Why are there so many SUV's on the road?

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I've just had a wonderful cycle ride (we used to cycle a lot during lockdown but not since).
We really noticed how busy the roads were, which was unsurprising, but we also noticed that most people drive suv's now, which is a pita.
Why is this, and how do people afford them?

Whats different about the people/families in London?
Why don't we need them?

I don’t have an issue with SUVs, I do think some of the massive ones are impractical in London & St Ives (I saw a disproportionate amount of Defenders get a bit stuck there last summer) so I wouldn’t object to a tax on the bigger/heavier ones.

What is wrong with having an SUV?

I personally don't like cycles on the road and the type of people who cycle always act as though they are some saint because they can't, or won't afford a real vehicle, and like to wear spandex for attention.

Who are these pedestrians throwing themselves at SUV’s , most accidents around me are motorbikes and badly judged crossroads . An SUV being large is easy to see. Far easier to hear than electric cars yet people aren’t complaining about those .

Yep….all ‘bought’ on the ‘never never’
we bought a new car last year (yes, with real money!) and the dealer told us 90% of sales were either this PCP or whatever it’s called….or motobility.

PCPs aren’t necessarily bad though & I say that as someone who bought their last car outright.

In that case electric cars should be heavily taxed as they are far heavier than most cars .

Our local Nissan dealer told us 90% of their sales are either this PCP lark or motobility. I guess everyone who ‘owns’ a suv must be on mumsnet!

Yes, I worry about my dc walking to school with the electric vehicles as they are so quiet.

Large SUVs do disproportionately result in more children pedestrians deaths though.

I always preferred an estate to an SUV. That said I've just swapped my estate for a Renault 5 and honestly it's great having a smaller car again. I can fit in smaller parking spaces and squeeze through smaller gaps.

I have a Motability car. Would you like to swap for my disabilities?

I would agree

Ph god, those practically silent electric cars! They have taken me by surprise a few times.

The Paris “tax” is based on weight not just size which is a good approach imo.

I can guarantee that the majority of SUV drivers are just going about their day, like everyone else. Do I believe everyone needs one? Of course not. Having seen some people’s attempts at parking them, I do wonder why people put themselves through it 😅I know an 80 year old who got one on the disability scheme. She drives it about a mile a week to a local beauty spot to sit and read a book. A very strange decision to get such a big car, but she’s happy enough with it.

As I said earlier, we are farming folk so my SUV is very much needed for lugging stuff about and visiting feed merchants to load up on sacks of feed. I don’t drive with an air of ‘fuck you’, I drive with an air of ‘shit, did I shut that gate before I left?’

Yep, I came to say this as well!
cyclists who have cycle lanes, but still insist on using the road making it dangerous for everyone…

Loads of reasons

Child car seats are bigger (and the law) whereas back in the day we all slid about loose on the back seat of mini-metros - therefore anyone with 2+dc under about 10 is tempted by a wider car.

Safety features generally make cars bigger - all cars are supersized compared to their 80s forefathers.

People are bigger (fatter) so seats have got bigger - some are virtually equivalent to lazy boys.

Trend towards HP/PCP type buying means people look at price per month rather than total cost.

Massive cars are normalised - people don’t think of them as huge

The market is global - cars are made for countries with bigger roads and parking spaces. Places with tiny roads still have loads of smaller cars

Hobbies/towing etc. people do more now than they used to do. Huge numbers of dogs in cars - people weren’t driving dogs about back in the day.

the penis size thing - men like big cars and lots have a “thing” about driving small cars. John Cleese drove a mini but somehow Tim in marketing claims to be to huge for a Yaris at 5’9”. Huge numbers of men associate car size with masculinity and don’t want to drive a “woman’s” car. How often do you see men in an Aygo or Fiat 500? Women still need to fit the car seats, the shopping, the dog, the harp etc in and, frankly, don’t want to be lumbered with the third rate “runaround” while himself gets the rangerover so then you have 2 huge cars on every drive.

