.. to think that drivers who can't park shouldn't buy giant SUVs

[PushyDad]

I live in a relatively affluent area so M Class Mercs and and other giant SUVs are fairly common on the streets. This morning at the train station car park I watched a driver struggle for 5 minutes to park her giant Range Rover. On Saturday I saw another driver nearly taking off the wing of a parked car as she struggled to park her M Class at a meter bay.

If you drive a people carrier then one can argue that you need the extra seats for the school run or after-school activities. But a SUV seats 5. The only thing you are getting over a 'normal' car is a higher driving position and a bit more boot space. And don't get me started on my eco rant.

Your money, your choice. But you would think that if you struggle to park such a monster then perhaps your should trade in your giant SUV for something smaller or is the SUV required for maintaining your School Gate Creds?

if you don't live on a farm/work in the country/do mountaineering as a hobby you shouldn't be driving bloody great 4x4s full stop.

A question to those complaining that if you are in a small car you can't see around a 4x4.
Do you not have the same problem when you are behind a van or lorry or bus? What do you do then? I don't see that as a valid argument against 4x4s.

TheOneWithTheHair I drive a small car and I can't see around a Ford focus. It's definitely not a valid argument

Vans, lorries or buses have a purpose. A 4x4 in town has none.

YANBU especially about straddling more than one space - see our local train station & supermarkets.

They can also please learn not to straddle the white line down the middle of the road when there is oncoming traffic / on a bend.

don't be ridiculous.

a 4x4 in town has the same purpose as any other car in town - to take children to/from school, to take a person to/from work.

no, it may not be necessary to have a 4x4, but the vehicle fulfils the same purpose as a smaller car.

your example earleir of having to wait a minute because there was a SUV alongside you waiting to turn is pure frothing nonsense. so you had to wait a minute because it was not safe for you to pull out - well, err, that's the highway code, innit? wait until it is safe for you to proceed.

honestly, if only everyone could drive adequately, then there would be no problem. quite how half the people I see on the roads everyday ever passed their tests is beyond me (whole mix of car/van size included)

silverfrog - if an American monster truck took out your wing mirror while it squeezed past your not-so-Giant-SUV-in-comparison I don't think you be taking the same line :)

Maybe there should be a 4x4/massive engine (some non 4x4 have giant engines etc) in town tax?

Not applicable to people carriers (or disabled users) that you can prove you need? Better for the environment to have smaller cars?

erm, yes I would - my line being that everyone shoudl be able to drive, regardless of size of car.

it is equally annoying to have your wing mirror taken out by a small car driven badly

YonSeaCow

Sorry knocked the button

Whatever happened to freedom of choice?

road tax is alrady differentiated according to emissions, so environementally unfriendly cars (or less friendly) already face this tax.

I don't see how you can tax based on location - I live in a small town (locals like to think it is rural ) but have to take my dd to school 20 miles away, journey includes everything from town driving to motorways to teeny tiny lanes. the car that would be best suited to my small town is not the car that is best suited to my commute each day.

I got my old LandRover because it has 7 seats just like a people carrier and you will find far more 4x4s with gas conversions than any other type of car making them more environmentally friendly than petrol or diesel.

exit Whatever happened to the ozone layer??!!!

I know what emissions tax is

A complex system of proof of where you live and what you need your car for, such as work commutes and schools, tested in terms of weather.

No farm or horse box, no landrover IMO!

May I amend that to "No trailer to haul something heavy"? LRs should not be reserved for horsey people. We used to use our fab old LR to tow our boat - when the boat was sold, the LR was sold too. It was a sad day :( But we didn't need it any more.

People who use them as a status symbol are wankers and that's the truth

I was an SUV hater until I moved to our current house, which is down a farm track, and got snowed in a couple of years ago for several days. We reluctantly bought an OLD land rover discovery and to my utter surprise I really like driving it. It is an automatic which I had also always scorned previously. We bought it because it has been converted to LPG autogas (quite a lot of the old discoverys have) which makes it far more reasonable to run than petrol.

I have two seats in the boot so we can can seat 7 people though the people in the boot aren't very comfortable so only good for short journeys.

I can drive though and have never had any problems parking it at all. It doesn't have any kind of sensors on it, that sort of thing would drive me mad, it is an old basic model which I like.

I used to judge just like you but now I would say don't knock it till you have tried it.

It's not just commutes you need a car for. I could have commuted to work in any old thing but having the 4X4 made my job much easier.

Try towing a caravan with a Ka!

Nobody needs to justify why they have a 4X4 - they are already penalised by the road tax

no need for the , yon. you suggested a massive engine tax (), and I pointed out that cars with larger engines are already taxed at a higher rate (generally speaking)

who would judge whether my (fr'instance) journey was worthy of a 4x4? how would that 'complex system' be administered? sounds a little OTT, tbh...

I told you, tested in terms of the weather. If you don't live down a muddy wet country lane where it frequently snows that requires off roading qualities, you don't need a 4x4, do you? I suppose you'd have to consider the landscape too, if it was particularly tough hilly terrain.

I thought there was a need, as you tend to come across as a little bit patronising.

And who else but the DVLA would judge? If you lived in a certain area perhaps. They could map out the whole of the country into land that requires 4x4 skillz.

all sounds a little naive to me.

Maybe there should be a national car pool from which we could each take a vehicle according to our need on any particular day.

Oh, but actually I would need a differenct vehicle for the many different journeys I do each day.

Back to the drawing board.

maybe there should be decent public transport, and a proper amoutn of SN schools (which are not stuck out in rural nightmare places due to NIMBYism) too.

but sadly, we don't live in a world like that.

so until we do, I'll stick to free choice over what car I buy and drive, thanks.