to love my 4x4

[holidaysarenice]

And to not have to justify it to anyone!!

Pringles please?

I only got one loo

I love mine because l feel so much safer being that bit higher up off the ground. I just feel so vulnerable in a 'normal' car now. I dont care what anyone says l think in most accidents you would have a better chance than being in a arse scraper car sat only maybe a foot above the ground

Euro NCAP would respectfully disagree, these are the test results of your current and previous car:

www.euroncap.com/tests/opel_vauxhall_corsa_2006/261.aspx

www.euroncap.com/tests/suzuki_grand_vitara_2007/287.aspx

I don't doubt you may feel safer, but it is an illusion.

Regardless, let's have a think, Corsa or Vitara, Corsa or Vitara. I know which one I would choose and how the hell can you safely carry 3 children and 3 dogs in a Corsa?

Oh ok then klaxon. You think you know the person I think I know you are. That makes perfect sense.

I obviously really upset you didn't I? You sure know how to hold a grudge and rather disingenuously be quite unpleasant to me under a name change (did a quick search, you are patently who I think you are).

Anyway, I digress. OP, I love my 4x4 and no, YANBU

Regardless, let's have a think, Corsa or Vitara

You are now talking about aesthetic/lifestyle decisions.

Well you personal preference i guess would be for the Vitara and mine would be for the Corsa, but the previous post was about the alleged safety benefits of 4X4s compared to 'arse scraper' cars.

The thing with 4x4s is that if a smaller car parks badly, you can often still get into the space next it it but 4x4s take up so much space and then you're screwed. I don't have an issue with them alone but around my way, people seem not to be able to park their big cars and it's irritating.

Also, I've noticed 4x4 drivers who park down my road don't realise (or maybe they do and don't care) how dangerous their cars are because they block the view of people getting out of their drives. There have been many accidents all because bloody 4x4 driving precious women who won't walk too far to the shops block the road.

That said, I'm aware not all 4x4 drivers are like this but in my town (and in particular, my road), they are a flipping danger!

The problem is that if you are parked between two 4x4's and you are in a normal car it is impossible to see if cars are coming if you are reversing out because you can see over the cars either side. As another poster says, if you are turning right at a junctions and the cars opposite turning is a 4x4 you can not see when it is safe to go because you can not see over it.

I understand it is the same for vans etc but at least they serve a purpose to transport goods.

When travelling along a two way street that is made too narrow for 2 cars to pass by parked cars it is often the smaller car that does all the manuevering because the large 4x4 are just too big to do it.

Apart from the fact, as other posters have shown through stats or experience, they are also more dangerous to both cars and pedestrians.

These are some of the reasons some people will deem 4x4 drivers to be selfish.

This argument reminds me of the smoking debate circa 1980 when smokers just refused to believe the facts. 4x4's make it more dangerous for smaller cars for sure. It's up to you whether you have one but in a small city they are not necessary.

my cars are all about aesthetic and lifestyle decisions although in fairness I wouldn't get far driving off road across the desert in a Corsa. I love driving my Landcruiser and my Hummer but I would feel awfully silly driving a Hummer through Salisbury I admit.

My first nurse placement was with the ambulance service. a Citroen 2CV in a head on with a lorry. I bet she would be alive today if she had been in a decent car.

It's all very well to say that 4x4s in cities are not necessary, but if I drive to see family or friends who live in cities, I only have one car in which to go in and that's my 4x4. I suppose I could have a spare car for when that happens, but I can neither justify nor afford to run an additional car just for that reason.

