4x4 do you own one and do you get hostilities from other drivers

[Blueglass]

I have just aquired one and get constantly picked on. And before you ask it is not my driving

Also, how can you possibly generalise that the worst drivers in your area drive 4 x4's?

In my area there are lots of teenage and sadly older boy racers in souped up corsas and clios with neon undercarriages who race around like maniacs and are I imagine, significantly more dangerous than a lot 4 x4 drivers ...

....but I don't know for sure..

you can't say " how can you generalise about 4x4 drivers2
then go on to generalise yourself.

vulgar vulgar things

Like I said...I dont know for sure ......see what i was getting at?

not really

4x4s are alright really becuase teenage drivers in suped up cars are worse?

Otter- I was thinking that too!

CrystalPony - I cycle to work, so am acutely aware of dangerous driving. In my experience, the 4x4 drivers do tend to be worse than the boy racers who are more inclined towards speed than ineptitude.

Handleme I'm with you this is real entertainment

Hmmm subaru estates well yes they are 4x4's as well just in an estate version.

But it's not so much the 4x4 capability I object to. It's the height of the bonnets and the general tank-like impression of them. Makes them look predatory and oppressive. Also makes them much worse in terms of the damage they can do if they hit another vehicle or worse, a person. Think fly being splatted as opposed to being scooped up over the bonnet.
So I don't loathe 4x4's, because that's jsut a function of the wheels. I loathe, what're they called?, SUVs - examples including BNW X5s, the mahoosive Hondas, the cayennes and so on.
Environmentally all cars aren't doing us any favours. It's the safety really that gets it for me. and the fact that if you get one of them in every other car parking space in our local multistorey it's practically impossible to open the doors of a normal car. The wheelbase is too big. And an estate car will be longer, but is generally no wider than a focus or a normal volvo.

So there.

No not kerry Katona!!!!!, just a knob/wanker whi drives a 4 x 4

crikey i cant believe i missed this since friday.

we bought ours to support the british car manufacturer

So bluegrass never came back then?

Amateurs, all of us.

I don't give 4x4 drivers abuse ... well only the one I came accross on a narrow country road where one of us had to go on the verge to get past the other & he didn't seem to want to do it! But he did look like an idiot anyway.

I do know someone with a farm in their family who uses the 4x4 off the road. Another member of his family just uses a Merc saloon to go accross the fields!!

I probably wouldn't have one personally as I prefer the look of cars.

I think people who drive older cars should pay more tax. It's ridiculous in my opinion that classic cars are tax free when they have none of the environmental improvements that modern cars have. It's revolting driving behind an old car pumping out disgusting smoke & fumes. YUCK.

Spot on Blondilocks. To a large extent, people are barking up the wrong tree.

about 40% of the energy consumed by a car in its entire life is used to manufacture it.

Classic cars are not the problem.

My gripe with SUVs is mainly on safety grounds - I do think requiring drivers to have sat an advanced driving test would solve this to an extent.

And might even make them higher status than they are now

Question from my DS (then aged around 10) when we visited the Lake District: "Mummy why do the people here drive around in small ordinary cars on these roads when in W......w (wealthy Cheshire town where we used to live) they all drive 4 x 4s?. As far as the yummy mummies are concerned I just think of the French & Saunders sketch where Dawn French turned up for the school run in a tank to out-do Jennifer Saunders. They may be safer for the DCs inside, but a lot less safe for pedestrians and other cars that are hit by them.

even my priest heaps venom on 4X4 drivers.
Being a pathetic girly I don't understand why the 4X4 is evil but my multipla is a sign that I am a tree hugging earth mother.

But my priest admits that it may have something to do with the fact he drives a micra

I don't heap hostility on them, just pity.

isnt the Prius one of the dirtiest cars to manufacture and dispose of despite it being green whilst on teh road?

FWIW a good deal of my car is recyclable and of course it is congestion charge exempt so bear that in mind when you're knifing the 4x4s in central London- maybe the your Council has decided its actually ok for them to be there

Pity?

lol...so many knickers in twists...

I love my Freelander, its big and beautiful and i think this 4x4 hatred is just an exscuse to have a whinge. They would seem an obvious target.

People get jealous of 4x4 owners and automatically think we are up ourselves and want to own the road.

At the end of the day it is up to the individual as to what they drive and should not be penalised for it.

Jampot, can I just say it's comforting to know that when my Prius's eco-friendly driving days are over and it starts causing environmental mayhem on it's retirement in x amount of years in the future, your 4 x 4 will be there, doing it's recyclable stuff and saving the day!!

It all balances out beautifully!!