French Wage War on SUV

eynlai

Registered
I've been a long outspoken opponent against SUVs, more so against those big, massive, bohemoth ones like the Expeditions, Hummers, etc.. than the more reasonables ones like the older 4-Runners.

But seems the French are finally seeing and saying something that we won't:

http://news.yahoo.com/s....tofthem

I know I may get some fire back for this from the SUV owners. But here it is:

SUVs, the monterous ones are ONE OF THE WORST INVENTIONS EVER, EVER, EVER PUT ON THE MARKET.

Here is why:

#1. Typcially SUV drivers are less attentive and less considerate. As bikers we've all experienced that first hand before. SUV drivers, I found, drive SUVs so if/when they get into accidents, they would suffer little to no injuries while inflicting greater injuries on those that are involved with the accidents with them. So why should they be attentive and considerate??

#2. SUV do take up too much room on the road for no valid reason. Come on, we've all heard it, "I need the room". My question is, 'For what??!!'. If you truely need that much room, then get a mini-van. How many times have we've seen the biggest SUVs driven by the smallest (physic-wise) drivers? I had a co-worker that was so small, she had to get 2 pillows so she can see over the steering wheel of her Escalade! I truely believe SUV should only be sold to and driven by those that truely need it. Like the truely ++++++++ sizes, say 350 lb. +

#3. Tying into #1. SUVs are extremely dangerous because the visiability in them are poor and the handling is hap-hazardeous at best. Most SUVs are so damn big and the windows are so small in comparison you can't really see anything. Coupled with the fact that SUVs have the worst handling capabilities. Most are top-heavy and are likely to body-roll like it was a donut + will flip. However, I've seen way too many times where some BLING-OUT punk will drive it like he/she's driving a 2 seater Porsche. Especially when they are trying to race us bikers. To hell with graduate driver's licenses for bikes, how about qualifying driving licenses for SUVs?? Likely 2 tests, WHY do one need to buy and drive a SUV, and special license that one CAN safely drive a SUV. Like one of those Semi-truck licenses or commercial bus licenses ( in CA those are A class I believe).

#3. Space HOGS. We've all seen them before. Pull in to a parking lot and you see a SUV parked in a "compact" space making it too tight to fit anything else but a bike. Sometimes, you see a SUV take up 2 spaces because that driver is FULLY inconsiderate. We've seen them before on the road, taking up way too much lane than they need and that they can handle simply to satisfy their EGOs. In traffic congestion, SUV actually contributes to the trafffic jam because of all of the room they're taking up while sitting still. And SUVs are particularly dangereous because the driver can be ignorant by not seeing where they are going during a lane change, or they simply don't care and boss their way in.

#4. GAS HOG, GAS HOG, GAS HOG. I like to think that I'm environmentally conscience and all, but I'm more capitalist than anything. But nonetheless, let me satisfy my environmentally conscience side and say that SUVs are guzzling up resources like there's not tomorrow... And at this rate, there might not be, thanks in part o SUVs. Now let me speak economically. SUV are in a very large part to blame for our high gas/petro prices (the other is obviously the greedy oil company). Now, I'm not to say how other people should spend their $$$, unless it affects me. SUV affects me, my wallet and YOUR wallet as well. How? When a SUV is burning gas at the rate of 8 MPG or even 13 MPG, it's cost more than just the driver/owner that's dishing out $70 to full up. It's costing you and me. At that gas-guzzling rate of the SUV, it's using up the supply of oil/gas, thus the shorter supply (and even though demand remains steady), the higher the gas prices for EVERYONE.

So give me one valid reason for having a SUV, unless you're over 350 lb, or disabled?

For those of you that argue that, "well, there's things that SUV drivers can cite about us bikers"... Tell me which one of the 4 reasons that I listed above as bikers we fit into?

If anything, as bikers, we are OPPOSITE of the 4 reasons that I've listed. We save gas, there by keeping the price low. We save space, traffic congestion-wise and parking-wise. We're more attentive (even if some of us are not considerate) because we are so vulnerable. And of coarse if we get into accidents, we're the least likely to cause harm/injuries to others.

My remedy for the SUV? SUVs should require a special license and valid reasoning to have one and to operate one, like if you're obese or disabled. SUVs for any other reason should be charged $20 per gallon of gas at the pump. SUVs should have to pay at least 4 times the amount for a annual registration. SUVs should be charged a mininum insurance of $3000 every 6 months for insurance, and that's just for liablility only, add comprehensive and collision it should cost at the mininum of $7000 every 6 months. That's for all of the damages and/or injuries that SUVs causes. One "at-fault" accident should cause the insurance to go up to a mininum of $10,000 for liablility only and $20,000 every 6 months for that SUV driver.

Maybe I should write to congress?
 
