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

pulling power with regards to the weight it will pull when I use my trailer, nowt to do with "my" pulling power, those days have gone got much more road flirtation when I had my sports car

LilyMolly - I am afraid I do not have a link. I was recalling the study from a project I worked on it 2005. Study was new then. From what I recall the reason the small cars came off badly in crashes with 4x4s because of the extra weight of the 4x4, as well as extra height, which can override the bumpers and side impact protection on smaller vehicles. I also recall that various insurers including Admiral have stats that show 4x4s are invloved in about 25% more accidents than smaller cars. Can't remember the details of that stat though.

Listen god forbid I would every hit someone, but that could happen what ever car you drove imo.

What I cant understand about this issue, is how you can not be a little more tolerant about this issue. I have NO idea what this issue is like in the inner cities as I live in the country, but tbh I think there are far more greater issues to worry about.

the point is 4x4s far more likely to kill you (esp. if you are a child) than ordinary cars. Anyone can have a crash. But someone in a normal car is less likely to kill you.

Damn lies and statistics!
surely this is about personal choice?

Ahh but you see I am an advanced driver
TBH when I chose my car, I NEVER even thought about its danger to pedestrians.

I agree there are greater issues but this is a thread about 4x4s and in the absence of threads about those greater issues I just thought I would join in.

Just scanned EuroNCAP site and there are some bad superminis (although a minority) but there are many more dangerous 4x4s inc. some that have NO stars at all for pedestrian safety. If you look at the group as a whole, superminis do far less damage than 4x4s. Which is obvious as 4x4s are higher and heavier - bonnets at child's head height.

but isn't it the case that any car driven at over 30 miles an hour is likely to kill a pedestrian in a collison?

No, don't think many people do, Lily. I hope that growing awareness of the dangers of 4x4s will actuallly make all of us look at pedestrian safety when we buy cars, not just 4x4 drivers.

wasn't it jeremy clarkson on top gear who compared 4x4's to guns and said that if some people have them, then we all need one to protect ourselves from them??

i don't know about the statistics, but if you look at a 4x4 alongside a fiesta (for example) i think you can kind of envisage who would come off worst in a crash. having said that, lorries, vans etc. would also be as dangerous to an ordinary car i suppose.

i may be a bit biased against 4x4 drivers today, as i witnessed some shocking driving by a mum in a 4x4 outside my children's school .. although probably she would be just as shocking in any vehicle!

So what exactly is the point of owning a 4X4? Does anyone know how or why this has become such a status symbol? Truly, I am not jealous - I have a wonderful Audi (though a bit long in the tooth)that goes like the clappers & would have the same again. We live in the foothills of some mountains surrounded by fields & cows so often have extreme weather & slippery roads and therefore could probably argue having one myself but hate the bloody things.

On my advanced driver training, I was told that the difference in survival rates from being hit at 33 and 30mph where huge. The point being a child is far more likely to die if being hit at 33 mph.
If all you people can assure me that you all drive at 30mph or under in a 30mph zone, then you can lecture me about the chances of killing a child.

At 30, for most cars, it's something like 75 per cent chance of living, 25 dying. At 40, that's pretty much reversed. HOWEVER that's for 'all' cars and for adults. Children being shorter are more at risk - think about where the car connects with the pedestrian. And 4x4s are inherently more dangerous as they are heavier and higher so hit you with more force and hit children in the head.

Although some makers have managed to design their bonnets to do less damage. Normal cars will take your legs out (if you are an adult) - nasty but mostly not fatal. 4x4s hit you in the abdomen - fatal.

I don't drive, Lilly.

And that's a crap argument anyway - 'it's OK for me to be selfish because other people aren't perfect'?

i always drive under 30mph in a 30mph zone, as i live on a busy road and i have seen first hand what happens to people who are hit be drivers doing (even 5mph) over the limit

however, i would not presume to lecture you about driving a 4x4. that is up to you..

I have a 4x4 of which i carry my 3 children to and from school etc , i just feel safer being higher up i think, i do understand your point though about the saftey issue .

i'm pleased with mine (the ubiquitous volvo xc90) for all sorts of reasons but i don't see it as a status symbol.
and yes, i am definitely shallow enough to regard some of the things i have, and some that i wish i had, as status symbols

its all about risk. I choose to drive a 4 x 4 , but hopefully continue to drive safely. My company does not allow, mobile phones (hands free) smoking whilst driving and insisits on us have advanced driving with ROSPA on a yearly basis.
I adhere to speed limits, am considerate to other drivers and do NOT have any superiority about driving a 4 x 4, and no feelings grandeur.
Please accept that it is my choice, which I will continue to exercise, as is my right as a sane adult.

I dont however go to Mcdonalds or allow dd to consume fruitshoots!!!!

why don't you go to mcdonalds?? can't you get that big 4x4 through the drivethrough??

tee hee, [i'm a mischief maker today]