If I lived in a city myself, I personally wouldn't choose a 4x4 as it'd be a bugger to park and manoeuvre. My ILs live in Bristol and it can be quite hair raising driving along some of the backstreets sometimes, I can feel even the DDs breathe in as we squeeze past double parked cars! Funnily enough, I was always a bit anti- 4x4s...I am a farmer's daughter who lived in Stockbroker Surrey and got a bit fed up of them. However, I have been converted (and now live somewhere a little more rural, although not in the back of beyond).

bigjoent - if that's aimed at me my post says when I 'pull out of my drive'. I always always reverse into my drive or any parking space. In fact I always say to myself 'reverse in,drive out, it's the way forward' whenever I see someone struggling to reverse out of their drive.
Another reason I do this - again that hat's not fitting well - is for the safety of others around me as it's obviously much better vision wise to be driving forwards onto a busy road or car park than reversing.
Also as for blaming 4x4 drivers - I am one myself - that's my point - yet l have similiar difficulties to other people which are always laid at our door.

helloclitty not to my house theyre not (the ones that deliver to my neighbours businesses) ! so should be parking on the frontage of the business they are servicing where there are designated spaces - not on a sharp bend on a busy road where all traffic has to sit behind them to give way to oncoming traffic.

I live in a bit of a city that is similar to Bristol driving, so I would never want one.

I'd have a larger car perhaps if I didn't.

And I wasn't so shit at parking.

My first nurse placement was with the ambulance service. a Citroen 2CV in a head on with a lorry. I bet she would be alive today if she had been in a decent car

A decent modern car yes. But a 4x4 SUV does not a safe car make.

It helps. It has to help.

Mindyourown, no it wasn't aimed at you, it was aimed at someone complaining that reversing out of car park spaces on the high street when 4x4s restricted their view. I agree they should reverse in it if bothers them.

Not that you need my approval, but I thought the way you drove out of your drive was very sensible. I drive a 4x4 too, drive it safely and park considerately and I'm really fed up at being told I'm "selfish".

As for safety of 4x4s, my has a 5* NCAP rating and the same passenger rating as an average saloon. Whilst I wouldn't want to hit a lorry, I would stand a better chance than a 2CV.

It's not selfish if you can park and drive your 4x4 safely but be aware of where you park it is all I'm saying. You don't have the same freedom as a smaller car in terms of safety. A few smaller cars parked on my road mean people can get out of their drives safely but the 4x4s do make it more dangerous. It's not prejudice, it's just plain fact. I do find it selfish when people park there anyway just because they can without any consideration for people who live there.

Not necessarily so, heavier/larger automatically equals safer is a myth. Have a look at the cars that score over 80% in the Euro NCAP test and it is a wide range of sizes and shapes.

Any car head on with a lorry the driver would die. It's a lorry ffs

Compos interesting - looked at your links but I still feel safer higher up and not tucked too snugly under the steering wheel by having more leg room etc.
I mean I imagine these statistics depend on what level of impact we are talking about also. Possibly certain cars are safer in certain degrees/types of impact etc. I dont know I just feel very vulnerable being very low and 'shoehorned' in - an exaggeration obviously but l am very tall aswell so l do feel more packed in I guess.

Ineresting though after all the talk in general and on this thread about 4x4s being 'selfish' or whatever and one reason often cited being pedestrians come off worse with them than 'normal' cars - yet those links show that the Corsa and the Vitara both score the same for pedestrian safety.

I would stand a better chance than a 2CV

Of course you would but it is a false comparison.

You are not comparing like with like, a modern 4x4 compared with a car designed in the 1930s. It is like comparing chances a brand new Polo with a World War II Jeep and saying 'aaah that proves small cars are safer'

Compos, was that aimed at me? If so, I know large does not make it safer, I remember being surprised once that the Freelander was less safe than something shitty I was driving at the time. I've looked up my car, it does have a high rating.

Compos, I used the 2CV comparison as someone else had higher up. Its not meant to be a "true" comparison.

sorry and meant to add that when driving in the country ( and l still do a lot of driving in rural areas as still live semi rural area) I definitely think l am safer as l can see what's coming round the bends and overgrown hedges etc. so less likely to be involved in an accident in the first place. I am always amazed at how many cars fly round blind bends when there is no way in the car theyr'e in they can see what or if anything is coming.