SUV Perception

The point is as long as my wife isn't driving 85 in a blizzard, passing everyone in her path she and my kids are safer in the Yukon! I think it is very tempting to drive really fast in a big SUV in a snowstorm though! If only I was 25 again!

 

Yeah, no kidding, overconfidence and aggressive driving in ANY vehicle is bound to cause more mishaps.

What I'm saying, in the real world, you're far more likely to be involved in something other than a rollover by driver idiocy or consequence.

Maybe the discussion should turn to how many people would have been worse off had they not been in a SUV...

 

what equipment do these kids have?

 

At any one time there is a collection of hockey equipment, football equipment, baseball gloves, a dog bed, items to be returned, school backpacks, books, toys, magazines, shoes, boots, a blanket, car seats, grocery bags, the list somedays is mind-boggling.

 

There's nothing wrong with SUVs or the big pickups... AS LONG AS THEY ARE PUT TO REASONABLE USE. 4 dudes in a F-350 superduty doing construction work is fine. You can't tow 13000 lbs in a Prius or a Dodge Colt (though it would be funny to see someone try). That's why I despise the H2 so much. It serves NO USEFUL purpose. It's just waste.

 

Hey, I sure as heck agree on that. Precisely why I got rid of my monster F150... After a year, I found that I only had *real* use of the bed/towing ONCE. Then gas prices went up, and I was like, "F-this..."

But I sure as heck felt safe in it... :lol:

 

An SUV is not designed to respond as nimbly as a car or a van in crash-avoidance situations.

The way to avoid accidents is to steer out of them. SUVs aren't capable of manuevering as well as a car.

***

Madison Ave. has sold us a load. They've convinced us that more is better. If the car seems too small, get an SUV. If the house doesn't have enough closets or a big enough basement, "move up" to a McMansion. Only a large dog will do. Get a new boat, one that's 3 or 5 feet longer than your old one, then you'll be happy. Newer, bigger, faster, shinier, latest technology, more expensive; yea baby!

If you've bought into this myth, sorry; it's not true. Bigger is not better.

Resist over-civilization, the artificial need to purchase, gather, haul, and store more and more stuff. Downsize whenever possible. Slow down.

 

Squid,

Yeah, one of my buddies (HybridVigor here on PC) has a Prius and a Tundra. He puts the Tundra to good use so it's all good. Using a Dogde 3500 dualey as a commuter car just because you can is what pisses me off. Case in point. I was in the reserves for a while. We were called up to active duty to guard "stuff" in our home state for a year. As such, we could go home on occasion. My platoon sergeant trades in his Honda Civic for a brand new Dodge 1500. He's in markteting on the civilian side. Wth?!? The only reason that he got it was because most of the other senior NCOs in the battallion have big pickups. Another guy in my battery picked up a Chevy Avalache (he traded in a caddy one that one). Absolutely no need for it what so ever. I wanted to throttle both of them, but there's that rank thing that always gets in the way. All I could do was shake my head and point out to the lower enlisted who had any sense how stupid it was. Of course, a couple of them bought big trucks as well. Again, no need. Just wanted to feel "big" I guess.

 

I don't really agree with this. The real key is to give yourself a "buffer zone" such that you can anticipate, as far ahead of time as possible, any possible "intrusions", "steer out" of them ahead of time in control as opposed to any "abrupt" "steering out" as a consequence of a *sudden* event. Of course, this is secondary to the most effective way of avoiding accidents: simply paying attention and being aware of what's going on 360 degrees around you.

See, this is what I fail to understand. WHY NOT? If I personally want more closets why should I not get a bigger house with more? If I want a bigger, faster boat, why shouldn't I get one? Is this the U.S. or some Communist country? Who started this whole philosphy of living-in-a-hovel-with-just enough-to-get-by-is-the-key-to-social-responsibility-and-happiness way of life?




h34r:

 

Oh see, yeah, THAT'S retarded, I couldn't agree MORE!

 

It is a question of sustainability I think. I have been in many debates on this subject and without major technology break-throughs the human race is doomed as far as resource usage. It really doesn't matter if every one started driving Priuses tomorrow. There is a finite amount of fossil fuels, so eventually without a different technology, we will run out. I always argue that man has an instinct for survival and will find a way. I have several friends and family members that would be considered part of the far left politically, For the most part they think the world will end at any moment and the United States is destroying the world, environmentally, economically and certainly politically. In some ways it is humerous, because they certainly like their creature comforts.

 

Malorn, you're right. Current hybrid technology won't solve the oil end game but it will buy us a lot of time. The world a'int going anywhere. It's been around for 4.6 billion years. Whether or not humans remain on it is another question but I agree that necessity is the mother of invention. I'm optimistic (sometimes) that we'll eventually get out of the hole that we're digging for ourselves. It's just sad to think that we lack the will to implement the necessay changes before we're in the hurt locker. It's like high school/college all over again. Waiting until the night before the paper's due to start the research/writing. That's the thing that annoys me.

 

Unfortunately, I think it is human nature to wait until its almost too late. I, too, am optimistic that some technology will come along that changes the fossil fuel dependence. If i wasn't I certainly would no longer be in the automobile business. I may be alone on this, but I wrote some of my best college papers working all night right before it was due. I think the pressure can bring out the best in all of us!

 

How so? What minivan were you driving? Were its crash test results worse than the Yukon? How about its rollover risk? Third row airbags? Crumple zones?

Nate

 

I'm guessing that I'm older, have burned through more money, and experienced more than you have. In other words, I've made mistakes (or watched others make them) that hopefully you never will. Probably have had more fun too.

Big empty houses echo. Filling them with "good friends" (like Kato Kaelin) won't compensate.

Toys aren't fun unless you use them. Properly. It is easy to have more toys than you can possibly use. It's also easy to have more toys than you can use and not be aware that you've fallen into that trap. People who know better laugh at those in the trap. That's right, owning more doesn't get you respect.

The best things in life ARE NOT free. But Madison Ave. hasn't a clue what those are.

I could tell you about the things I've managed to do in the past 48 years. Started to type some of it here but then edited it out. I doubt you'd have the patience to hear about it. After all, you've got to go "enjoy" one of your cars.

 

I'd say that qualifies you for a vehicle like that. This is just one reason why there will always be a market for the larger sized vehicles such as yours. Even the Excursion had it's place - I'm sure there's plenty of families with over 6 kids. Problem is, many of them probably couldn't afford the Excursion consdering how much kids can cost

 

I see it this way:

The quicker we burn through fossil fuels, THE BETTER.

The closer we get to that point, the more attention will be placed upon harnessing natural energies such as solar.

 

I've seen a flipped over minivan before off the snowbank in the mountains. Just the other day driving home I saw a 4 car accident on the 101, and 2 of them were sitting on their roofs. It doesn't take much.

And we all heard how the original Saturn Vue's suspension collapsed if you stress the vehicle sideways causing instant rollover.

Rollovers can happen.

 

you fail to understand that for the same reason you are only able to create a bunch of stupid polls in a 5 minute interval, throw Bill Merchants name in the middle of the topic or post a retarded picture