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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think that people should only be allowed a 4x4 if they actually need one?

287 replies

boomting · 12/01/2013 21:08

They are ridiculously fuel inefficient, and given the finite supplies of oil and the effects on climate change (and no this isn't a climate change thread!), I think that the government should only allow you to own a 4x4 if you have a demonstrable reason for needing one. You would have to submit a form and be issued with a special licence to own one. Reasons could include being a farmer, or having to tow heavy trailers that cannot legally be towed with a smaller vehicle. This isn't an exhaustive list of acceptable reasons, but people who only use them for the school run and going to the supermarket shop should not be allowed to use them.

AIBU?

OP posts:
JollyToddles · 13/01/2013 22:57

About every 3rd car is a 4x4 around here.

Most people drive them perfectly competently.

We live in the countryside where we have lots of snow (it lay from Dec 24th - April a couple of years ago) so although they are not 'necessary' they are very useful and a lot of people use them for things other than the school run.

MiniEggsinJanuary · 13/01/2013 22:58

Maybe we could have an IQ test before you can have driving lessons too, OP? But then how would you get around and about? Oh yes, you could put some wheels on the massive chip you have sitting on your hemp-covered, organic shoulder.

JollyToddles · 13/01/2013 22:58

We would be buggered if a carbon allowance was brought in as we have no gas pipeline and we live 15 miles from the nearest supermarket and a 1hr drive from work.

gimmecakeandcandy · 13/01/2013 23:00

You sound like a right smug, pretentious...

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 13/01/2013 23:03

Oh yes, you could put some wheels on the massive chip you have sitting on your hemp-covered, organic shoulder.

Oh dear :(. Problem with threads like this is that they polarise opinion even more. People are stubborn and defensive, and anyone who expresses concern for the environment is a gullible, Guardian reading, liberal, bunny-hugging, tree-hugging, lentil weaving fool.

We were out for a meal with some friends a few years ago and the special was skate wing. DH said he wouldn't have that as skate were endangered and the bloke we were with said "Oh I'll definitely have one of the those then!" beaming round as though he had said the cleverest, funniest thing ever in the world.

Anyway, rambling now.....

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 13/01/2013 23:03

Oh yes, forgot pretentious.

simplesusan · 13/01/2013 23:03

Enjoy-COFFIN SPRAY!!!!!
As in actual spray used to polish coffins???????????

If so you can drive what the hell you like as far as I'm concerned.

Then perhaps lend me your 4x4 so that I can get out and about without pooing myself that I will meet someopne coming up the hill whilst I am going down and it won't be good for either of us to try and stop.

Viviennemary · 13/01/2013 23:08

4 x 4's don't bother me that much. Till I read these threads. Then I become a hater of them. Grin

MiniEggsinJanuary · 13/01/2013 23:11

Of course they polarise opinion - they are a symbol of excess to those who can't afford them. Why does it have to be a contentious issue? Who cares what anyone else drives? 4x4 drivers and drivers of high-powered sports cars don't start threads saying AIBU to think that people who drive old gas-guzzling inefficient cars should get a permit to drive them? I don't give a shit if they can't afford a newer car. Oh no, they don't because we are not as petty minded and have our lives in perspective. We can do as we please as we live in a free country. You get on with your car and I'll get on with mine.

LineRunner · 13/01/2013 23:45

I might have a hypocaust fitted under my shack when market forces permit.

Bogeyface · 13/01/2013 23:56

YANBU, but.....

How do you decide which village is so cut off in snow that its residents can have a 4X4 and which isnt? It can change year to year, so one year a person can qualify and the next they may not.

Whilst I totally agree with the principle, I think that it wouldnt be workable.

I drive an MPV btw, because I have 6 children so not against big gas guzzlers when they are needed!

Bogeyface · 14/01/2013 00:01

H just reminded me. Saw an old friend, that is a friend from school so more of a "chat when we meet" friend now, and she was getting her 2 DDs into her husbands Porsche Cayenne 4X4. I said something (nice!) about the car and she said "He wont drive anything that isnt a Porsche or better and this was the only one that we can get the car seats into"

He should definitely be made to drive a Fiesta imo!

