Poxy Chelsea Tractor Brigade

[fuzzynavel]

Don't even need to ask if I'm being unreasonable because I know I'm not.

These ridiculous tanklike constructions being driven around London is just damn selfish.

Do these people think that "rough terraine" is just round the corner from Fulham High Street or something.

Nicey - should have clarified we live in Canada so people ski down our street sometimes (x country) or you can drive 20 minutes to go downhill. No Tarquin-factor here.

Unfortunately.

....I'm giggling at that now. None of my children are called Tarquin, I promise .

Having thought about it, actually I find that lots of people do let you out in London. I also let people out a lot. I have a funny idea that it's all karmic and "do as you would be done by" etc. People also usually stop and let me cross the road when I am walking around with the buggy and I do the same when I am driving. Although obv there are situations (everywhere) when you do need to nudge out a bit or you will never get anywhere.

Sometimes you have move out a bit in order to be able to see - you don't just push out, unless you're a real cunt. And an entitled one, at that!

All cars are a status symbol, and it your own perception of a brand will affect what you buy and how you view others. Whether you buy a 4 x 4, a classic car, a sports car or a boring skoda fabia. I do think its one of the few things that judgment will always be part of the deal. Perhaps rightly as it is a purchased product that has a huge reflection of your lifestyle and priorities. There is nothing else you do or buy that quite makes that same statement. I don't think you should be ashamed of it though, if its right for you.

The thing for 4 x 4s though, is given there IS a safety issue over them, that a gentle ribbing is a good way to get the message across that they can be more dangerous beasts, and that if you are struggling to park/drive the thing an advanced driving course isn't going to harm anyone. And lets face it, if you can afford the 4 x 4 you can damn well afford the extra driving lessons. (Note: you need to take an extra test to drive a mini-bus because of the extra size/difficulty of driving it - yet many 4 x 4s can be close in size to a minibus...)

Anyone else smirking at the irony of the user name naturalbaby going all gung ho over their right to drive penis wagons 4x4's?

Just me?

No amount of organic cotton is going to save your soul, Naturalbaby!

Haha, you would have a heart attack if you saw our school car park every morning.

I feel like a shrimp in my little CRV.

Personally I never had a problem in Fulham, I didn't usually drive so was either on foot, on bus or in taxi.

Tell you who I do have a problem with here, is people in tiny little cars thinking they can just 'nip' in to places. You can't you jerk, just because the car is small doesn't mean you can squeeze in front of me - every now and then the urge to just drive right over the top becomes very strong indeed.

Arh, local snow... now thats an excuse. Yeah I think the Tarquin factor is UK exclusive seeing as we don't really have any (apart from scotland).

Nice, I live in Lancashire and we have been snowed in for 2 weeks at a time for the past two years.
Which obviously means that I drive a humungous 4x4 house on wheels bloody ugly bugger for the remaining 50 weeks. Erm. NO.

bibbity i am very aware of the environmental arguments agains 4x4's thanks. it may not be the most environmentally friendly option we've got to fit our 3 car seats in but to compensate i've washed my fair share of 2nd hand cloth nappies, our kids are dressed in home made knitted clothes made from the sheep in our back garden and we are vegan. happy now?

i am not selfish and i do care what other people think. you can't tarnish me with the selfish crap driver chelsea tractor brush cause i don't live in london and do the school run on foot. and i'm a good driver.

NICEy...and still giggling at Tarquin. That name sends me into fits, I don't know why. STOP it, Popbiscuit!

Lizzy

you got me there lizzy
my name is naturalbaby, i'm an eco warrior and i've been sucked into dh's obsession with landrovers. i dream of the day we can go off roading together into the sunset, when we have proper seats with belts in the back of the off roader. i want to travel everywhere by public transport but i have a phobia of buses and can't tow a bike trailer with 2 kids and have a baby perched on my handle bars.

seriously people, you should see the rediculous amount of eco crap i inflict upon my kids.

kenobi Thu 24-Nov-11 17:12:25
Well good for you squeaky, but are you able to get it down a narrow street when two normal cars can get by but not an enormous one and a normal one?

Yes of course I can. A Freelander is no wider (or longer) than any average saloon car.

NICEyNice

" According to research in the uk :

Black cars represented an aggressive personality or someone who's a rebel .
Silver cars characterized someone who is cool, calm and slightly aloof .
Green cars were often owned by people with hysterical tendencies .
Yellow cars represented someone idealistic .
Blue cars were chosen by the more introspective, reflective and cautious driver .
And, gray cars represented people who were calm and dedicated to their work "

It's grey not gray.

My beautiful Alfa Romeo is red but I notice that colour is not mentioned?

I drive a 4x4, live in the country and use it off road. I use a small car for driving in town as it's much more practical. I really can't see any justification for a city dweller to need such a large car.

You are safer in a 4x4 if involved in an accident.

However if you're in a normal car and get hit by a 4x4 your chances of serious injury are higher.

Unless you really practically need one due to where you live, and you drive one because of the improved safety I think it is selfish.

I live in the country and drive a really small car - it makes the most sense for the country lanes, like all the little cars in the mountains on the continent.

Aaah how I miss mine! We sold it this year.

I, however, am not in Chelsea, but in the rural countryside of Scotland. I remember one time there were traffic lights on the main road at the bottom of one of our fields. I needed to get home because DD was desperate for a pee and the traffic was really queuing up. I waited, and just drove over the road and up through the field, I'm sure everyone thought I was mad. T'is what a Range Rover is FOR though. I used to drive down fields to chase geese off the barley in it and everything and when we had the snow last year I'd have been stuck at home for weeks and we'd have had no Christmas presents, turkey and more importantly wouldn't have been able to collect my very delightful little puppy dog!

We sold it to a dealer down south and I doubt very much it'll ever see a field again.

We now have a more sporty car which as pretty as it may be would be about as much use chasing geese, driving through fields and going anywhere in snow as a supermodel in a cage fight. Luckily delightful puppy dog has been trained to chase geese, DD is better toilet trained and it doesn't look like it's snowing anytime soon.

DH has also assured me if it is snowing on Christams Eve when we need to collect our turkey he will go and get it in his tractor...

I see my thread is shaping up nicely

I live in West London.
I drive a 4x4.

It's a hybrid car (low CO2 and costs 65-70 pounds to fill up the tank).
I park legally (i.e, within the white lines and take up only one space).

In the narrow streets here, even if a person had a smaller car, you still would only be able to have one car go down the street (why not just make narrow roads one way streets like we do back in America?)

I have a 4x4 for comfort, safety and visibility. I drive on the motorways daily and when I had a much smaller car, was run into by a lorry who smashed half of my car entering my lane before realising I was there. When I had kids, I certainly did not want to run this risk again.

I'm not particularly coming down on one side or another as to do so invariably involves so many assumptions and generalisations that it ends up not making sense - but there's one thing that I've always wondered when people say that driving a 4x4 in the city is daft. The statement assumes that there are some circumstances in which it's "ok" to drive a 4x4. So, do people who make this argument think that all urban drivers of such vehicles never drive in "ok-to-drive-a-4x4" circumstances? Or do they think that these drivers should have 2 vehicles? neither implication makes much sense to me.

i had a minor incident in a smart car a few yrs ago and it was written off. if i was in a range rover it would have had bit of a bad dent and scrapes but it wouldn't have been a write off and i could have just had 1 or 2 panels repaired/replaced. dh won't go near citroens so no help here.