Who wants to join the ANTI 4x4 stickering campaign?

[CountessDracula]

hilarious I love the fact that they look like parking tickets for each borough (but that they haven't done Richmond}

Can I just ask if all the anti-4x4 brigade drive cars that score highly on pedestrian safety? And was that the main reason you bought the car?

So if a car was £1000 more expensive but scored better on pedestrian safety you would buy it???

When we bought our 4x4 it didn't occur to me to look up the pedestrian safety rating; maybe that makes me a bad person, but how many of you factored those ratings in when you bought your last car?????

not me i have to admit, i went for one in my budget that fitted 3 car seats in the back, and that was on the forecourt so i could see what i was buying. i actually wanted a vw touran but the dealership that was giving us the best trade in on my focus didn't have any we could see so i brought the vectra instead and tbh i ddin't even think about sfaety testing or ncap results as i try to use the car minimally anyway, we even changed the childrens school so that we could walk, instead of having to drive. but not once did i think about safety of my car, in my eyes all cars are dangerous, and the only reason i didn't buy a 4x4 was daily running costs, and again the garage not having one on the forecourt, well they ahd a landrover freelander but it was too old.

Just jumping in on this one as a driver of a 4x4 that has a reasonable pedestrian rating, and is also required to pull trailers on muddy fields and boats out of the sea so stick you stickers where the sun dont shine .

I drive a 4x4 and I absolutely love driving it. I am not pretentious or a chav, and am certainly not loaded! For dh who loves cars it was a dream of his to own one. I wasn't keen at all but when I test drove it I fell in love with the luxury of it. I didn't consider the safety aspects that are talked about here but did consider it a guzzler and knew it would be expensive to run. Personally, I accept that my car is less environmentally friendly than other types of vehicle but I am surprised at the growing vindictiveness and hatred that seems to be aimed at 4x4 drivers. Alot of it seems quite extreme. Personally, I don't think anyone has the right to sit in judgment of me and the vehicle I choose to drive so long as I pay my taxes etc like anyone else. Some sports cars have big engines and boy racers drive at speeds that are extremely dangerous but no one has mentioned them.

We need to get "I love my 4x4" stickers. or perhaps "My other car is a cheap to run environmental hugging 1litre" must be better to have 2 cars I suppose just so I don't get anyones back up if I venture into town for my shopping.

An interesting article here

Maybe they really are short of braincells, or just borrow them on a timeshare basis

What a fantastic thread, has anyone read the book by Alan Mcarthur called 'Is it just me or is everything really Shit'.

A observation into modern british life

4x4's were featured in one of the chapters and talked about the research that was carried out by the first car manufacturer to produce a 4X4 (American Company I think)

Anyway, they questioned 1000's of people about their lifestyle, education, relationships, attitudes towards pareting so on an so forth and then showed each of them a picture of the proposed 4 x 4 that they were designing and asked each person whether they liked the car or not.

The results were anylised by a team of boffins (psychiatrists etc etc) and they found that an overwhelming proportion of those people who did like the design of the car were:

Shallow
Vain
Low Self Esteem
Insecure
Unhappy in their relationship
Selfish
Not as highly educated as others in the survey
Did not particularly 'like' their own children or value their role as a parent

I will try and find the book tommorow and will type out the chapter here, word for word (as I am probably not doing it justice)

Anyway, how funny. I know 3 people who drive these bloody stupid cars and they could tick all of the boxes above.

Oh dear, I will now be shot down in flames, so will go gracefully to bed!

oh well if a boffin says so it must be true .....

Yes and I drive through school playgrounds while blowing flames out of my own arse and doing my makeup.

Some 4x4 drivers are fannies some are not, sweeping predjudices make you look sillier than a frontera in chelsea

I just want to know why anyone who isn't a farmer or a country land-owner, or who has anything work-related to do in the countryside, would want a 4x4? Why? They aren't particularly beautiful, they cost more to run than a smaller vehicle and they are more expensive to insure (well DH's little Vitara was and that's teeny weeny compared to some of the big bggers out there). Why do you want one in London...or any other city or town? For what possible purpose? You can get people mover type jobbies or a big estate type thing like mine - which carry lots of people. I think that driving a 4x4 when you don't need one does say something about you and your attitude to the world - ie I don't give a fck!