TameGaloot · 14/01/2013 00:04

This assumption that people with 4x4s have loads of money. A fair amount of the ones round here are old. And often look older what with all the slurry up the sides with straw and hay sticking out all over. Of course there are new ones too but there are a lot of 4x4s full stop what with it being a rural county

freddiefrog · 14/01/2013 00:15

I think it depends where you live whether people assume its a status thing.

I live rurally, lots of farms, people towing horse boxes, sailing is also a big thing here so people tow boats on and off slip ways, etc.

No one ever assumes you have a 4x4 because you can afford to but an expensive car, but rather because you do actually need one

The vast majority of people here drive one for one reason or another. There's a bloke down the road who does them up and sells them for £1500 a pop, who most people have bought one from at some point, so hardly a symbol of wealth

thebitchbrigade · 14/01/2013 00:20
Biscuit

this is ill thought through I am embarrassed for you

foolserrand · 14/01/2013 00:29

I'm not sure where I stand here, OP. I drive an mpv with optional 4x4 capabilities. I just have to flick a switch. FYI, I have better fuel economy than many, if not most, estate cars. Am I allowed it in your idealistic eutopia?

BunFagFreddie · 14/01/2013 00:32

If OP means gas guzzlers, it would be great if everyone took steps to reduce their carbon footprint and thought about their car usage. However, if our government started imposing rules on what type of cars people drive that would be grim indeed. It's a case of be careful what you wish for!

Whiteworm · 14/01/2013 00:37

LOL at this thread. I would have one if I could afford one. Until then I hate 'em. I live in Sevenoaks too dahhhhling and the carparks mother & child spaces are full of 'em! :)

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 14/01/2013 08:55

Of course they polarise opinion - they are a symbol of excess to those who can't afford them.

Not true - there are plenty of people who can afford them but who may choose a smaller, more economical thread instead - which could well be more expensive. I think this thread is divided between city and more rural people actually. Having a muck spattered, leaky old land rover with bits of hay stuck to it, or one bought for the express purpose of being able to tow a little fishing boat is a very different thing to someone driving an enormous, gleaming Jeep round Hale or Altrincham (I pick on those two places because I have been up there recently).

But again, those who fall into the latter category would always insist it's envy, and those who think they are wrong will always insist they are typical me-me-me Tories Grin

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 14/01/2013 08:56

smaller, more economical thread

Car. Duh.

theodorakisses · 14/01/2013 09:28

Nobody has to justify their choice of vehicle. I hate shitty little Micras stuffed with kids that look as if they are about to fall apart with the rear window obscured by born at home stickers but I don't think they should be forced to buy a car I approve of. My main reason for my choice is because it is NICE! I do use it off road a lot and live outside the UK but when I do visit I hire a 4x4 because I want to. So bloody what?

jellybeans · 14/01/2013 10:23

YANBU. They are horrible if they hit a pedestrian. I have read threads where people say 'yes but at least my kids are safer'. Why not us all be safer?

ElphabaTheGreen · 14/01/2013 10:35

What a week on MN! Rip snorting FF v BF shit fight, now a 4x4 thread! All we need is a P&C parking riot, a bit of CC mudslinging and someone to call piercing babies' ears child abuse!

theodorakisses · 14/01/2013 13:28

People start inflammatory trouble making threads for a reason, this is clearly it. Not nice but people do have a right to reply. I think the OP is either extremely naive, doesn't know how to search for old (a few weeks since the last tedium) threads to bump up or they are just looking for a laugh.

Delalakis · 14/01/2013 13:42

Judging by some of the responses on here, OP is perfectly correct - on the ground that owning/driving a Chelsea tractor seems to bring out some extremely rude and unpleasant streaks in people.

My main whinge with them is that people who drive them seem to be totally unable to park them sensibly - they either take up two spaces, or they take hours jiggling back and forth whilst massive queues build up as people wait to get past them.