Just stop buying new SUVs...

[Fridakahlofan]

Unless you REALLY need one. I live 1/4 mile down a muddy track and I do not have one.

In the Times today:
SUVs 'were responsible for all of the growth in oil demand, of 3.3 million barrels a day, from passenger cars between 2010 and 2018, with total fuel consumption from other types of car falling slightly'

Surely soon it will be shameful to own one!

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/soaring-demand-for-suvs-exacerbates-climate-crisis-kbpj5mpzg

In my 'narrow minded' view of the world from my lovely bicycle seat, i always associate white suvs in particular with blonde female drivers, and i cycle past alot where i live cos they're always stuck in traffic jams

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/07/a-deadly-problem-should-we-ban-suvs-from-our-cities

The uk data in this article suggests that it is twice as dangerous for a pedestrian to be hit by a large engine vehicle. And also more dangerous in a crash for those inside.

The uk data in this article suggests that it is twice as dangerous for a pedestrian to be hit by a large engine vehicle. And also more dangerous in a crash for those inside.

Why is that though? Does the sort of person that tends to drive a large engined car drive faster or take more risks?

If so, accident figures are unlikely to improve if drivers of large engined cars are forced to drive small engined cars.

But my SUV is a 1.0l

It's got a titchy engine. Smaller than many far smaller cars.

So is it a small car or a killer gas guzzler?

But my SUV is a 1.0l

Then, like a lot of the car size small engined vehicles being mentioned in this thread, it's more likely be a "Crossover" and not an SUV at all.

GinDaddy yeah I got that, thanks, I was just amused by the poster who added to the argument by complaining about being stuck next to big cars at junctions. Presumably she has to cope with all the vans etc but simply cannot bear the big 4x4’s as well.

I can’t believe that someone in a big car is more at risk of injury than someone in a small car. In exactly a like for like accident. I’ve seen a small car after it’s boy racer driver wrapped it round a bridge. There wasn’t a lot left of car or driver. I’ve also spoken to people who survived accidents in bigger cars who say that the police told them that if they’d been in something smaller they’d have been seriously injured or killed. Thanks but I’ll ferry my children around in something that makes me feel a bit safer.

I'm sure I read somewhere that no-one has ever died in a Volvo XC90 following an accident.

As has been said further upthread, some new SUVs are cleaner at the tailpipe than smaller vehicles. There was an article not so long back that compared a new Discovery to a new Clio, and the Clio was quite a bit muckier in terms of emissions. Larger, more expensive cars have space and budget for more effective after-treatments in the exhaust line so it's not always as simple as big=mucky.

All the hate for the blonde school run mum in an SUV is just silly, she is free to spend her money as she likes, as are the rest of us.

We live rurally and have an old Land Rover for playing and really bad weather BUT in the flooding we've had in the last few days my little Volvo has repeatedly ploughed through 6+ inches of flood water. It wouldn't be much good on rough tracks but it copes with most else.

I agree OP - we live in a wealthy town - it's clear that they don't all need an SUV nevermind two, which is quite common too. We cope quite well without one.

in an accident (with all other variables held equal) the smallest vehicle comes off worst so there are clear incentives for us all to drive an SUV, but in the manner of the tragedy of the commons this leads to bad (albeit unintended) outcomes, eg the arms race scenario

I don't own one because I only have one child, I like paying £30 a year and I'm quite self conscious so I'd feel embarrassed knowing they're seen as a chavvy car.

ArtisanPopcorn

I’m happy being a massive chav then.

I've never been called a chav before @ArtisanPopcorn .
Have you ever been called a massive snob ?

Only on MN do people see them as 'chavy' cars. FFS. NO one gives a fuck what you drive in real life other than a few Extinction Rebellion eejits.

Only on MN do people see them as 'chavy' cars.

not true, it's a common joke in the real world (you know, the world where MN posters actually live )

And it's not only a joke when the car is bigger than the person's house as you see on some estates. It's still the same joke when they are in a McMansion.

JusticeForSandra

Seeing as your the chav-guru - could I have some guidance?
I live rurally and rely on my chav-mobile to leave the house at least a week of the year in the snow to go to work cough I mean the job centre, or the off license, or something.
What vehicle should I get?

In the real world people understand that

Pardonwhat
If you don't have a "chelsea tractor" yourself, ,why exactly do you take jokes about people who do personally?

JusticeForSandra

Your post didn’t once mention a ‘Chelsea tractor’, why exactly do you change your great ‘jokes’ when people you don’t know personally point out how stupid they are?

The hot air on this thread about how someone else chooses to spend their money,time and lifestyle choices is surely worse for the environment than z new SUV '!!!

Pardonwhat
how many pages does it need to see the difference between a Chelsea Tractor and a utilitarian vehicle? Even when you don't need it, I doubt the Queen of England can be described as a chav, and her family is known to have the hugest SUV you can find on the market

It doesn't mean it's not the favourite vehicle for chavs...Again, If you are not one of them, why would you take it personally? When it touches a nerve....

JusticeForSandra

So the queen and those rurally are allowed them now?
Gosh there’s so many variables to your great joke.
Thanks Chav-guru.
Takes one to know one....

@cheesemumma

Don’t kid yourself that electric cars are doing the environment any favours.
dailycaller.com/2019/04/24/tesla-carbon-dioxide-mercedes/

Urgh I hate these threads. Particularly when I’ve just got back in and on my drive today I met 3 drivers who’d taken their little card up a steep narrow road where they don’t have the traction to get out of passing places. So they sit in the middle of the road, expect me to make my 4x4 climb a bank to get round them and then probably come on here to say that I’m the one with the unsuitable car!

Pardonwhat
people are allowed to do whatever they want, and we are allowed to laugh at them, that's life.

We all know that "living rurally" means nothing - some need a 4x4, others really don't - I can think of one person living VERY rurally who has a Fiat 500 and is out and about every day of the year

If you feel offended because your car is a status symbol for you, it's your problem, it affects no one. Your parking and high beams might though.

Some of us couldn't care less what others think about our vehicle... See, I manage to post on a thread without mentioning even once what car I have. Because I don't care... But you are very invested, not giving away the look you thought you were, are we?

Fortheloveofscience
If you are on the narrow roads around here, 2 small cars do cross without problem, or the passing bays are not an issue for any vehicle at all - it's only ones that are too big that get stuck. If you chose to have the bigger vehicle, you can drive around