Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

487 replies

gingganggooleywotsit · 07/04/2021 08:44

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.

OP posts:
crazycatgal · 08/04/2021 15:04

Nice to see that there are some people on this thread that care about being safe inside their SUV but not about other drivers and pedestrians.

A few months ago an idiot in an SUV flew out of a junction into the side of my Kia Picanto. I was injured but I guess that's my fault for having a small car instead of the other driver for their shit driving in their massive car.

I think that there should be an additional driving qualification to be able to drive an SUV.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 08/04/2021 15:11

Sorry, but you would be injured in most cars by most cars if they "flew" into you.

Hope you are ok now.

crazycatgal · 08/04/2021 15:17

@SchrodingersImmigrant True, but upthread a PP said if they got into an accident with a smaller car then it's not their fault that someone bought a smaller car.

Thanks for the well wishes.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 08/04/2021 15:19

I'm baffled as to why so many people on here have such hatred for MPVs - and the general assumption that nobody with any self-respect would want one. Unless you're going for something like a sports convertible that's designed for fun and delight rather than function, what difference does it make? I just see cars as functional tools - and if you're inside it, why would you care what it looks like from the outside?! It's not like the police are going to pull you over and say "Did you realise that you were driving what some arbitrarily consider to be an ugly vehicle, Madam?!"

There's also a real lack of joined-up thinking between central government and local council policy. I've experienced more and more areas installing speed bumps that are wholly unfit for purpose. A speed bump is meant to force you to drive at a sensible speed or otherwise experience discomfort; however, many of them are now so extreme that they force you to stop completely and then drive over them at a quarter of a mph in order to avoid scraping the underside of your car and smashing your exhaust. Not talking a ridiculous lowered pimpmobile - just a standard hatchback with normal suspension.

We've already established that many disabled/more frail folk benefit greatly from the height of an SUV; speed bumps designed to effectively force you to need one to use what should otherwise be decent moderate-speed roads are yet another reason why such people are being given the clear message from above not to bother wasting their time with a standard, more ecofriendly car.

RickiTarr · 08/04/2021 15:29

There's also a real lack of joined-up thinking between central government and local council policy. I've experienced more and more areas installing speed bumps that are wholly unfit for purpose. A speed bump is meant to force you to drive at a sensible speed or otherwise experience discomfort; however, many of them are now so extreme that they force you to stop completely and then drive over them at a quarter of a mph in order to avoid scraping the underside of your car and smashing your exhaust. Not talking a ridiculous lowered pimpmobile - just a standard hatchback with normal suspension.

There’s a maximum legal height for speed bumps but some councils (looking at you, Wandsworth) ignore them. So more a cheeky blighter thing than a disconnected thinking thing. Smile

SchrodingersImmigrant · 08/04/2021 15:33

Yeah, but people will always chose the best option for them. For someone it's extra safety of suv, for other it's small size of a car.

Wanting extra safety for themselves doesn't make people evil as some on this thread make out. The "people carriers" are as big as suv, some appear to be actually bigger so would have same issue when hitting someone. Many non suv cars are wide bastards with stronger engines (and bigger emissions) than many SUVs.

It's very clear on this thread that lots of posters have an issues with suv for being an suv, rather than actually size (because then the same width and lenght issue would feature moaning about MANY more cars than just suvs) or emissions (same like the size issue).

jenkel · 08/04/2021 15:33

We have had two suvs, and also had a people carrier in the past, we have one suv now. We live in a village, have a drive way which I can easily park on, which we haven’t recently paved over, it’s always been there, in fact I can park in anywhere and have never had a problem parking it. All the cars we have had we have used to their full ability, the people carrier was brilliant, we camp and can get everything and more in the back along with all the kids, bikes etc. We can still take all camping gear, carry a kayak on the roof, also often the 4 of us would go out and we could take grandparents, bit of a pain now as we can only take one and they are no longer driving themselves. We have very active lifestyles and it fits are lifestyle perfectly. I do not class myself as flash or a knob as somebody earlier referred suv drivers too.

MrsKeats · 08/04/2021 15:40

I hate them. I live in a very old city in a very flat county. Why the hell people have them I don't know.
Oh yes I do. Status
Obviously if you are a farmer etc that's different

RickiTarr · 08/04/2021 15:42

We've already established that many disabled/more frail folk benefit greatly from the height of an SUV; speed bumps designed to effectively force you to need one to use what should otherwise be decent moderate-speed roads are yet another reason why such people are being given the clear message from above not to bother wasting their time with a standard, more ecofriendly car.

