Aibu to hope that this is the start of a major backlash against SUVs?

[gingganggooleywotsit]

Just seen this on the BBC news website.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56647128
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone in motoring speak out publicly against suvs. I pray this is the start of a major backlash and rightly so! Before anyone says..”you’re jealous” as I usually see on these threads, I would just like to say-I could afford one myself but I wouldn’t be seen dead in one!
Also I am only talking about city suvs. In the countryside/farming it’s of course a different matter.

@KizzyWayfarer

“It’s not my fault if we end up in a collision and the other person opted to drive a smaller car, making them less safe.“

The high front of an SUV means if you collide with an adult pedestrian they are 2-3 times more likely to die than if hit by a normal car. Children 4 times as likely. Is that their fault too?
(Figures from memory from reading about this earlier today)

Well said. What a selfish attitude some posters have. me, me, me. I'm alright jack

Onemorewineplease - I don't own any of those things you list

@Angelica789

They’re not going anywhere! They’re practical and they feel safer than a normal car. You will never get people to stop driving a car with those attributes.

I wish I felt "safer" watching yet another school run person take the best part of 10 minutes to wildly reverse on the narrow bridge near where we live, all because they wanted a Michelin man pumped up car to suit their "outdoorsy image."

I mean seriously - I've seen 7 or 8 different models of SUV in this calendar year have issues on either this bridge or the residential roads near this school run.

People who have little idea of the dimensions of their vehicle but absolutely, 100%, REFUSE to reverse even if they don't have priority due to the other road user's position on the bridge at entry, or the parked cars on their side. The anger and dismay on these driver's faces when asked to perform a manoeuvre you should be able to do in whatever car you chose to own.

I'm sure I'll have lots of fellow women come along to tear me down and say "I can confidently pilot and reverse my 15 year old full size Nissan Patrol / Land Cruiser with a horsebox on the back" but .. I'm not talking about you. Your genuine need meant you've had SUVs at a time when there were just a few models and they were known as 4x4s.

People love these tanks, they love the perception of THEIR safety, but my god I feel more unsafe as a road user watching some of this lot try and turn their oil tanker in a Victorian terraced street or a centuries old bridge. Embarrassing.

To be fair @Ginuwine shit drivers also have small cars too, I remember having to reverse just over a fekking kilometre because a driver in a fiat 500 couldn’t reverse but chose to use tiny country lanes. There was a passing place 40/50m behind them. They just kept reversing into the bush and could understand which way to turn the steering wheel when reversing, it was appalling.

Let’s hope before those of you who have all made assumptions about these SUVs then that you don’t find yourselves relying on the height and size of them to accommodate your limited mobility.

It’s no fun when you suddenly get diagnosed with a degenerate disabling and deformative spinal condition that turns your bones to stone and stops you being able to bend into low cars, raise your legs up to get into a low car, flex your knees & ankles.......

Tell my child that they lose their activities because I should not be able to drive because of your thoughts

OPEN your minds before you put on your judgy pants!

Radio 4 talked about this yesterday, interviewing people in Chelsea who owned one. While one person interviewed said they were re-thinking and likely wouldn't buy one again, that wasn't the general impression I got from the others. I think they are clearly a status symbol for many and for people most drawn to status symbols, the environment isn't an equal decision maker.

I have one friend who purchased the largest purchasable hummer when they were a thing. Living in a city and her idea of h*ll was to go to the countryside. Yet would harp on about worry about the environment when her dc are older. The hummer wasn't the only odd choice for someone who supposedly cared so much.

Every SUV owner I've ever met has been a tacky knob and this thread is certainly not changing that impression

@MuzzledUnicorn

Every SUV owner I've ever met has been a tacky knob and this thread is certainly not changing that impression

Why is it tacky to buy a car that you like the look of and is practical for your needs?

I think that for a family of 5, needing 3 car seats in the back they are seen as more appealing than people carriers

Problem is, that while SUVs may be “convenient” for a family, they make the roads far far less safe for other families -especially children - in urban areas.

The stats on the damage that SUVs do to pedestrian children are quite scary.

@MuzzledUnicorn
You are a perfect example. Thankyou 😂👏

My company car is an electric SUV. I'll often use it for personal journeys as our other car is a sports car with 2 seats and a tiny boot.

We live semi rural and have a second very remote property in the hills so it's much needed when conditions dip.

My second car is about the same width and not a great deal shorter and yet no hate is given to that. Weird.

