Why I won't ever drive an SUV

butters · Post by **butters** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:29 am

I'm driving into town in my little Ranger at about 73-75 mph. The mid-90's SUV in front of me is going a little bit faster. We are about 5 miles from the edge of town. The road is a divided highway, like

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2 lanes | grass median | 2 lanes | grass | railroad tracks

We are traveling in the right lane, pretty much alone on that side of the road. All of the sudden the driver of the SUV veers into the grass beside the railroad tracks, drives through the grass for a few seconds, then shoots out, overcorrects, hits the grass median and rolls over twice, fortunately landing upright.

I stop my pickup in left lane and run up to help the driver. I ask if she's allright and she asks me if her head is bleeding. I tell her no, and by that time several others, including an RN, are around. She was bleeding pretty badly from some cuts on her arm, but otherwise was fine.

The vehicle on the other hand was scrap metal. The paramedics had to cut off the door with the jaws of life to get her out. As easily as that thing rolled I don't think I will ever buy an SUV.

Sidenote: A TV crew showed up and shot footage of the wreck. With my luck I ended up on the damn 10:00 news...

DCFan2004 · Post by **DCFan2004** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:14 am

I think the problem was the woman driving the SUV not the SUV itself.

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:31 am

Trucks are little better as they suffer many of the same problems as SUV's.

mariobro · Post by **mariobro** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:58 am

A lot of SUVs are unstable. Specially the "fake" ones. You know, vehicles that can't really be considered "sports-utility", but are just made to look like them, to cash in on the SUV trend.

I've seen Range Rovers go down 50 degree inclines, with little effort. Jeep Cherokees doing 180 degree turns over curbs and grass at full speed, as if they were just speed bumps. But a fake SUV can be a real hazard in those situations.

Tall Israeli · Post by **Tall Israeli** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:40 pm

I wouldn't drive an SUV for the simple fact that I'm not a tool who requires 6 other empty seats in a car to feel safe.

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:19 pm

People think that just cause they're driving an suv, they can speed and act like idiots in bad weather (especially snow).

Post by **BlueCrab** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:24 pm

I drive an SUV specifically because of snow (and the fact that I can't afford another vehicle). Where I live, we sometimes get hammered with snow, and the road that I live on (when I'm not at school) never gets plowed, and its an uphill drive. Not fun without 4 Wheel Drive.

Hawq · Post by **Hawq** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:27 pm

Why does this story amke me think of an A class thats just seen an elk?

404NotFound · Post by **404NotFound** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:34 pm

Yeah, the smaller sportier SUVs are really unstable. The more... "actual" UTILITY vehicles, rather than sport, are fairly good. Very wide wheel-bases, etc. If you've ever seen a Yukon or something of that nature, they are extremely wide. They have to be to make up for the height gain.

Tall Israeli · Post by **Tall Israeli** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:42 pm

BlueCrab wrote:I drive an SUV specifically because of snow (and the fact that I can't afford another vehicle). Where I live, we sometimes get hammered with snow, and the road that I live on (when I'm not at school) never gets plowed, and its an uphill drive. Not fun without 4 Wheel Drive.

Why don't you just buy an AWD car and drive that all the time instead of having one fwd/rwd and one awd car?

Post by **BlueCrab** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:56 pm

Tall Israeli wrote:
BlueCrab wrote:I drive an SUV specifically because of snow (and the fact that I can't afford another vehicle). Where I live, we sometimes get hammered with snow, and the road that I live on (when I'm not at school) never gets plowed, and its an uphill drive. Not fun without 4 Wheel Drive.
Why don't you just buy an AWD car and drive that all the time instead of having one fwd/rwd and one awd car?

The fact that A) I am a college student, working only two days a week and B) I have no money.

hearld500 · Post by **hearld500** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:45 pm

I really don't know what people deal is with SUVs. If you don't like them don't drive them. Sure, they're more likely to roll over if you are an idiot, but to me. To me, the greater risk of rollover is one I'm willing to take. 100% of the families in my area own just SUV's or pickups. Seeing a car on the road is somewhat of a rareity. There on average is only about 1 rollover every other year.

My family at one time owned 4 suvs and we have never had an incident.

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:41 pm

But when those people driving their SUV's like stock cars are on the same road as me, it is my problem.

hearld500 · Post by **hearld500** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 1:04 am

Tasty toastman wrote:But when those people driving their SUV's like stock cars are on the same road as me, it is my problem.

Yes, those people are idiots and should not be allowed outside they're house.

Tall Israeli · Post by **Tall Israeli** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 5:48 am

BlueCrab wrote:
Tall Israeli wrote:
BlueCrab wrote:I drive an SUV specifically because of snow (and the fact that I can't afford another vehicle). Where I live, we sometimes get hammered with snow, and the road that I live on (when I'm not at school) never gets plowed, and its an uphill drive. Not fun without 4 Wheel Drive.
Why don't you just buy an AWD car and drive that all the time instead of having one fwd/rwd and one awd car?
The fact that A) I am a college student, working only two days a week and B) I have no money.

Wouldn't owning two cars cost more money? You could get a cheap Subaru AWD for the price of two cars.

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:31 am

Wouldn't owning two cars cost more money? You could get a cheap Subaru AWD for the price of two cars.

This would only be true if all the cars are being bought at market price. The price of a car that a relative just replaced, for example, might be a hell of a lot lower.

MulletMan13 · Post by **MulletMan13** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:30 am

hearld500 wrote:
Tasty toastman wrote:But when those people driving their SUV's like stock cars are on the same road as me, it is my problem.
Yes, those people are idiots and should not be allowed outside they're house.

They're called women.

*rimshot

atf487 · Post by **atf487** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 2:17 pm

I will never understand the need for SUV's. If you want to hold people, get a van. If you want to haul lots of stuff, get a truck.

SUV's would be alright if they were used as a private vehicle, i.e for businesses and such, but the average american has no use for one at all.

I would NEVER buy one.

lackofsense · Post by **lackofsense** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 2:25 pm

and why are their stretch hummers in this world

hearld500 · Post by **hearld500** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 5:03 pm

atf487 wrote:I will never understand the need for SUV's. If you want to hold people, get a van. If you want to haul lots of stuff, get a truck.

SUV's would be alright if they were used as a private vehicle, i.e for businesses and such, but the average american has no use for one at all.

I would NEVER buy one.

How about ground clearence? Ability to haul for then 5 people? Ability to tow?

Why are pickups ok? They're essencially a SUV without a top and seats.