TBH, it’s a little bit more complicated than that. When there was a clear delineation between SUVs and saloons, I hated SUVs as much as the next person. I didn’t own a car, I didn’t want to. I was a committed pedestrian and hired cars very occasionally.

Now I’m disabled and need my wheelchair to go about my life normally. I’m not “frail”. I don’t need or want someone accompanying me everywhere I go, so I need a car big enough for me, my wheelchair, its hoist, my work paraphernalia, my dogs (walking and public transport always covered work and dog walking before). I also use it for normal use like moving DC in and out of uni and digs every five minutes. I also need a high seating position.

Twenty or thirty years ago, people with my condition would have been expected to give up and retire, to sit at home and be “done to” by others, to put up with being referred to as “frail”, to lose all aspects of our independence. I wasn’t even 40 when I lost my mobility. Of course it’s progress that I got to keep much of my life. To carry in working and paying (a lot of) tax. It is huge.

So I need a big chassis, but I drive a PHEV and will switch to all electric next time I change cars. So my emissions are low and I keep my life.

I can’t see a problem with that.

RickiTarr · 08/04/2021 15:50

It's very clear on this thread that lots of posters have an issues with suv for being an suv, rather than actually size (because then the same width and lenght issue would feature moaning about MANY more cars than just suvs) or emissions (same like the size issue).

Exactly. The “SUV” designation is almost meaningless now. It meant something in the 90s, but not now.

There are Mini SUVs, Compact SUVs, Crossover SUVs. Three official classes of car that are all fairly small vehicles, many of them 1.4 or 1.5 engines.

We need to start talking about emissions and dangerous design, naming and shaming particularly bad models or manufacturers.

jenkel · 08/04/2021 15:54

Actually just to add that I drive a hybrid phev, , not perfect but certainly better than driving a diesel, any type of diesel is far more polluting and dangerous for us and the environment that what I drive.

EvilPea · 08/04/2021 16:42

@jenkel

Actually just to add that I drive a hybrid phev, , not perfect but certainly better than driving a diesel, any type of diesel is far more polluting and dangerous for us and the environment that what I drive.
Your windscreen is over £1000 to replace due to the precious metals inside it. That’s before you look into batteries.

I really think replacing perfectly good useable well maintained vehicles with new is not the silver bullet claimed.

We are hopefully much better and quicker to find solutions to end of life recycling though

MeltsAway · 08/04/2021 19:21

Nice to see that there are some people on this thread that care about being safe inside their SUV but not about other drivers and pedestrians

Indeed. And convenience seems to be awfully important. More than the injury rates of other people's children ...

doubleshotespresso · 08/04/2021 19:42

[quote Sansaplans]@doubleshotespresso is a car cheaper to run than public transport? Trying to ascertain where the privelledge lies.[/quote]
Gosh nit at all, costs a bloody fortune.
But when transporting a disabled 6 year old or elderly parents who need constant support an hours car drive away, it's a price worth paying.
In fact regardless of price there's simply no choice.
Public transport for any of the three of them to any hospital appointments is sadly utterly unfeasible.
If you consider any of the above a privilege I'd invite you to join any given day-your perception and misplaced judging may alter significantly then Wink

Ginuwine · 08/04/2021 20:41

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Yeah, but people will always chose the best option for them. For someone it's extra safety of suv, for other it's small size of a car.

Wanting extra safety for themselves doesn't make people evil as some on this thread make out. The "people carriers" are as big as suv, some appear to be actually bigger so would have same issue when hitting someone. Many non suv cars are wide bastards with stronger engines (and bigger emissions) than many SUVs.

It's very clear on this thread that lots of posters have an issues with suv for being an suv, rather than actually size (because then the same width and lenght issue would feature moaning about MANY more cars than just suvs) or emissions (same like the size issue).

No, people carriers wouldn't have the same issue as SUVs when hitting someone.

I think so many posts on this thread contort all manner of facts and narratives to justify the SUV class, that anyone with automotive knowledge is doomed to comment on here, so fervent are those who love this most popular of vehicles

TuvoknotSpock · 08/04/2021 20:54

We recently bought a car and looked at a range of SUV and estate cars. A lot of the SUVs have a smaller cabin and boot space than the estate we went for (we have 2x car seats and a double buggy, if we have a DC3 we would have the 3rd adult in the back between the 2). We didn't get an SUV as the majority don't offer any more room, the Volvo xc90 is (I believe) the only one you could get 3 x extended rear facing seats across the back which tbh is pretty poor, I would expect them all to!

