God d*mned SUVs

Carol wrote:
> Can't tell you how many times I've gone out into a parking lot and haven't
> been able to find my car...walking around...looking...I know I parked right
> by here!...oh there it is...hidden between a Suburban and and Expedition.
>
> My boss drives one of those monsters. I tell her we could save a lot of
> money if she'd just get a removable ramp and let me park my car in the back
> of her SUV for carpooling.
>
> Oh!Oh! My other "Why I Hate SUV" problems? HEY! You! In the tank! Yeah, YOU.
> The one going 50mph on a 30mph residential street? Yeah, YOU. Did you really
> HAVE to drive through the water standing by the curb without slowing down so
> I feel like I'm going through a car wash when you heave that wave over the
> top of my car? ASSHOLE???
>
> Truly though I think the worst thing about them is what that kind of mass
> and power does to the psychology of the driver. When you get behind the
> wheel of one of those things you feel invincable. Seriously. SUV drivers are
> the most aggresive drivers I've ever seen. I think they don't worry about
> getting in an accident because they're going to win that crash almost every
> time. And red lights? P'shaw.


Just think, Eric only has to deal with a small percentage of the SUV's
that we do, especially in Texas.

If gas prices had been this high in the U.S when the silly things were
introduced, the fad would have never taken off and Ford would not have
been able to sell MILLIONS of those high-profit, unsafe, piece of crap
Exploders to the masses of gullible buyers.

We talk about the large numbers of miatas that have been sold, Ford was
selling over 400,000 Explorers a year for a long time. It is one of the
most common vehicles of any type that I see on the road. The Chevy
Suburban is not far behind.

Now these monster SUV's are a dying animal except to the people who make
decent money, and it is worth the extra price at the pump for me to see
it happen.

Pat

> My boss drives one of those monsters. I tell her we could save a lot of
> money if she'd just get a removable ramp and let me park my car in the
> back of her SUV for carpooling.

Hah, I like it :-)

>
> Oh!Oh! My other "Why I Hate SUV" problems? HEY! You! In the tank! Yeah,
> YOU. The one going 50mph on a 30mph residential street?

Speaking of which - in my annoyance yesterday I spent some time Googling
SUVs just to see what came up, and one interesting thing is that SUVs are,
at least in California, actually illegal to drive in most residential areas
(http://www.slate.com/id/2104755 ). Most residential roads apparently forbid
trucks of 6,000 pounds or over to drive on them, and most SUVs are just
larger than that in order to be eligible for the tax breaks. However, the
law doesn't seem to be enforced for SUVs - which is a shame. Wouldn't it be
nice if a lobby got together to force the law to be enforced? That would get
rid of a few more.

Part of the Wikipedia entry
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_utility_vehicle ) made me snort:

"SUVs also allow drivers to connect on an aesthetic level with the physical
environment - by allowing owners to go off road, SUVs promote a greater
value being applied to wilderness areas, an attachment difficult to gain
through reading or simply seeing things on television."

Allow drivers to connect with the physical environment my heini. As you
point out, people in SUVs are so ensconced by metal they have no idea of
their surroundings whatsoever. If you want to go out in the wilderness in
order to appreciate it then cycle or walk there, don't drive around in it in
a tank.

Eric

> It sounds like this guy has money, which lets him roll in a Hummer if he
> wants to.

Right, he must do, especially since the thing seemed to have all the extras
and gadgets in the front as well.

> At least you are likely to get your car repair paid for. When I was hit
> from behind, it was much lesser but it did do damage and the driver had no
> insurance and a vehicle that barely ran.

I'm astounded by hearing all these stories of people driving in the US
without insurance. In the UK I'm sure it happens but it's fairly challenging
to do. In order for a car to be allowed on the road, it has to display a
road tax sticker which has to be renewed every year. In order to get that
sticker you have to provide evidence of insurance and MOT (the test that
proves that the car is roadworthy). It *is* possible for there to be pockets
of time in which one or the other has run out (e.g. the insurance might be
up for renewal in August and you don't renew it and it doesn't come to light
until you try to renew your road tax in October, or whatever) but in general
I get the impression it's quite rare for a car/driver to be uninsured.
Aren't there such mechanisms in the US to ensure drivers are insured?

Eric

In article >,
"Eric Baber" > wrote:

> Most residential roads apparently forbid
> trucks of 6,000 pounds or over to drive on them, and most SUVs are just
> larger than that in order to be eligible for the tax breaks. However, the
> law doesn't seem to be enforced for SUVs - which is a shame. Wouldn't it be
> nice if a lobby got together to force the law to be enforced? That would get
> rid of a few more.

No, it would get the law changed to 7,000 pounds (or whatever). SUVs are
expensive, and their owners have clout. If SUVs were cheap, there'd be
little attraction in driving one.