Having said that I'd sticker everyone who owns a car in London - saying that as a regular visitor to London who thinks it's a fantastic city ruined by cars. Go on .....shout at me...

People carriers aren't great for pedestrians either - again, heavier and higher. Restricted visibility means you can't see children behind you when reversing. In the US, children are regularly killed by their own parents reversing - something like one a week, can't remember exactly. Not sure any figures exist for the UK.

I'm not surprised 4x4 drivers are defensive - they've been exposed as making a choice which turns out to be very wrong. But everyone apart from those who bought the two that do OK on the NCAP tests hasn't got a leg to stand on. I grew up half way up the Pennines, we were cut off by snow every winter, and we never needed a 4x4. Unless you are a farmer and really need to go off-road, you don't need a 4x4.

HaHaHa, is this still running!!!

Just remember the experience of a friend of mine who regularly cycled round Bristol back in the 1980/90s. The most aggressive drivers were those in Volvos - his theory being that all that extra protection made them feel less vulnerable so they were more comfortable about hassling anyone in their way. He was cycling down Gloucester Road in very slow traffic (being considerate he didn't didn't take the to the pavement) and the Volvo behind him kept touching his back wheel and trying to push him out the way.

oh god another one? I missed this one.

I had a 4x4, loved it, want another one, but can't afford it atm. I went straight from passing my test into driving a 4x4. The high driivng position does make it easier to drive. They are nice and boxy and easier to maeuvere. You can use them off road - I live in the country and not everywhere has proper roads including near dd's school. My kids were safe, and although I am aware of the fact they are more dangerous to pedestrians as a mother I put MY kids first. I don't drive into the congestion zone of London, I get the train.

I now have an MPV and loath it. It's all curvy and pretty and I've knocked it so many times because I can't see the bloody corners on it! My dd is pratically sitting in the boot and I worry what would happen to her if anyone went into the back of us. I can't take it off road, I can barely park it because it is so lowered. The only thing I do like about it is that it is fast. The 4x4 was so heavy and slow I never had a hope in hell of driving fast enough to be dangerous!

Our next car will be a 4x4 again.

guess what, just back from school run (joned the masses & drove today for 1st time in ages as took dh to work) not 1 but 2 BMW 4x4s double-parked outside the school. Of course, they were the exception, everyone else is a considerate driver/parker etc etc...should have had some tickets in my pocket..

see? this is Berks for you
(no offence, Kelly, mate! How's Ascot, btw?)

I always get blocked in by stupid woman in boring saloons. Never seen a 4x4 double parked at either school.

oh and there are several more Kelly, been full moon and all that...

but do you know what, it is possible to put your kids safety first without endangering others, selfish attitude. Fed up of this explaining away with, i don't drive fast etc, accidents happen, that is why they are called accidents, you are putting others at risk and if you ignore this then you deserve to be judged

On a chat show the other evening there was a comment made that the people that slag off 4x4 owners are jealous because they cant afford to own one themselves. toodle oo, im off to leave you with that thought>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...

been there, done that, TL. We've all admitted we're jealous as hell, haven't we

jealous of what exactly? I am never jealous of selfish, inconsiderate, head in the sand because my car looks good type of people.

hello!

Its too sticky! So quiet and dull, and full of stuck up surrey wife types driving x5s
It's better for the kids though, and safer and they love having a garden. I'm getting used to it, but I still miss croydon a bit.

I seriously got blocked in yest by a vw golf! It was offroad down the trail outside school and with no 4 x 4 I couldn't turn around so got stuck. But two fit men came to the rescue

mykidsmum, I knwo it is selfish, but a mothers instinct is to protect her kids! I know people with x5s and they do drive safely. I don't knwo why people get this idea that they are all raving loons. Up our school the people whocan't drive have battered saloons or 3 doors, they couldn't afford the repair bills on a 4x4!

hi kelly- agree, Berks not exactly height of excitement but - bar the occasional 4x4 of course - nice & safe for the kids. you sound quite rural then, not central ascot?