I also think that another reason for having an SUV is 'image'.

For example, my sister bought an SUV because she 'wasn't gonna be seen' driving a mini-van! She said that she's too young to have *that* image!

Sheesh! I laid into her about that! My wife and I PURPOSLY bought a mini-van and love it! It was the only practical way for us to put 3 baby seats in a vehicle... (BTW, my sis is only 2yrs younger than me).


Ok, now that said...my dream vehicle is a Ford F-250 SuperDuty Crew Cab, long-bed (8') w/ a 6" lift and 40" tires! Talk about taking up space!

I guess I'll continue to drive my Toyota 4x4 until I win the lottery to be able to begin to afford the gas for my 'dream truck'! ...and yes, my Truck *does* see the mud! (that reminds me....gotta break out the pressure washer and hose it down!
laugh.gif
)
 
I bought my wife a Lincoln Navigator to drive my 2 young children around Las Vegas in. Las Vegas is a city where every street is at least 6 lanes plus turning lanes on each side. An average speed limit of 45 mph, and more businesses and new drivers than nearly any other city in the country.

4000+ new people here per month net. All driving around looking at the shiny new businesses, with their heads up their asses.

I wouldnt put my family in anything less than the behemoth you oppose. I should only hope you dont have precious loved ones in your family that you stick into a toyota prius or a saturn because you are worried about gas shortages, while risking their ability to survive an accident because they are in some plastic pretend car.

My SUV has allowed me to avoid taking the airlines for fully luggaged and long road trips to cali and therefore I didnt contribute to thousands of gallons of jet fuel.

My SUV has allowed me to carry extra children back and forth from practice, and allowed me to carry the team gear all last spring when I coached little league. Helps me pick up relatives from the airport, keeps me from having to get a lot of #### delivered to me when I buy it at the furniture store, or electronics store...which would be making a tractor trailer put IT's massive amount of fuel to waste. Thus bugging you again.

My SUV is my business. I can afford the fuel. I pay for it. Therefore I contribute more than my fair share of GASOLINE TAXES that pay for your roads that you drive on.

Thank SUV drivers because gasoline tax is about the biggest contributor to things you need in your state.

My wife is an excellent driver and Im sure she can ride circles around you in her Navigator, but thats because YOU cant probably drive them...therefore you are requiring CDL's for them...lol Get over yourself.

You dont need a CDL to drive a large SUV. As for you problem with punks driving them, well...then you should ##### about punks...not normal drivers.

As for your exhaustive investigation that showed visibility in SUV's is poor...I cant begin to express how wrong you are. Visibility in SUV's -especially LARGE ONES is superior.

I see accidents on the road all the time, and while there are more SUV's on the road than ever before...the most accidents I see are people in saturns and mid-sized cars. Regardless, the driver is problem. Not the vehicle.

Put people on cellphones in ANY VEHICLE, and you are asking for trouble.

As long as my precious family is out and about on the roads, I am going to spring for the most comfortable, biggest mother-loving, safest, Multi-purpose vehicle I can find. My family is going to have the best odds in surviving an accident, and I wouldnt have it any other way. I will pay whatever it costs, and when my children are all grown up and moved out, - and I dont coach little league, and Im not doing as much DO-IT-Yourself Home improvements, and all Im doing is driving to senior night at the bowling alley, - Ill no longer need an SUV.

Until then, watch out...
 
Since when did Ralph Nader start posting on the org?

#1. Typcially SUV drivers are less attentive and less considerate. As bikers we've all experienced that first hand before. SUV drivers, I found, drive SUVs so if/when they get into accidents, they would suffer little to no injuries while inflicting greater injuries on those that are involved with the accidents with them. So why should they be attentive and considerate??[/QUOTE]

Really? Compared to who? Other cagers? Don't be so sure.

"You've found" this to be true? How so? I mean, unless you've done a formal survey and compiled the data, you haven't found anything; you may assume these things to be the case, or even suspect them to be the case, but unless you know for a fact this to be the case, try to be a little less insulting to people behind the wheel of SUVs who actually DO know how to drive. And there's a hell of a lot of them out there.

#2. SUV do take up too much room on the road for no valid reason. Come on, we've all heard it, "I need the room". My question is, 'For what??!!'. If you truely need that much room, then get a mini-van. How many times have we've seen the biggest SUVs driven by the smallest (physic-wise) drivers? I had a co-worker that was so small, she had to get 2 pillows so she can see over the steering wheel of her Escalade! I truely believe SUV should only be sold to and driven by those that truely need it. Like the truely ++++++++ sizes, say 350 lb. +[/QUOTE]

Erm... and a van is better than an SUV, how? They're still big, and they're still going to be driven by the same people (if they listen to your advice.

