4x4 drivers 'more likely to flout law'

colm_mcm

a flat loadbay is another requirement.

dermot_sheehan

From anecdotal evidence here, it appears the original article was right, SUV drivers are more likely to break the law.

The problem most people have with them is they are a classic example of fashion over common sense. They are statistically less safe due to their higher centre of gravity and therefore less stability, and they endanger other road users due to their high mass. Other vehicles have these characteristics (buses/trucks), but they do so by necessity. They also use a resource which I think everyone agrees is running out and efforts should be amde to conserve. They reflect selfish values and that's why they are despised.


Also drivers of trucks or buses have to get a C class or D class licence and undergo special training, SUV drivers shouldif their vehicle weighs more then 3,500kg but I wonder how many are driving around unlicenced and therefore uninsured?

colm_mcm

If the resourse which you think "everyone agrees is running out and efforts should be amde to conserve" is petrol or diesel, then there are other types of cars you can take pot-shots at instead, most diesel SUV's will do 40mpg. whereas many large saloon cars do little over 20.

dermot_sheehan

colm_mcm wrote:

If the resourse which you think "everyone agrees is running out and efforts should be amde to conserve" is petrol or diesel, then there are other types of cars you can take pot-shots at instead, most diesel SUV's will do 40mpg. whereas many large saloon cars do little over 20.

Ok, I'll take pot shots at them too, the sale and use of ineffecient saloon cars should be discouraged too since there's only so much black stuff left in the ground. Its easy however to regard a SUV as a fuel ineffecient vehicle for simple mass reasons alone, leaving aside an encyclopaedic knowledge of car fuel effeciency figures it's impossible to give the jaundiced you're fecking up the planet stare at them as I cycle pass in rush hour traffic

colm_mcm

Fuel is a global resource. Why not moan at people who use oil for their home heating, or Americans who drive massive gas guzzlers. European SUV's are the least of our worries.

dermot_sheehan

Because oil for heating is a necessity, driving a a multi-ton vehicle around city neighborhoods to birng the kids to school or to get milk at the shops is an exercise in pretentiousness. If there is a hiearchy for uses of oil, heating would be higher in it.

And yes the Americans use a ridiculous amount of oil per person, I never said they didn't, driving SUV's over here though is adopting the same selfish attitude they have. The survery which was the original post in this thread seems to confirm this selfish attitude in road manners. With SUV drivers in the thread stating how they evade tax by declaring vehicles to be commerical, or writing off personal trips as business expeneses seems to confirm this.


And again the question, how many SUV drivers are driving on a B class licence?

maidhc

I think colm's point is that a Rav4 (or the likes) has an identical engine and similar emissions and fuel consumption to an Avensis estate.

Having said that I would rather an Avensis estate unless I needed a 4x4 drivetrain or increased towing capacity as it as a more accomplished car. But each to their own I guess.

colm_mcm

gabhain7 wrote:

Because oil for heating is a necessity, driving a a multi-ton vehicle around city neighborhoods to birng the kids to school or to get milk at the shops is an exercise in pretentiousness. If there is a hiearchy for uses of oil, heating would be higher in it.

And again the question, how many SUV drivers are driving on a B class licence?

It's a lot easier to change from using oil central heating to using electricity than it is to change cars from running on petrol to running on electricity.

The majority of SUV's in ireland don't exceed 1500kg, the B license allows you to drive 3500kg and up to 9 people.

Even a Land Cruiser GX 8 seater weighs under 2000kg and the huge Land Cruiser 4.2 VX weighs 2,500 kg, well within B class license limitations

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

It's a lot easier to change from using oil central heating to using electricity

Screw that. Wood pellet is the way of the future.

colm_mcm

maidhc wrote:

Wood pellet is the way of the future.

mmmm hmmm?

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

mmmm hmmm?

Wood pellet boilers make a good replacment for oil fired ones. There is a government grant going to change over too. Anyhow. A bit OT.

colm_mcm

All of these contribute to CO2 emissions. Ideally, we would use renewable energy - hydro power, solar power, wind power, and dare I say it Nuclear power.

The great thing is; people are so quick to blame SUVs for the worlds problems, yet aren't bothered enough to recycle or cut down on energy usage.