Don't forget these...they've been blocking sightlines and scaring the crud out of the fathers of teenage daughters for decades...
Posted on 05/09/2005 6:52:14 AM PDT by MississippiMasterpiece
It's a Saturday morning on San Leandro's Marina Boulevard auto row, and the big SUVs have been sitting on the lots, waiting for someone to come in and start that dealer dollar dance that ends up with the customer slightly bewildered but paying a lot less for that vehicle than he thought he was going to.
Once in a while, there are takers, although the dealer has to discount the SUV heavily just to get it moving.
Salvador Sotello, for example, recently paid F.H. Dailey Chevrolet in San Leandro $41,000 for a new Chevy Tahoe LT (yes, with leather) SUV that had a sticker price of $58,000. The sale was an anomaly in what is otherwise a pretty dismal selling season. "It's been pretty quiet," saleswoman Crystal Gonzalez said the other day. "Been pretty slow."
At Broadway Ford in Oakland, the grilles of the Mustangs, SUVs and the lone Thunderbird smile at the passing traffic, but the showroom is empty, it appears, of customers; several salesmen are in sight. Up at Albany Ford-Subaru, salesman Myers Howard, sitting a few feet away from a big Ford pickup truck, says things on the Ford side of the showroom "are slow." That might be the understatement of the day.
Just this past week, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. underwent the humiliation of seeing their credit ratings reduced by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services to the status of junk. The reasons are becoming clear -- the two big companies can't sell much of what they produce.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
"I understand they no longer teach reading comprehension in public schools, so the confusion is not entirely your fault. If you will please tell me what part of that you do not understand, I will make an attempt to break it down into small words for you."
Actually, my reading comprehension appears to be much better than your writing skills. One could have answered my original question: do you believe those who drive a pick-up truck should have a commercial driver's license. Instead of a simple yes or no, you wrote several paragraphs that did not once directly answer the question.
No one objects to the proposition that one should have the necessary skills to operate a vehicle in a safe manner. I find it absurd to demand a commercial driver's license of each and every pick-up driver. To be quite frank, many of those I see operating those small, fuel efficient, vehicles should not be allowed on the road without first achieving a NASCAR certificate. I find them and their agressive driving techniques far more dangerous than those of the average suburban soccor mom.
So what?
Why not go after 18 wheelers? or pickups or......
Enemies come in lots of different guises.
That's the same logic used by those who would ban "assault weapons."
Not gonna buy it. By your reasoning, everyone should be driving a Yugo or equivalent.
Do you remember the Ford Fiesta? I do. About the same size as a Yugo. My sister died in one. No, she didn't stop for a baby duck, but she was crushed just the same. It wasn't even a truck that hit her, just a regular full size sedan.
You can keep your tin foil car. I'll keep my big vehicle.
"By buying an SUV you double the crash risk of everyone else on the road."
By choosing to buy a motorized skate board, you choose to double the risks of your driving. You have no right to demand that everyone else adopt your risk preferences.
"If you cannot see past or through another vehicle, the amount of information with which you have to anticipate its movements drops dramatically."
If you cannot see past or through another vehicle, you should change your driving habits and not follow so closely.
"Lastly, the freedom argument is pure arrogance at best. Your freedom to buy an unreasonably large vehicle comes at the cost of my freedom to travel in reasonable safety. I regard this as a theft of my liberty."
Reminds me of the arguments made by those who advocate gun control. They maintain that my desire for a firearm only results in an unreasonable cost of their freedom to live without fear of firearms. They also regard this as a 'theft of their liberty.'
It truely amazes me when conservatives adopt liberal logic and arguments to restrict the freedom of their fellow Americans.
"If it were up to me, the license - much like the plate and the insurance - would be specific to the vehicle."
A gun-control advocate made the same argument about gun licenses. If you got a license for a Ruger 44 Super-redhawk, it would not be valid for any other type of gun.
"I can drive my manual Saturn SC1 much better than I'd be able to drive my best friend's big automatic truck."
Practice, practice, practice.
"Take the test in a certain vehicle, get licensed for that vehicle only. Wanna get licensed to drive your husband's behemoth? Then you gotta pass the test in IT, not just in your Prius."
Ever travel on business? Ever rent a car when you get there? How many licenses can you carry in your wallet?
I don't think I've made any of those arguments.
I've just said that I despise people who can't operate their vehicles properly.
And I'll say it again.
Well, why not? I can shoot my Smith & Wesson .38 revolver with far more ease than I can Bacon's big .45. (Or maybe it's a .44.)
My "Saturn SC1" license would let me drive equivalent cars. That would NOT include my fiance's brand-new Infiniti G35, or my best friend's pickup, neither of which drive one single bit like my SC1.
It would, however, include my best friend's wife's SC1 (should she choose to loan it to me), which is the same car as mine except a year younger.
If you have a sedan license, you rent a Town Car. If you have a coupe license, you rent some sort of coupe,
Not difficult at all.
Sorry, I was responding to a 'mass post' by "thoughtomator". I had no intention to imply any thing about you or your posts.
"I've just said that I despise people who can't operate their vehicles properly."
That certainly includes far more than just those who operate SUVs (or pick-up trucks). It may just be my personal experience but I see far more reckless driving by those who drive those small cars. I attribute this to the fact that these cheaper vehicles appeal to new and inexperienced drivers who can't afford any thing else. And, surprisingly, many of these drivers are some of the sweetest young ladies you'd ever see.
I collect and drive those cars because I love them. It's funny because enviroweenies celebrate their appearance when I stop at McDonalds or the local Dairy Queen. They are shocked in horror to find they get about 15mpg and only seat two.
My airplane gets about 10mpg. It can seat six, and covers the below terrain at about 180mph. I use it when we need to get somewhere in a hurry, particularly over large bodies of water. I can make a trip from Wisconsin to New York City in about 3 hours instead of 20 plus hours of driving.
My GMC Diesel truck is large. It weighs in at 5,700LBS empty. It gets 24MPG and I can see everything coming my way.
Every vehicle has a purpose. At what foolish point do we start legislating individuals and their asset utilization? RUH-ROH!
I wanna party with you, cowboy.
"My "Saturn SC1" license would let me drive equivalent cars."
Well, I consider any thing from a Prius to a Siverado 3500 dually to be 'equivalent'.
This is true, but since this was an SUV thread, I figured I'd target-bash (instead of scatter-bashing, my usual MO).
"This is true, but since this was an SUV thread, I figured I'd target-bash (instead of scatter-bashing, my usual MO)."
I understand fully. It's just that I think SUVs get a bum rap. And, I do believe one should proceed with extreme caution when one argues for the restriction of another's freedom. And, I do see that this is, at least on one level, an argument about the government's ability to limit freedom.
Did you know however that sheep are the only animal I've ever seen that looks up? Deer, horses, cows, cattle, etc....all spook when I come home and drop in from above. The sheep however quietly look up as I'm on a fast, loud downwind and watch while you land. After the Faulklands, it was rumored that penguins would look up and then fall over backwards as you flew by. That however was proven as a false rumor a year or so ago.
I find the animals that don't look up to be puzzling, as they scatter at what they cannot see, yet when faced in direct eye contact with what is obviously coming right at them they stand there calm as can be.
Don't forget these...they've been blocking sightlines and scaring the crud out of the fathers of teenage daughters for decades...
That's when I took up golf at night and a blanket to the sandtrap. Along with a hugh pitcher of grasshoppers made with McDonalds milkshakes, grain alchohol,green cream d'minthe and clear cream d'cocoa. Pay no mind to those kids with the milkshakes......heh-heh!
It does kinda blow you away doesn't it ?
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