4x4's

[sweetgilly]

Is my DP being unreasonable when he say's that most 'school run' mum's wouldn't have a clue how to extract themselves using the four wheel drive facility on their Chelsie tractors, should the need arise? If he is indeed correct, then why spend silly amounts on vehicles with this facility?

Oh, and the green brigade.

Alouiseg you've also forgotten
Gina Ford vs Every Other Child Guru

yeah, I could drive my discovery in its 4x4 mode.

I have driven the A93 through the Cairngorms in heavy snowfall in the dark at seven months pregnant in it.....and I also use it for the school run.

And it saved our lives that arse clenchingly scary night, so I do actually love my car you small minded little person.

...and I bet you can drive it too Wilkos :o

I'd quite like one.

I really fancy this one

eat my dust normal sized car drivers

Why do some people get so naffed off when other people don't continually use the 4x4 facility on their 4x4 cars?!

Do they also get annoyed when people don't use the camera or the radio functions on their mobile phones...?

Seriously - some people need to remove the chip and get out more. It's really not worth getting het up about. And no, I don't have a 4x4!

Alouiseg, that is gorgeous! Is it a 7 seater?

Need to trade my 4x4 in as DH reversed into someone and mashed the back of it quite badly!

Male drivers...

"What have people got against 4x4s?"

Well they do take up a bit more space and visibility in car parks and make it that bit harder to see when you are trying to get out of a space.

Actually there is something I dislike more than urban 4x4s - green laners

Well, your dh is a sexist pig, OP, but asking why anyone spends silly money on these things in an urban environment is a reasonable question.
They are so wide that the more of them there are, the more they cause blockages.
They take up so much of the available parking space, especially on school runs, and bulging against the sides of the space in Sainsbury's
The head lights are higher and dazzle you in your mirror as they try and force you to drive more than 70mph on windy rural roads
A lot of people seem to drive them because they think they are great in the snow - they don't stop any quicker without skidding, and just make a bigger vehicle skidding towards everyone else
If you need a 4x4 to drive in snow, you don't know how to drive in snow! (small cars with narrow wheels are equally effective - from long experience of Scandinavian mountains and winters).
The stats about accidents show overwhelmingly that 4x4 drivers are more often at fault in accidents than drivers of ordinary cars.

It isn't jealousy - your cash, your choice - but many people do question the rationale of a choice of a huge, hugely expensive vehicle built for the sahara on an urban street. It can't help but reflect on the potential intelligence of the driver!

5Foot5, are you a horse rider?

Had to Google 'green laners' but now I know what they are.

Sound scarier than tree huggers...

What is a green laner?

Amarone No it's only the regular 5 seats, but looks gorgeous. For a 7 seater i rather like the Mazda 5. It's got the clever slider doors like the voyager but not as long.

TootAndCommon, the stats also show that you are more likely to survive/get less injured in an accident if you are in a larger car.

i hate the bloody things and it ain't jealousy although that trail of thought suits the mentality of the type who drive them like a uniform where i live (essex). I know that depending on where you live it might make sense to have one ie dd's sister lives on a farm and they have one but having one in the area i live is plain attention seaking/showing off, i regularly see them in the drive of a tiny house and probably cost nearly as much as their home. why do i hate the buggers - (again, seems to prevail where i live) they drive up your arse/road hoggers, rarely give way and rarely thank you if you give way and nearly ALWAYS seem to be on a mobile phone whilst driving as if they are above the rules that apply to everyone else. tbh i wouldn't want one if offered to me for free as i would be too embarassed to drive it as far too showy and uncool imp. oh yes, they make reversing out of a parking space harder and bloody annoying to be stuck behind one in a traffic jam as you can't see ahead.

Oh, jeez, green laners - that make it too rutted and muddy to walk on the countryside - yes, I hate them, too .

Yes, Amarone, but a normal car would be fine if there weren't so many competeitive twats in 4x4s being more often at fault in accidents.

Scary, isn't it, more often at fault, and in the vehicle that does most damage TO the other car? Or pedestrian.

What a very selfish attitude.

Actually while there are lorries on the roads causing every single accident on the motorways and A roads I think I'd rather take my chances in a 4x4 thanks.

And bit of cheese why would a 4x4 driver be more
Likely to use a mobile phone when the vast majority of them come with blutooth, handsfree phone kits and multi function steering wheels?

amarone No but a keen walker and have come across green laners several times when out in the Peak District. I bet it is even worse for horse riders.

TootAndCommon Green laners usually drive land rovers and travel in convoys of at least 3 or 4 down any track or lane they can squeeze along. And I don't mean roads with tarmac but any little country track or trail or sometimes even open country. Judging by some of the irate signs we have seen put out by farmers they will drive across private property too if they can get away with it.

Generally speaking they expect everyone else to get out of their way and on a number of occasions we have had to scramble right up against a hedge or wall as they drive past within inches of us.

One t**t near here was seen trying to drive his vehicle over a centuries old pack horse bridge that is a bit of a local landmark and knock a great lump off it in the process.

If they quadrupled the road tax for urban 4x4s and halved the rural 4x4 user tax then there may be fewer Chelsea tractors at the school gate.

I need a big car as I have too many children than would fit into a standard saloon.

I see the point about green laners, and I had no idea this existed, but isn't it ironic that this debate has gone this way?!

The original question was why do people have 4x4s if they cannot drive them? Obviously green laners have a go at using them to their full potential.

Alouiseg - beats me (as to why they often drive around whilst on their mobiles, perhaps it is something inherent?!) but it is really weird, part of the fashion scene they subscribe to i think. it has become something that i look out for when driving around where i live but when i see one of those (normally newer range rover) larger fancier 4x4's especially if driven by a women they are nearly always on their mobiles. it is a certain type of women, the victoria beckham wannabee types, i couldn't comment however on their capability to be able to handle the 4x4 well or not. I actually think they are good cars and yes, certainly safer to be in if in a car accident, i think it is more the type of person that gravitates towards driving them where i live that bugs me rather than the car itself although i do think they are annoyingly large for every day local life for the other souls on the road in the more 'old fashioned' size cars ie when it comes to parking

The govt won't do that because they get soooo much revenue in from the fuel that the 4x4 drivers use. It's now £100 a tank, of which £70 of that is pure tax and vat.