Women, SUV's, and Cell Phones. (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stieg]

A few years ago, we were doing work on our driveway and my parents had our two cars parked on the side of the road; a '93 station wagon (whatever happened to those?) in perfect condition (low mileage, no rust) that we had bought maybe five months earlier, and a '94 Pontiac Grand Prix behind it. About fifty feet up the road, a woman talking on her cell phone and driving a ridiculously huge van turned the corner and was driving towards our cars. She slammed into the station wagon, knocking it back into the Grand Prix, totalling the station wagon and causing $2000 worth of damage to the front end of the Grand Prix.

Of course, all she got was a large dent in her bumper.

 

[ChrisHeflen]

NO! I don't think that is Mark or any of us "SUV bashers" point is.

Think of it like this. I am gonna get an 18 wheeler. I am gonna drive it all over TOWN. I am gonna drive it next to you everywhere you go. You are never gonna be away from me. When you, Robbie, come to an intersection and wanna turn right, I am gonna be on your left. When you try to turn right I will be on your left blocking your view of on-coming traffic with my big 18 wheeler. When you are on the freeway, I will be in front of you no matter what lane you choose. I will be throwing rocks at your windshield with my big tires and no mudflaps. When you are on the freeway I will change into your lane and have you slam on your brakes, and I won't give a flying f^&*, because I can drive what the F%$^ I want. I am gonna park in the compact space at the mall and take up a space and a half and not care. I am gonna drive that thing becasue I might have to move one day and will need to haul all my belongings to my next house. I might every once in blue moon be seen pulling a boat, or actually go off road with it. But until then I will be everywhere, blocking your view, cutting you off, because I can drive whatever the F^&%^% I want.

 

[Julian Reville]

So, if you and I lived in Amish country, and I hooked up a team of Percherons to my buggy, would you get this pissed off?

 

[MarkHastings]

I'll buggy whip the whole lot of ya!

 

[ChrisHeflen]

I only used the swear words for effect. I wasn't pissed when I wrote it.
I am saving the "pissed" for my hour commute.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa!

Seriuosly though, next spring I am planning on getting an Explorer or a mini van. But I care about other people on the road. Well, most people. I mean more like 3. Well none actually.

I'll drive whatever the F^%( I want!

 

[Matt Stieg]

Exactly. I live in a rather wealthy town, and the vast majority simply buy SUV's as a status symbol to flaunt their wealth. Then they go out and drive like assholes. Most of the times, the only person in the car is the driver (and around here, it's usually a woman). SOMETIMES, there might be someone in the passenger seat. SOMETIMES, they might be driving ONE kid around. MOST of the time, however, they're just assholes.

 

[Mark Sherman]

Thats the problem. Its the ASSHOLES that Give the SUV a bad rap. if you have a run in with the " IM BETTER THAN YOU GET OUT OF MY WAY I DRIVE AN SUV" person you think that everyone drives like that.

 

[MarkHastings]

Definitely agreed. I've somewhat come to terms with my SUV bashing, because I realize not everyone is like that. The sad thing is, a LOT of them are :frowning:

The thing that bugs me most is, an SUV DEMANDS a more responsible driver. We all drive like assholes, yet no responsibility is taken when driving something this big.

When a regular car cuts me off, I just think "What an Asshole", but when an SUV cuts me off, not only do I think "What an asshole", but I also think of the fact that his/her SUV can do MUCH more damage to my car and the fact that he/she cut me off is even MORE irresponsible than the car that cut me off.

In other words, SUV irresponsibility/mistakes are magnified. I think that's where a lot of the bashing comes from.

So when someone says "All SUV drivers are assholes" it's not that they're saying ONLY SUV drivers are assholes, it's more that everyone (Who drives) is an asshole, but a lot of this bad driving isn't noticed because the bad SUV drivers are so much more dangerous that it sticks out in our minds more.

Kind of like walking through a store and almost being knocked over by an employee who was running down the isles. You'd be more upset by almost being knocked over by an employee who was carrying a bunch of knives, as opposed to an employee carrying a bunch of books. Both employees are assholes, but the employee with the knives can do a lot more damage, thus you'd be more pissed off at him.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Wouldn't that be awesome to see an 18-wheeler towing a 12' aluminum flatbottom?

 

[Max Leung]

Yes this makes a lot of sense.

Mark, that's some great thinking there. You should go buy yourself an SUV as a symbol of your superior-errr-I mean-insightful thinking!

 

[Jeff D Han]

My 1-1/2 cents-

I don't know that I would agree that women are more
cautious drivers. They may not go as fast as men, but
it seems to me that women love to tailgate. To me that
is more dangerous than speeding.

SUVs- live and let live. It's a free country with freedom
of choice (most of the time). Why should anyone have the right to tell me what to buy? It seems to me though that
in snow or slippery roads, I see alot of SUVs going too fast and/ or getting into accidents. It still boils down
to who is on the road, not what is on the road.

Driving around the Boston area is no picnic, especially with
a tractor trailer (I'm a regional driver). There is no run-
off or merging space on some of the ramps, no recommended
speeds for some of the exit ramps, and for added fun people
are allowed to drive in the breakdown lanes on some of the
beltways during rush hour.

Nobody will ever have to worry about me gabbing on the phone while driving. I don't know if there is a person
on the face of the earth who hates the phone more than
I do. Here's a "why ask why" question- I heard recently
that the cell phone is the most disliked modern convenience. If this is true, then why do 10s of millions of people have one?

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL! As long as my license plate says "iGod"

 

[Clinton McClure]

The other night on the way home from work on I-40 when I was passed by a Hummer doing every bit of 90+ (I was running 75 in the outside lane and he passed me like I was sitting still). We're talking one of these jobs that'll NEVER see anything other than asphalt under it's wheels....it's (looked like) 24" chrome spinner wheels. This guy had spent almost as much adding chrome to his bling machine as he had spent on the vehicle itself. I could read his plate before he weaved through and cut the guy off ahead of me, causing him to stand up on his brakes and weave off onto the shoulder, almost going off the road, so he could pass a semi which had just passed us. "BCUZICN" What an arrogant prick.

 

[MarkHastings]

Clinton, the only thing that keeps me sane is the thought of that guy (in your post) pissing off the WRONG person and getting shot to death

I'd love to inscribe his headstone "BCUZIMDEAD"

 

[MickeS]

Mark, seriously dude, calm the hell down on the road... otherwise it's gonna kill you, literally.

Getting pissed off at a bad/crazy/dangerous driver will do nothing good. If he is dangerous, call the police (you don't need the license number of the crazy car, just call and report where you are and what's going on). You definitely don't want to honk and flash the lights at someone like that.

I've found that since I started using the cruise control on pretty much every little stretch of road, I feel a lot calmer when driving. There are more important things in life than getting 5 fewer minutes of drive time.

 

[MichaelBA]

When people tell me to calm down, I only get ANGRIER!

 

[Tommy G]

Well, I inevitably step in the stuff when shoveling it out so I have a spare set of floor mats that I place down on the driver's side and clean them off every week. I also still have to do a lot of vacuuming. It's a labor of love for my wife's hobby.

 

[MarkHastings]

That made me feel better.

 

[Fatima Fredrick]

Just checked out Jay H's Couchbike link (bikeforest.com/cb). Pretty funny... There's a product there aimed at runners looking to improve their visibility on roads clogged with SUV's. For a good laugh, have a look at the Treadmill Bike (bikeforest.com/tread). Don't worry... I'm pretty sure they're kidding.

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - That treadmil bike is great! Did you see the "Napolean Dynamite" style video?:
http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/trea...weet_jumps.wmv