Bumper Mentality

AlterNet ^ | Dec 20, 2002 | S. Mencimer

[goldstategop]

Yummmmmmm. My next car. I loooooooove it. Its so cute. LOL!!!

[Gal.5:1]

Naaaaaaaaahhhh. I don't think so. My hubby practically lives in his 12 year old beat up Exploder which he uses as an office and spare digs when stuck forever on Bay Area freeways.
Other SUV drivers, to my observation, simply need the space for the children, car camping, business gear, etc. These cars have lots of space and are useful for carting stuff around. IMHO, the mean, nasty, own- the- road types drive the high end super expensive luxury cars.

[goldstategop]

If you're careful, you shouldn't worry. Quite frankly as long as you aren't driving around in a go go kart or a Yugo you'll last on the highway til you drop dead one day at home. Which is a long while away in your case... and mine. :) :)

[Bobby777]

My SUV (Ford Explorer) saved my life or possibly crippling injury just 5 weeks ago when a woman drove a Dodge Caravan 40mph into me while I was stopped at a traffic light ... right now I'm going to a chiropractor ... if I had been in my old Mazda RX-7 or Corvette, she would have split the gas tank and blown us up ... $12,000 damage to my SUV ...

[MissAmericanPie]

I guess, given the choice, I had rather be vain, insecure, and self centered, free, independent, exercising my free choice to drive an SUV, than petty, mean spirited, small minded, and green with envy like the author of this hit piece.

[Petronski]

I like this prototype Peterbilt "Crusader." Me wantem!

[Caipirabob]

the bigger the SUV, the more of a jerk its driver is likely to be.

What a moron.

Chances are just as likely that the SUV is being driven by someone who is so precious to someone else that they spent the extra money just to make sure they were safe on the road.

When we had the Explorer, the only reason we bought it was because my wife asked for a new car. I think prior to that she'd asked me for like two or three things, ever. She got the car, no questions.

The author probably got into a road-rage thing with an SUV and found out his civic wasn't up the challange. My advice for anyone who goes out of there way to continue or provacate road-rage incidents: Full metal jacket. If you're stupid enough to waste time with crazies on the road, you'd best be prepared for the most likely conclusion to the idiocy.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I hate small cars and other little european go carts. It makes it hard to get the smashed up people out too, when they are involved in a major. Ever see a little honda or Bmw that gets intersection broadsided by a nice SUV. It's ugly. SUV is always the winner.

If you're careful, you shouldn't worry. Quite frankly as long as you aren't driving around in a go go kart or a Yugo you'll last on the highway til you drop dead one day at home.

Huh? When you are going through an intersection at 42 mph, how can being careful stop the other guy from blowing a red light and broadsiding someone, killing all the occupants immediately.

Happens all the time, and small cars, like Audi, BMW, VW and Hondas, are generally always the losers, vs a nice big SUV.

[ErnBatavia]

... right now I'm going to a chiropractor ...

a Chiroquackter? Good Lord, man! Get thee to a medical professional, for crying out loud!

(Thread-Twisting bump)

[sheik yerbouty]

Try getting a large family into a Geo Metro. Greenies are watermelons. Green on the outside; red on the inside. They should be driving trees...with a tar roof!

[hinckley buzzard]

There is a definite subset of SUV drivers who climb into one and think they're part of Patton's cavalry.
Hence the high proportion of rollovers on what is after all basically flat pavement. I have seen SUV drivers take a turn on two wheels, leaving my office parking lot or racing for a space at the mall.

I for one support anyone's right to buy one if she wants one that bad...
how she spends her husband's money is not my concern. But spare me the lame bullshit about how it's for luggage or chirren or whatever.

Unless you live in the boonies, or like to drive up to remote ski lodges in the winter, SUV's are about propping up frail egos and nothing more.

[giotto]

Chances are just as likely that the SUV is being driven by someone who is so precious to someone else that they spent the extra money just to make sure they were safe on the road.

Trust me--no one who cares about his teenager or spouse should buy an SUV for them to drive. An inexperienced driver is far more likely to die or be seriously injured in an SUV than in a good German car. The slightest mistake can cause a rollover, and on a crowded freeway at high speed, that can be fatal. I speak as a parent whose child was NOT driving an SUV when he lost control under those conditions--and he walked away from the car without a scratch. Had he been driving an SUV, he would almost certainly have been killed or seriously injured, according to my insurance agent.

[Junior]

The guy made some good points. Are you so self-absorbed that you can't see that?

[Bobby777]

my doctor (GP) said I had the standard complaints (teeth hurthing, stiff / hurting neck, stiff neck muscles) ... told me to stay on Aleve for a couple weeks ... the chiro guy got my neck looser (but it did hurt) ... so I'm giving the Aleve a few weeks to relax the muscles ... it was an incredibly hard impact ...