I agree that some people have no need to be driving a large vehicle, but it's no different than people who drive huge-ass duallie pickups that have never hauled a bag of groceries, not to mention been used as a working truck as they're designed to be.

And just because someone might be small, how do you know what they're using the vehicles for? I know people who use them to haul kids around, to run a catering business out of, and to haul things continuously (they basically tossed the seats to use it as a constant hauler). Again, you're assuming things and generalizing them across all SUV drivers, and doing so with what I can only classify as ignorance.

#3. Tying into #1. SUVs are extremely dangerous because the visiability in them are poor and the handling is hap-hazardeous at best. Most SUVs are so damn big and the windows are so small in comparison you can't really see anything. Coupled with the fact that SUVs have the worst handling capabilities. Most are top-heavy and are likely to body-roll like it was a donut + will flip.[/QUOTE]

Spoken like a person who has never actually driven one.

In extreme cases, an SUV has a chance to roll. Thing is, so does a Taurus. And as far as visibility goes, you really need to sit in one and take a look -- in many cases you have a better view of the road simply because you're not having your view blocked by parked vehicles and other road-side detritus.

However, I've seen way too many times where some BLING-OUT punk will drive it like he/she's driving a 2 seater Porsche. Especially when they are trying to race us bikers.[/QUOTE]

Hmmm... I hate bling on a car as much as much as anyone but I don;t see why that constitutes a need for a ban.

As for racing or driving like crap, is it any more prevalent in an SUV than any other car type? I would guess no... but it sure makes for a nifty news story or expose in a newsmagazine, doesn't it?

To hell with graduate driver's licenses for bikes, how about qualifying driving licenses for SUVs?? Likely 2 tests, WHY do one need to buy and drive a SUV, and special license that one CAN safely drive a SUV. Like one of those Semi-truck licenses or commercial bus licenses ( in CA those are A class I believe).[/QUOTE]

Yes, let's force people to jump through extra hoops, just so they can satisfy someone's idea of inferiority or superiority, based solely on their choice of vehicle. Let's add layers of beauracracy and make people suffer financially and also with their schedules simply because someone in the minority decides to be vocal about somethng that has offended them. How very California of you.

#3.[/QUOTE]

You have two #3s.

Space HOGS. We've all seen them before. Pull in to a parking lot and you see a SUV parked in a "compact" space making it too tight to fit anything else but a bike. Sometimes, you see a SUV take up 2 spaces because that driver is FULLY inconsiderate.[/QUOTE]

I've also seen this from Sports cars, Ricers, Trucks, minivans, high-dollar coupes, etc etc etc. It's not model or vehicle-type specific at ALL.

We've seen them before on the road, taking up way too much lane than they need and that they can handle simply to satisfy their EGOs.[/QUOTE]

Again, you see this across all vehicle types.

In traffic congestion, SUV actually contributes to the trafffic jam because of all of the room they're taking up while sitting still.[/QUOTE]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA did you actually just say that? They add to traffic congestion, simply because they are trapped in the traffic congestion? You cannot actually be serious.

Wow.

And SUVs are particularly dangereous because the driver can be ignorant by not seeing where they are going during a lane change, or they simply don't care and boss their way in.[/QUOTE]

Yes, that's the SUV's fault. We don't need to worry about driver responsibility at all.

#4. GAS HOG, GAS HOG, GAS HOG. I like to think that I'm environmentally conscience and all, but I'm more capitalist than anything. But nonetheless, let me satisfy my environmentally conscience side and say that SUVs are guzzling up resources like there's not tomorrow... And at this rate, there might not be, thanks in part o SUVs. Now let me speak economically. SUV are in a very large part to blame for our high gas/petro prices (the other is obviously the greedy oil company). Now, I'm not to say how other people should spend their $$$, unless it affects me. SUV affects me, my wallet and YOUR wallet as well. How? When a SUV is burning gas at the rate of 8 MPG or even 13 MPG, it's cost more than just the driver/owner that's dishing out $70 to full up. It's costing you and me. At that gas-guzzling rate of the SUV, it's using up the supply of oil/gas, thus the shorter supply (and even though demand remains steady), the higher the gas prices for EVERYONE. [/QUOTE]

Again, trucks, vans, some sedans and even some sports cars all have crappy gas mileage too. I can understand if you're sitting around watching nothing but Anti-SUV news shows, or a member of E.L.F. or something saying this (well no I can't but...), but at least try to have something that resembles perspective on the issue.

Do SUVs eat gas? Yep, to varying degrees. Are they the only ones that do? Not by a long shot. Are they the main reason gas is so expensive? Oh hell no (take a look at how much state tax is levied on a gallon of gas some day, not to mention the margin put on it by both oil companies and retailers... educate yourself on the matter some time), not by a long shot.

