to get fed up with receiving more than the average amount of abuse on the road just because I drive a range rover?

[Mrs4x4]

I get the whole environment thing psses some people off but this seems out of proportion with the abuse. I am a considerate driver and really object to the abuse especially when my DC's are in the car and people are swearing. Recently parked car in a supermarket carpark to have someone who lived in a nearby flat on one of the higher floor start shouting that i should get back in my RR and pss off.

Greeny - we were just turning this around into a civilised discussion after a shaky start.

Tsk!

pmsl - haven't seen you for ages Greeny. Glad you haven't lost your way with words

LOL winestein, I accidentally followed this sign marked "RL", and got lost, and couldn't find my way back

My brother calls 4x4s 'mum-trucks'

more carbon dioxide is released from disp nappies left in landfill than your 4x4

You don't get it - I'm not interested in 'averages' and 'means', they are pretty meaningless and lead to shambolic arguments castigating, wrongly, a whole group of vehicles and their owners.

By all means deride those 4x4's with zero and 1 star for pedestrian safety (I'll join you), but don't tar all with same brush. It's unhelpful. Why should smaller vehicles with deplorable statistics - and there are lots of these, slip beneath the radar.

I find all of this very political - but road safety should be objective and not dealing in stereotypes and generalisations

My ford escort gets about the same mileage as my dad's land rover, so I don't tend to have a kneejerk "hate SUVs" reaction, and I don't think SUV drivers are evil resource wasters.

Having just moved to rural Texas however, I have learned to detest Suburbans, Expeditions, etc. Stupid things are gigantic and I can never see around them when turning and backing up. I always feel like an ant parked between giant junebugs in the school park, and I'm afraid I'll run over a child because I just can't see around the stupid things. At least 8 out of 10 people here drive a ginormous 4x4, or a super-duty truck.

I don't abuse anyone about their huge cars, I just silently peeve at feeling so dwarfed. Your Range Rover is fairly small compared to the giants everyone drives in Texas though, so you'd be safe from me anyway

And if I'm honest, deep down I am a teensy bit jealous since I know I could never afford one even if I wanted it

'more carbon dioxide is released from disp nappies left in landfill than your 4x4 '

which is why i don't use or own either one.

'you don't inherit the world, you borrow it from your children' -Ghandi

I would have a land rover if I could afford one.

I was trying to do my 'bit' in a ford fiesta and had a accident in it (not my fault). And the bliddy thing just crumpled like paper.

Now I have a large estate car and would drive a sherman tank if they went faster.

Anyway global warming is a crock.

I have a ford focus and no plans to buy anything bigger, despite living in a very muddy part of the country that had bad flooding in July.

BUT:

The personal choices we make about the environment are more complicated than simply deciding which car we drive.

They include things like the number of children we decide to have, whether we try and conserve electricity at home (hanging out washing instead of tumble-drying, turning down thermostats), how often we fly, etc.

My friend with a 4X4 often gives lifts to children because she's got two extra seats in the back. Often she's saved me having to take my car out.

Rudeness is never acceptable.

My friend with a 4x4 often gives my children lifts, saving me from taking out my (Ford Estate) car and thus reducing my emissions. She also drives school children on trips, saving other parents from taking their cars.

YANBU, but, not excusing it at all, but unfortunately, you are also paying for other, more inconciderate drivers of "flashy" cars.(don't get at me for using that word, but that is how they're seen by people with more average cars.

I live opposite a primary school and if/when there's car parked accross my driveway at 3pm, it will always be either a Merc, BMW or 4x4. Also have a look who's in the disabled spaces next time you're at the supermarket.

Obviously there are a lot of expensive cars parked properly, but there does seem to be an attitude of I own a good car therefore I own the raod among some drivers of these cars.

Doesn't excuse the behaviour at all and it must have been horrible for you. It's the reason I still drive a 5 yr old family saloon, despite being able to afford better (at a push).

There are 3 4x4s that score better than a Ford Focus for pedestrian safety and 8 that score the same.

deja vu anyone?????

Handlemecarefully, averages and means are what science is all about - statistical analysis is the only way to meaningfully compare different things, and there's little point quoting them if you don't acknowlege this (the NCAP tests are all average results too, and you seem to like those well enough).

It occurs to me too that the EuroNCAP testing does nothing whatsoever to look at the danger to pedestrians from the driver of any vehicle having poor visibility, and the likelihood that they won't see a child behind the car. My colleague did an autopsy last month on a child who was reversed over in a 4X4 last week, and on the parents' own driveway. This isn't even touched on in car safety tests, but it forms a good part of the mortality statistics associated with off-road cars. The EuroNCAP is virtually useless as a tool to compare pedestrian safety between makes of cars as it looks at just one specific type of pedestrian collision (and necessarily uses a dummy to do so) - it is a good tool for comparing the car's own safety in the event of a collision though.

YANBU - you aren't breaking the law.

Try to get their addresses then you and I can go round to their house and check out how much recyclable stuff they put in their bins and how many lights they have on in their house unneccesarily!

I don't think my driving abilities or manners are affected by the type of vehicle I drive!

The lack of manners and poor driving exhibited by some road users, be they drivers of 4x4's or any other potentially lethal vehicle/machine( yes, a pedal cycle can be lethal) all lead to tragedy for someone.

The good safe driver of a larger vehicle involved in an accident which is not of their making , can be castigated purely on the basis that they drive a large vehicle! because some stupid driver/pedestrian is injured though their own lack of care.

I'm going to buy a Sherman Tank next time, unfortunately, the getaway speeds aren't great.

4x4, you dont have to justify yourself in loving your car. i recently hired an astra, what crap, once you have driven a 4x4 then you cant go back, the astra didnt even have a seat heater ffs!

its just jealousy, some vegetarian greenfreaks we know were always banging on about our carbon footprint, wife gets fab new job, first thing they baught a 4x4.

So your friends are hypocritical shallow wankers. Funny, that

dont be so judgemental greensleeves,we know them they are not friends, i wouldnt want veggies or recyclers for friends.

I had a lovely 4x4 once - before kids - and it was great. It was a lovely drive and I had it for quite a few years.

Now I drive a Ford KA - its tiny but fun! I call it my 'mid-life crisis fun car' and it is. It's more economical, excellent around town, great for parking and no-one tries to race me like they used to in the 4x4.

i used to drive a RR and people used to turn their noses up at it. It was LPG and i had it to tow a horse box, but it annoyed me i had to justify having it by pointing these things out.

that said it does seem daft to own a 4X4 if you never go off road...

I have a 4x4. TBH I wanted a civic but dh decided that he would buy me a car for my birthday and he bought a big blacked out 4x4. The fuel consumption is rubbish, I get a cramp in my hand at the fuel pump as it takes so bloody long to fill up and I can't see out of the back. I constantly get hassle for the thing from friends and family and other road users.

It is very safe though and the children fit in OK.

I like the look of the new Rangerovers and they are nice to drive but I don't think that they are a good choice of car for environmental and safety reasons.

I wouldn't abuse the driver though.

"wouldn't want recyclers for friends"
eh?