--
Lanny Chambers
'94C, St. Louis
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

"Eric Baber" > wrote in message
...
> I've always hated SUVs out of principle, because they're plain stupid
> vehicles, but now I have a personal grievance with them as well. They
> really should be banned; there's absolutely no reason why a mid-30s couple
> with no kids living in Cambridge which is as flat as a pancake should be
> driving such a monstrosity.
>
Odd thing is that in some places in the USA they **ALREADY HAVE BEEN
BANNED!**, just these laws are routinely ignored by everyone. Most of
California & Minneapolis restrict trucks of over 3 ton on residential
streets. (An H1 hummer has a GVWR of over 5 ton, and hardly looks or
operates like a car.)

http://www.energybulletin.net/1465.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2104755/sidebar/2104762/

Eric Baber wrote:

> I'm astounded by hearing all these stories of people driving in the US
> without insurance. In the UK I'm sure it happens but it's fairly challenging
> to do. In order for a car to be allowed on the road, it has to display a
> road tax sticker which has to be renewed every year. In order to get that
> sticker you have to provide evidence of insurance and MOT (the test that
> proves that the car is roadworthy). It *is* possible for there to be pockets
> of time in which one or the other has run out (e.g. the insurance might be
> up for renewal in August and you don't renew it and it doesn't come to light
> until you try to renew your road tax in October, or whatever) but in general
> I get the impression it's quite rare for a car/driver to be uninsured.
> Aren't there such mechanisms in the US to ensure drivers are insured?
>
> Eric

It varies somewhat from state to state, but in Texas you need to show
proof of insurance to have the car inspected, (your MOT), and to pay for
the registration sticker each year, which I assume is similar to your
road tax sticker.
The car only has to be insured at that exact time for the stickers,
however, so it is possible to get it insured for a short period of time,
take care of the two annual requirements on the same day, and then drop
the insurance for the rest of the year.

You can also simply let the insurance lapse or directly cancel anytime
and you won't have a problem other than at sticker renewal time again
unless you either get pulled over or get into an accident.

The insurance paper that you show the officer is a joke too. It can be a
fax from the insurance company. This won't help in an accident, but any
decent fake is not likely to be noticed by a cop unless something else
is going on to make them suspicious.
Scan your old one, change the date, print it out and away you go.

I heard that they will be changing this to a verifiable insurance system
soon where they can tell if the car is truly insured as easily as they
can tell if it is inspected.
I hope so, even though the costs will be passed on to us as usual.

Doing this does carry a fairly large penalty if enforced, with probably
an additional charge or two as well if you try deception with a fake
document.

Pat

Lanny Chambers wrote:

> No, it would get the law changed to 7,000 pounds (or whatever). SUVs are
> expensive, and their owners have clout. If SUVs were cheap, there'd be
> little attraction in driving one.


I have to disagree with that statement.
$10,000 can get me into a 2001 Expedition, and I could even just barely
handle the gas costs.

I am very far removed from anything resembling "clout".
There are a LOT of very ordinary, middle-class Americans driving these
monstrosities, they just did not buy them new for the most part.

Pat

In article >,
pws > wrote:

> If SUVs were cheap, there'd be
> > little attraction in driving one.
>
> I have to disagree with that statement.
> $10,000 can get me into a 2001 Expedition, and I could even just barely
> handle the gas costs.

You miss my point, Pat. Sure, folks buy used Cadillacs (Mercedes, BWMs,
etc.), too, for much less than MSRP. For the same money, they could get
a newer Chevy with many fewer miles on it, yet there's always a market
for old Caddies. The only reason: perceived status. Even the poor can
pretend they're rich, as long as they don't look too hard at the rust.

--
Lanny Chambers
'94C, St. Louis
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

There is usually more to the "truck" definition for legal purposes other
than GVWR. How many axles, how many tires, commercial use or not? The
residential truck restrictions I've seen only applied to commercial trucks,
though the signs only show the weight restriction.

I find it concerning that when only people's sensibilities are offended
offer the solution of banning as an appropriate action in a democratic and
capitalistic society and that such banning should apply to everyone whether
they are perceived to need the item or not . Or that there is a test or
criteria to determine if they need the item and should be allowed to have
it. Not American-like thinking in my opinion.

Let's see:
Married with no kids, regardless of age: banned from owning medium sized
SUVs are larger.
Married with two kids, 30-35 years of age. The state gives you permission
to own an SUV no larger than medium.

Such thought offends my sensibilities, let me see what I can ban to control
such thought.....


"Mal Osborne" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Eric Baber" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I've always hated SUVs out of principle, because they're plain stupid
>> vehicles, but now I have a personal grievance with them as well. They
>> really should be banned; there's absolutely no reason why a mid-30s
>> couple with no kids living in Cambridge which is as flat as a pancake
>> should be driving such a monstrosity.
>>
> Odd thing is that in some places in the USA they **ALREADY HAVE BEEN
> BANNED!**, just these laws are routinely ignored by everyone. Most of
> California & Minneapolis restrict trucks of over 3 ton on residential
> streets. (An H1 hummer has a GVWR of over 5 ton, and hardly looks or
> operates like a car.)
>
> http://www.energybulletin.net/1465.html
> http://www.slate.com/id/2104755/sidebar/2104762/
>
>

Lanny Chambers wrote:

> You miss my point, Pat. Sure, folks buy used Cadillacs (Mercedes, BWMs,
> etc.), too, for much less than MSRP. For the same money, they could get
> a newer Chevy with many fewer miles on it, yet there's always a market
> for old Caddies. The only reason: perceived status. Even the poor can
> pretend they're rich, as long as they don't look too hard at the rust.


Heh, I think I gotcha that time around. You are correct as well, that
monster SUV was very expensive when new, though here in Austin, I see so
many $40,000 and $50,000+ vehicles that nothing except the most exotic
cars really stand out.
Austin is very much a have or have not place, like most of the country,
but we do have a lot of wealthy people living here.

Pat