deal is the pollution and the greater dependence on foreign oil

We should be trying to wean ourselves off of petroleum products as quickly as possible. Instead, people are becoming more and more reliant on oil as they buy bigger and bigger gas guzzlers. and for what? They don't handle well, they don't carry as much as you would think and they are dangerous to other drivers. 10 mpg difference may not seem like a lot, but it adds up very quickly. Multiply that by all of the drivers in the United States and you can see that if we all drove big cars, we'd be in very big trouble.

[jellybelly]

36. My SUV handles better than any small car I have driven...

and it carries a lot. The SUV isn't dangerous to other cars, I think it depends on the person driving:shrug:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

40. The author provides a link and you can research more.

SUVs are more likely to cause the death of the other driver in an accident. It has nothing to do with how good a driver the person is sometimes. Even the best of drivers makes mistakes.

[jellybelly]

42. I don't really care about research...

I was in two very minor accidents with a Honda Accord, none in the SUV, (And I haven't killed anyone so far) That's my research...I'm safer in the SUV...I felt the same way you did about SUVs before I drove one. You should take a test ride in one:)

[Fear]

52. Cuz of the nice tax cut

:shrug:

[Placebo]

33. Pssh.

I drive an SUV and I'm smarter than the people I know who don't.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

34. I think you missed the point.

[jellybelly]

37. SUV's are damn sexy!

:toast:

[Placebo]

41. Yes they are!

SUVs are the sex. :9

[ZoCrowes]

35. Some people actually need their SUVs

(author not poster)

In the back of my Cherokee right now I have 4 scuba tanks and 4 complete sets of scuba gear (I am a scuba instructor.) I can't haul that shit around in a little car. Yes there are a lot of people who have SUVs as a status symbol but there are quite a few who actually use them for their intended purpose (hauling shit)

Funny article though

[Solon]

47. I never said anything about that...

I hate poseurs who think that SUVs are sexy, or some type of status symbol. As if driving a big ass gas guzzling mostrosity, that looks like shit to begin with will help you pick up chicks or something. Not to mention the design flaws in the damned things, many should be recalled, but aren't.

[jellybelly]

48. can't take a joke, huh?

:shrug:

[Solon]

49. Sorry, humor doesn't travel well over the web...

you were joking this ENTIRE time? I guess the joke is on me then. :)

[jellybelly]

50. I was joking about SUVs being sexy...

the rest was serious. At least Placebo got it. }(
And I'm a woman, so I wouldn't use my SUV to pick up chicks...maybe Placebo would:P

[Fear]

53. well....that at least gives you a good reason to have one then!

unlike some other people....

[SemiCharmedQuark]

39. Someone should make a yellow ribbon magnet that says:

Support Our Troops: Drive a Hybrid.

Or something like that.

[jellybelly]

43. LOL! Are there hybrid tanks?

:P

[slutticus]

54. Actually....I saw a show where the army is experiementing with..

...Hybrid Humvees.

No shit. Here's a link I found on Google.


http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/issues/2002/Apr/Armys_Next.htm

[Ron Green]

56. Not surprising. Lots of big-assed locomotives are hybrids, and have been

for years.

[Nitrogenica]

46. During the end times you need a big assed truck.

Unfortunately a more fuel efficient vehicle would be more logical in a crisis.

[Dukkha]

57. SUV Poseurs: here a much cheaper alternative

http://www.make-your-penis-bigger.com

and as far has "Hauling stuff" what's wrong with a Mini Van or Pick-up?

[Hand]

58. Saw my first Hummer in Halifax a couple of days ago...

Well, there were a couple used by one of the local hotels, but this one was privately owned--big old POS crowding its vile way down our narrow streets with some dipwad yuppie broad at the wheel. Jaysus, I thought we'd be spared that at $75,000 CDN a pop.

Well, good luck, you dumb skirt--and your dipstick hubby. Gas is up to 84.9 a litre this week, and for once I don't mind...

Gotta start exercising my little finger for the Hummer salute. In the meantime, this will have to do...