Remember class, it’s all about attitude. Not just how you drive (bad drivers own cars of all sizes), but what you drive (social responsibility). When I drive a large truck or flatbed, you better believe that I signal for an increased distance. For that matter, I also increase my following distances, knowing that my vehicle is more dangerous to others on the road. The callous disregard for human life demonstrated by people who have taken it upon themselves to navigate in a multi-ton vehicle, yet refuse to use their turn signals, cut into your following distance and drive up gas prices all at once is stupifying. Bad drivers in smaller cars just don’t have the option to mar the world with such a wide swath. Furthermore, there is a fairly close tracking between vehicle cost and degree of education. People who drive more expensive cars should know better than to have poor driving skills. Yet it is precisely these people who, too often, are the very worst drivers. It’s not about envy. How could I envy an antisocial submoron? For those of you who actually work with your SUV or get some mud on your wheel wells, hats off to you, you are using your vehicle for its intended purpose. To those for whom it is the remotest sort of status symbol, I leave you with a bumper sticker on a well used jeep, replete with mud strata and Nevada pinstripes:
Amen, brother! This is one of the most intelligent posts I’ve seen and it makes me happy that the small handful of us decrying these things are not alone.
Yes, but not all the stats: on a cost-per-passenger basis the Metro comes up short. My quick search for prices of each turned up ~$9000 for a Geo Metro (dealer price, claimed on a personal web page) and ~$32,000 for a Ford Expedition (kelly bluebook, 5000 mi., the only non-standard option I assumed was 4WD).
The Expedition does weigh about 3.5 times as much as the Metro and it also costs about 3.5 times as much, but doesn’t burn 3.5 times as much fuel and doesn’t use 3.5 times as much oil.
The Metro can only comfortably carry two adults while the expedition can comfortably carry nine: that’s 4.5 times as many passengers as the Metro. The (gallons-per-mile)-per-passenger of the Metro is .01219; for the Expedition it’s .00694. At full capacity, the Expedition actually uses less fuel per passenger than the Metro does.
So much for environmental damage.
A driver with a Metro loses badly especially when he has to make multiple trips to transport something that could have been done in a single trip by the Expedition. Such as, , , multiple children. This impacts milage rates, which also affects resale values: the Metro isn’t as likely to hold its value. If both are involved in any collision, the stronger structure and higher replacment cost of the Expedition means that it is more likely to be repaired or salvaged while the Metro (more easily damaged and less costly to replace) is more likely to end up rusting in a junkyard somewhere. -And of course the medical costs of being involved in a collision can positively dwarf the vehicle replacement costs.
So much for raw material costs.
Also consider if a multiple-driver family has the choice of purchasing one Expedition or two or three Metros what the results would be: the family with only one vehicle is going to have to coordinate trips much more effectively than the family with three vehicles, and they’re more lilely to maintain that one vehicle better (poorly maintained vehicles being the cause of most auto pollution). Coordinating trips together also results in less fuel consumption, not doing so doesn’t. And because an Expedition is more expensive to buy, it is likely to be kept longer before replacement.
Your observation that you only see one person in each during rush hour isn’t worth much; not many people take their kids to the office every day, and not many people work at the same locations as their spouses. You are likely to see more carpooling in smaller cars, because smaller cars tend to be less expensive, and the people driving smaller cars tend to have less income than people driving larger vehicles, and poor people benefit comparatively more from the savings of carpooling than wealthy people do. On the whole, the argument of the OP seems to center around the “that-guy-has-a-bigger-car-than-me” complaint. - MC
“That-guy-has-a-better-car-than-me” would more accurately summarize the argument of the OP. Remember, the sweeping insult also included me with my little Bimmer as well as drivers of the mighty behemoths.
Last time I checked, both the SUV and a large BMW were both EPA approved to be sold and driven in the US. If you don’t like the fact that these expensive and large cars are permited to be built and licensed for North American roads then I suggest you contact your congressman and request that he take up your cause. Until then, flick that giant chip off your shoulders and get a life - there is nothing funny about the potential of injury or loss of life due to automotive accidents… especially when they are caused by driver error.
I don’t own an SUV. I don’t like how they handle. In traffic, I’m often incovinienced by the fact that I cannot see sufficiently if I am behind/beside a particularly large SUV or minivan. I prefer midsized european sport sedans and sport coupes. I find the large BMW a bit too big for my needs but I do appreciate that some people like them.
You two (and other like you) must remember that people who drive big expensive cars or SUV’s: a) can usually afford them, and b) simply like them. Who the hell are you to dictate which cars people can or cannot purchase with their own money? Are you some kind of automotive moral purchase authorities? Self declared voices of automotive reason, are you?
Finally, if my yacht sinks, I will most deffinately not come crying to you… unless you are in the business of yacht recovery and repair. It is for these kinds of unpleasant occurances that I buy yacht insurance. Oh, and in case you still don’t get it… people who can afford to buy yachts (and SUV’s and BMW’s), can also afford to lose (and maintain and repair) them…
Due to a stunning lack of participation(or defense), I thought I’d let you guys know. Ive started a thread in Great Debates so that all you SUV apologist can come over and defend the SUVs.
hmmmm…
I don’t have a BMW, but I’m gonna buy a 1972 Mustang Mach1 here pretty quick, and I know I’d be pissed if someone ran into it… but it’s got VERY nice brakes and handling, so…
ANYWAY, I think I’ve be laughing at the SUV owner because they get them to feel safer, and if they get into accidents anyway, they are just dumb…
people that do drive large SUV’s in my opinion are not always snobs, but are most of the time…
I know an 18 year old that is the bitchiest I know, and he drives a Tahoe because he dad’s a doc…
don’t gime the Whyfor about that, I could go on…
but anyhow…