I like my estate but if I want to I will get an SUV i the future

Stellaris22 · 08/04/2021 20:59

I'm a big fan of estates and our Ford Focus has done more off roading than any shiny SUVs round here. Been a brilliant vehicle and it's been put through a lot.

earsup · 08/04/2021 21:03

I used to work with an awful self entitled woman...had 4 vehicles inc suv type....kept bleating on about child safety as she had a 2 year old and that each vehicle was for a different type of journey....so happy i dont see her anymore and constant child monologues...so f boring !!

mumwalk · 08/04/2021 22:59

@earsup oh, I know a few of them. Only interested in the safety of their own children, of course Hmm! We live in a city with plenty of public transport and would question whether cars, including over-sized ones, are actually needed at all.

lettinggoagain · 08/04/2021 23:06

This is just the start of getting rid and banning normal cars full stop. They've just started on SUV's as they know a lot of people hate them so they can eventually gain mass adoption of a new policy... then they will ban other cars too if they aren't Teslas or electric knowing full well majority of normal incomes won't be able to afford them. I can seriously see a near future where we won't be 'allowed' to drive.

Ginuwine · 09/04/2021 08:57

What I wish there would be a backlash against are all these small diesel engined, 2WD SUVs that are hugely popular and regularly top the sales charts.

These are the same cars that sometimes rock up up to 45 mins early outside my DD's school, that horrible rattly engine running, particulates spewing out into other children's lungs etc.. but it's ok because low CO2, low tax, and my car is soooo frugal!

Never mind that many of these cars only make short journeys, that it's a completely unsuitable fuel for the driver's main purpose.. no, as a country for the last 20 years we have rewarded the private diesel usage and in some years incentivised it (thanks again Gordon).

Never mind the body type of a car. Diesel for me should be the first to go - dreadful fuel for most purposes.

(Again, if you're a horsebox towing Nissan Patrol, Discovery or Land Cruiser owner that lives rurally and does huge miles? This post isn't for you.

If you're a T-Roc, Qashqai, Karoq, Mokka, or any similarly ludicrously monikered car owner, driving 30 miles a week in a 10 miles radius in your diesel hatchback on stilts? This IS for you.)

Ginuwine · 09/04/2021 09:05

Also before someone says it - I'm aware diesel is the core fuel for freight, haulage, trade etc. But that's where it should have stayed, along with some niche 4x4s which hugely benefited from the low down torque, less flammable liquid when transporting Jerry cans etc.

The fact that many folk default to buying 2.0 diesel German cars as the first point of call is worrying because I don't think that fuel suits everyone's purpose, or even the perception of how it suits their purses.

The diesel particulate issue is real - it's causing all manner of health problems for children in urban and suburban areas.

I bloody wish we could hurry up and kill off diesel as a consumer fuel, and leave it to the trade to get enough time to start switching to cleaner fuelS

Macncheeseballs · 09/04/2021 09:09

Letyouagain , a future where you can't drive in cities would be great

Angrymum22 · 09/04/2021 11:14

My only worry about electric and hybrid cars is that you cannot hear them. I think we will see a rise in pedestrian accidents as they become more popular. My DSis was nearly hit by one pulling out of a parking space this week. It was completely silent. The driver was unaware she was about to walk in front of him, I was watching him, I had to shout out to warn her. If the engine had been running she would have been aware of him.
I would like to see more safety awareness with both driver and pedestrian training for this new era of motoring. You cannot rely on pedestrians seeing you. We walk on country lanes a lot and rely on the engine noise of approaching cars to move onto the side of the road.
It will become a big problem.

Ginuwine · 09/04/2021 11:42

@Angrymum22

My only worry about electric and hybrid cars is that you cannot hear them. I think we will see a rise in pedestrian accidents as they become more popular. My DSis was nearly hit by one pulling out of a parking space this week. It was completely silent. The driver was unaware she was about to walk in front of him, I was watching him, I had to shout out to warn her. If the engine had been running she would have been aware of him. I would like to see more safety awareness with both driver and pedestrian training for this new era of motoring. You cannot rely on pedestrians seeing you. We walk on country lanes a lot and rely on the engine noise of approaching cars to move onto the side of the road. It will become a big problem.

Most electric cars emit a sound at low manoeuvring speeds.

What worries me (and I'm not saying this is how your relative operates) is how many folk these days step out in front of a car that's clearly manoeuvring (reverse light is on) and expect that car to suddenly stop. I see people all the time in London just walk out into the road as a car is bearing down on them. Everything is then dependent on that car's awareness and reactions.

Finding a safe place to cross is what it used to be all about. Now it seems to be "cross, and let the driver deal with it".