So give me one valid reason for having a SUV, unless you're over 350 lb, or disabled?[/QUOTE]

As soon as you give me one valid reason for having a hyper-sports bike, or an exotic car, or a sports car, or an oil-heated house, or char-broiled steaks, or a certain political viewpoint, or...

Or better yet, give me a valid reason why anyone should have to explain themselves to some self-important idiot speaking out of complete ignorance as to what is actually happening in the world. Get over yourself.

My remedy for the SUV? SUVs should require a special license and valid reasoning to have one and to operate one, like if you're obese or disabled. SUVs for any other reason should be charged $20 per gallon of gas at the pump. SUVs should have to pay at least 4 times the amount for a annual registration. SUVs should be charged a mininum insurance of $3000 every 6 months for insurance, and that's just for liablility only, add comprehensive and collision it should cost at the mininum of $7000 every 6 months. That's for all of the damages and/or injuries that SUVs causes. One "at-fault" accident should cause the insurance to go up to a mininum of $10,000 for liablility only and $20,000 every 6 months for that SUV driver.[/QUOTE]

Like many other people in many other segments of society, you are choosing to punish people for a choice they make, simply based on arbitrary reasons fueled by your own myopic bias.

The fact is EVERY SINGLE POINT you raise above has little to nothing to do with the type of vehicle driven, and everything to do with the individual drivers. You need to figure out the difference, instead of categorically having a prejudice against people based solely on the body attached to the four wheels they drive around on. But you seem to have some psychotic hard-on about blaming a certain type of vehicle for the woes of the world, and apparently very little actual information to base it on.

Until you manage to wrap your brain around that and actually look at things like this objectively, please, spare me your half-brained, no-thought "solutions," because its just a waste of bandwidth, not to mention the time of anyone who actually thinks rationally.



<!--EDIT|RandomNickname
Reason for Edit: None given...|1129002287 -->
 
The world we live in revolves around, Thinking Big, super size this, big rims, everything must be big! you guys don't understand, some of these suv drivers we have down here are not by far the safest drivers in the world... but oh well, it's ok... they have a right to think big, because you forget, were the a**holes...
 
I've been a long outspoken opponent against SUVs, more so against those big, massive, bohemoth ones like the Expeditions, Hummers, etc.. than the more reasonables ones like the older 4-Runners.

But seems the French are finally seeing and saying something that we won't:

http://news.yahoo.com/s....tofthem

I know I may get some fire back for this from the SUV owners.  .
eynlai -
I might get blasted by "Hayabusa" owners, but this has to be said..... I have long been opposed to those "superbikes", especially the ones cappable of ludicrous speed, like the Hayabusa, the blackbird, the fireblade and the Phantom 14.... I think the more reasonable Sprees, Vespas and motorized wheels chairs are much more tolerable and reasonable.

I mean, why does anyone need a bike that is capable of better than 4x the legal city speedlimit? DOn't they recognize that with those modified exhausts that in some cases can reach noise in excess of 140 dbl is dangerous and flat out annoying?
And look at the accidents caused by the inexperienced riders who straddle too much horsepower with too little brain power?

Sorry man, playing Devils's Advocate. I'm sure if you look on the internet you'll find some page or news report that starts out just like this.... I ride a Busa and drive an SUV, owned a mini van, outgrew it. Owned a 4Runner, same. Now own an Expedition and a trailer...If I can't carry it, then I don't need it. I agree with HayaVegas, I wan't my family driving in an Armored car if possible.....
Besides, if I ever caught someone messin with Bessie - well, let's just say that I grew up in the Suck at a time when if you caught someone stealing, they had better not be able to stand on the old man's rug without help.

You got nads posting something like this - sometimes, nads is enough. Opinions are what make us different. Good on ya for expressing yours, but yeah...you're probably gonna here about it over this one....
 
... what a stupid arguement....
1. Why should they be attentive and considerate?
Because crashing SUCKS. Nobody wakes up in the morning, gets in their car and thinks, Gee, I'm gonna crash today, cause it's fun!...



<!--EDIT|Busaman86
Reason for Edit: None given...|1129005601 -->
 
The world we live in revolves around, Thinking Big, super size this, big rims, everything must be big! you guys don't understand, some of these suv drivers we have down here are not by far the safest drivers in the world... but oh well, it's ok... they have a right to think big, because you forget, were the a**holes...
Oh I'm sure.

Hell I think the Seattle area has by far the biggest collection of crap drivers per capita in the country.

But the thing is, you can't blame that on the vehicle, certainly not blanket-statement style. If you have an issue with the drivers then fine, by all means, let em have it with both barrels. But to blame the vehicle itself is just ignorant.

To completely bastardize a phrase, SUVs don't drive like a$$holes, people drive like a$$holes.
 
Back
Top