to think that 4x4 drivers are the most selfish w@*&(*&s ever???

[redrobin]

It makes my blood boil! They drive their big childcrushers whilst on the phone, they tailgate other smaller cars, they use enormous amounts of petrol, they block up roads, they look threatening...how can people choose to drive something like that? Do they have ha a selfish gene, do they think they are just better than other people so rules don't apply to them, or are they just thick?

(NOTE this is only about town drivers, i appreciate that they are useful in the countryside).

Sometimes, I think Jeremy Clarkson is winning.

has this thing kicked off yet?

(I drive an old mini and let people out of side streets)

lots of people drive badly and dangerously in all sorts of cars
you are being very judgemental

I'm not sure. I think 4x4 drivers are much more obvious, as is their behaviour. Crappy drivers come in cars of all shapes and sizes.

I agree that they are really not needed in any city ( I drive one but am in country and do need it) but other drivers also do the things you have mentioned!

you know me fletch!

I live in the sticks and see very few 4x4's...... most driven by farmers...... compared to when I go to visit my family in the heart of built up kent i see loads.... whats that all about?

Do you think so, Lulamama? I am not just talking about the driving, i am talking about the danger they pose to pedestrians and the petrol consumption...maybe the dangerous driving wouldn't bother me so much if i didn't feel so threatened by the size as well.

They are not as dangerous as old men who drive Rovers

i think perhaps i wasn't entirely clear...one of my main problems is the 'I'll protect my kids in this big tank, whilst i crush yours at the school crossing' vibe that I get from them. That has to be a selfish attitude?

redrobin are you bored?find something interesting to moan about!!

I have a 4x4. I do not tail gate, i am not selfish, I do not think i am better than anyone, I follow all the rules of the road, i never use my phone and my car does not use a lot of petrol. It is a 1.8 and does over 40 miles to the gallon, and my car does not block up roads anymore than any other car, even if it did I pay my road tax (which is higher than yours by the way) so bog off.

This is a very shallow minded and judgemental view, I need the car as I often have to have 4 car seats in the car and this is not possible in any other 5 door car unless I get a people carrier which I can not afford.

and yes i do own a 4x4.

i agree that the sheer weight and size of them is an issue, especially if driven badly

but lots of people use the phone & tailgate whilst they drive

older people it could be argued, with slower reaction times, are as mcuh of a hazard

i find people who drive with children not properly restrained in the car far more worthy of scorn

i would not go so far as to brand everyone who drives a 4 x 4 selfish and thick or better than everyone

my ILS have one as they drive to spain regularly, my dad has one has he owns some farmland

they are not selfish or thick

are people carriers more expensive than 4X4's lardylumps?

arf at "vibe i get from them"

i like a scientific viewpoint

And they are not as selfish and self-righteous as the lycra-lout cyclist in London. Saw one today haranguing a motorist, and banging threateningly on his window ahead of me who had moved into a cycle lane( endangering no-one but delaying said cyclist by a maybe fraction of a minute till the traffic moved on) to allow an ambulance to pass on the off-side.
Have never see a four-by-fourer frothing at the mouth at an innocent road-user

OP, you are right of course.

I don't care about their petrol consumption - they're paying for it after all .

Re the rest, without wanting to sound sanctiminous, I think the standard of driving nowadays is pretty appalling all told. I drive a small car and am seriously fed up with being 'expected' to move over to accommodate someone who can't be bothered to drive on their side of the road but who are in fact encroaching more on my side if they have a car parked on their side or who cut me up on the nearside/tailgate me for driving at 30mph in a built up areas with bendy roads/double-parked vehicles etc.

So you are BU and reasonable at the same time.

For me yes as I bought mine from a garage that was closing down so got it at trade price.

only read OP and couldn't agree more.
there is one mum at our school who pulls up in her 4X4, just literally stops in the middle of the road, while the kids trot out, causing a huge traffic jam nehind her and causing everyone who is trying to cross the road to not be able to see if anything is coming the other direction. people beep and shout and ask her nicely not to. she doesn't give a toss and does it every single morning.
grrr.

YAB totally U and oversimplistic.

Seems i was right...Jeremy Clarkson HAS won. am depressed now.

you need to seperate the crap driving and attitude from the type of car