Safety - you start to feel unsafe as everyone else is in a car that’s twice your size so it escalates. We’ll be rolling about in tanks soon (“I just LOVE the driving position! The telescope makes things super easy and I can park I anywhere!”)

I drive a big car for years when the kids were in school. I did need the car seat space, then it was just convenient with hobbies/clubs/liftshares etc. I really enjoy my small car life now but a big car made my life easier for about 15 years.

I have also told you, despite cyclists not being particularly sensible round here, I would always drive round them super carefully (as I do the large number of horse riders) because, guess what, despite my having a big car and not giving a fuck about that and even believing the tourists cyclists are a bit daft and should wear a helmet, I don't want to injure anyone at all in my driving career. Because I couldn't give a fuck about what you think of my large car or the particular cycling highway code for cyclists, does not make me a danger. To be honest, silent and very heavy electrical cars going through our village have proved problematic with a couple of old ladies, no accidents but didn't see them coming from behind and scared them. I know you want to make your point here but suggesting that I am, given my blemish free driving record, dangerous would also suggest you're wrong. I am acutely aware of my responsibilities as a driver. I have the most precious people to me inside my car and the most precious people to someone else are the other road users, no matter their choice of transport. As they say, get on your bike.

The level of ignorance on this thread is depressing.
They're a pain in the arse and dangerous in so many ways.

1. they are heavier (especially electric ones) and are a contributing factor as to why roads are deteriorating so quickly these days.

As roads are built to cope with the loading of a heavy lorry or a bus say at least 10 tonnes I don't see how a 2 tonne Quashqi or Kia is going to wear the road in an unreasonable way. Electric buses on housing estates are a problem especially the scrubbing or sideways load at roundabouts. Lightweight batteries are a scientific impossibility.

Well I didn’t say that. We have an A4 so medium estate not a Mazda 6 size. The larger SUVs that fit a bigger family are certainly bigger than our A4 such as the Q7. Other than that the average sized SUVs are similar boot space and the smaller ones have a smaller boot space which is one of the reasons I stick to my estate as I see no point in spending more on an SUV and like for like they are more expensive than estate cars. But my dislike of them is more to do with the drive, they are very dull to drive and I enjoy driving. The only ones that are as responsive as a hatchback or estate are BMW
SUV. And yes I have owned an SUV, we had it for 4 years and I didn’t like it at all so talking experience.

Matches the level of ignorance of many when behind the wheel, or excuses for their conduct. I stand by my opinion that 25% of people who have a driving licence should not have one- some are medical reasons, most because of their conduct on the road.

I would say denial rather than ignorance, to be precise.

There seems to be a lot of sticking fingers in ears and "la la la....what danger to other road users? Can't hear you, la la la..." going on.

Because they don’t make old fashioned people carriers anymore that had more room!

So what am I supposed to go? I genuinely try to make as little impact as possible - but I am struggling to get in and out of the car as my condition has worsened and when I try to get in and out of DDs SUV it’s much easier for me to do. What cars could I look at that would give me the height that arent an SUV?

Oh yes, my very favourite bullshit justification for owning a SUV that I see on these threads is "But we need it to drive to Cornwall once a year with all our stuff".

As a resident of Cornwall- who was in St Ives just yesterday as a matter of fact- can I just say- hahahahaha 😆😆😆. I'll be seeing you on a single track lane this summer then, and yes it's your turn to reverse and I'll be sitting there with my feet up on the dashboard until you do, and yes you do have to get into the hedge to let me past. Right into the hedge, and nobody cares about the scratches on your big shiny £30,000 monstrosity 😆

That's weird. I've driven everything from Golf type-r to a Ford Ranger, and currently drive a hybrid Kuga.

I find that unless it's a very small or under-powered car (although, shout out to Peugeot 106s for dodging this rule) I can generally enjoy driving them. My Kuga for instance is a solidly boring car - but it's got a 2l engine, plus the electric, so when I switch it to sports mode it really shifts. Even the Ranger, given its size, was very pleasant to drive (although the seats were definitely functional rather than comfortable)