@MeltsAway

I think that for a family of 5, needing 3 car seats in the back they are seen as more appealing than people carriers

Problem is, that while SUVs may be “convenient” for a family, they make the roads far far less safe for other families -especially children - in urban areas.

The stats on the damage that SUVs do to pedestrian children are quite scary.

Quite.

It's like when the death penalty gets debated - people always mentally frame it as "if someone killed my child I'd want them dead" not as "would I want my child to hang if they killed someone?".

Same applies.

SUV fans who like the NCAP rating - what type of car would you prefer to hit your child? What kind of emissions do you think are best for your child?

I drive a big 4x4. We first bought one because I couldn't fit 3 car seats in any other car we could afford with a bigger boot space. Then we bought a caravan it's massive and I wouldn't be able to tow it without my 4x4. (Volvo XC90) It also has a huge boot for tip runs, picking up second hand furniture, helping out friends and transporting bikes which is my husband's business and hobby.
Our current car also has the extra 2 fold out seats in the back which is great for taking the in-laws, friends, family out whilst still having boot space.

We don't use it to "go off-roading" but we go to very basic caravan sites where 4 wheel drive is a bonus. My husband drove it to val d'isere on a skiing holiday to save money on flights and it was awesome and we helped our friends move house and went out to help tow people in the last bad lot of snow we had

I would find life harder without it...I could live without it but that doesn't mean I want to. It suits our lifestyle.

Also in reply to the negatives here and in other threads...
I absolutely can park it forward, backwards and parallel.
One of our criteria for our hew house was a big enough driveway.

I don't drive to the school gates in it, we do have to drive to school but I park 10 mins away and we walk
I paid cash for it and its 10 years old so hardly a status symbol or on credit.

Oh and I'm definitely not your typical suv driver according to this thread. We're the ruffians of our estate with our 10 year old plus cars!

I don't think I'm a tacky knob either but I guess I can't judge that myself.

They’re not going anywhere! They’re practical and they feel safer than a normal car. You will never get people to stop driving a car with those attributes

Well you can if you ban them from the country's roads. This government won't do it though.

We first bought one because I couldn't fit 3 car seats in any other car

which brings me to the "two child policy" thread. We wouldn't need SUVs if people stuck to two children

@poppycat10

They’re not going anywhere! They’re practical and they feel safer than a normal car. You will never get people to stop driving a car with those attributes

Well you can if you ban them from the country's roads. This government won't do it though.

What would the ban criteria be? Width? Emissions? Lenght? Ir simply that it is an suv?

We have an estate because we absolutely need the boot space, it's why we chose it. Refuse to buy an SUV as I hate them. I don't understand why people say 'I need a big car for space' and completely ignore estates. It's 100% about status and not about practicality.

I'm just hoping that fully electric estates will happen at some point.

"SUV fans who like the NCAP rating - what type of car would you prefer to hit your child? What kind of emissions do you think are best for your child?"

This is a brilliant comment. Almost certain to be ignored by people who think if they sit inside the right safe car they can never be hurt by cars in any other context

I think there’s a general issue with cars being too wide. Around here there are loads of narrow lanes where even my small car doesn’t comfortably fit and big SUVs and vans definitely don’t. Most drivers have to straddle lanes to keep their wing mirrors.

The biggest nightmare in my town is all the roads where one wide lane is spilt into two too narrow lanes. The worst is a road with two narrow lanes each way with parking half a car wide on one side. I don’t know why the council insist on keeping it this way instead of having three driving lanes and parking wide enough for cars to park in, but they’re not known for their sense. I’m sure it would’ve been much better back in the 1960s when cars were smaller but it doesn’t work now.

I wish modern cars could be made more narrow, as they’re really far too big for British roads.

@Stellaris22 - to be fair, we have a big estate car, its considerably wider and longer than most standard cars, but there aren't additional seats in the back, we can fit in 5 people max, and the middle seat person would be uncomfortable until dc2 is out of a car seat.

Most SUVs do comfortably seat 6 or 7 as well as having space for bags. I know a few blended families who have land rovers so they don't have to take 2 cars when step/half siblings are staying, its the nicer option than a minibus people carrier.

@poppycat10 I have no idea if you're being serious or sarcastic.... what do you propose I do, send one back?

[quote oohmyback]@poppycat10 I have no idea if you're being serious or sarcastic.... what do you propose I do, send one back?[/quote]
Maybe freebies section on gumtree could yeald some results in taht matter😂

Though poppy isn't totally wrong. 🙈

@schrodingersimmigrant

Gumtree doesn't get rid of the issue just passes it along. Probably need to migrate.