[Guest]

Did anyone else see a news story about a Hummer dealership in LA which was recently vandalised? Among other things, the perpetrators painted things like "Fat lazy Americans" on some of the offending vehicles. My thoughts exactly, though I don't condone vandalism.

 

[james]

Well, two out of three: seems to me there must quite a number of fat, lazy non-Americans driving SUVs as well

 

[amplifiedmouse]

everyone drives cavaliers here.

 

[james]

Yeah, but that's Indiana Even Porsche has jumped on the SUV bandwagon - I mean, what's next, a Ferrari SUV?

And why is it the world chooses to copy only the absolute worst examples of American culture?

 

[rschaffrath]

One of them also had "I (heart) Pollution" painted on it. Vandalism is bad but I did have to smirk...

 

[Delta Flyer]

I have meant to ask people if they occasionally drive a large vehichle and if so if they are treated differently. It's sad to say, but there seems to be a lot of people want to be feared and respected, so they drive alone in something 3-4 times heavier than an Insight. They picture themselves as an Arnold Schwartzenegger, while Insight drivers like me are "girly men". Right.

 

[slideways]

I've had other motorists angrily flash their high beams at me as I cruise along in the slow lane. My morning commute is at 5:30am and there are always two or three open lanes to the left but for some reason it appears these fellows drivers pay more taxes then me and I'm in THEIR lane. :roll: . Most of the time the angry little driver is in an SUV or pick-up. Draw your own conclusion. Oh yeh, and sometimes this occurs (but rarely) when I'm right behind a truck who is really the vehicle setting the pace I'm driving.

So anyway I have experienced the SUV/Truck bully exhibiting their little man fustration on me. Yes, when I drive the family van, a Chevy Lumina APV aka "the dustbuster without a handle", I am not bullied by the afore mentioned idiots.

And like others here I don't condone the eco-terrorist's burning of SUVs but on the other hand I have a hard time working up much simpathy for the lose of such Socialy Unacceptable Vehicles, especially after having been bullied by them on the road. Remember I ride a bicycle a lot and I get a double wammie from these people.

Be well, AJ

 

[Aaron Cake]

This weekend I had the pleasure of driving a 24 foot U-Haul for 1000 KM or so. Every time I looked down at an SUV I had to smirk a little, knowing what would happen if I had hit her....

 

[james]

"I have meant to ask people if they occasionally drive a large vehichle and if so if they are treated differently."

I do have a 4WD Toyota pickup that I use for hauling stuff (try getting a 8 by 5 foot window unit in an Insight!). I don't notice being treated differently, but that could be because I drive differently. With the pickup, I'm usually in the slow lane (especially when loaded), while with the Insight, I'm probably going faster than 80% of the traffic.

 

[Delta Flyer]

It's amazing that 5-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is from Texas, because even on the quiet roads, bicylist get no respect from the "men" passing by drinking their beer. Opps - that was before the open container laws but the same mentality still exists.

 

[Will M]

Maybe we should give out bumper stickers that say, "Little men in big trucks" to go on the same vehicles on which we place, "I'm changing the climate. Ask me how."

It's a fantasy. I wouldn't actually do it. Not really. Often, anyway.

 

[james]

"It's amazing that 5-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is from Texas..."

Well, how do you think he got to be so darned fast? By learning to dodge the pickups & beer cans, of course. Incentive, you know

 

[stickboy3k]

Yes, when I drive the family van, a Chevy Lumina APV aka "the dustbuster without a handle", I am not bullied by the afore mentioned idiots.

OMG! We have the same combo.. Insight & Chevy Lumina "Dustbuster." And same observations, if I'm in the Insight I'm sure to be harassed by someone, but in the Lumina, not at all.

 

[monolith]

Yes, when I drive the family van, a Chevy Lumina APV aka "the dustbuster without a handle", I am not bullied by the afore mentioned idiots.

OMG! We have the same combo.. Insight & Chevy Lumina "Dustbuster." And same observations, if I'm in the Insight I'm sure to be harassed by someone, but in the Lumina, not at all.

Coming from driving a diesal dualie, a lotus elise, to only an insight now, I have to say people wave at me and open spots for me to switch lanes into, even SUV drivers. This is in Dallas, Texas too! Dunno where you all live, but I seem to get more respect in my itty bitty hybrid than I did in either of my other cars/trucks.

 

[Delta Flyer]

I had to park my car next to my neighbor's H2. It's ahead, but I'm getting a little better than 10 mpg :twisted:

Picture http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/lu ... 0darth.jpg

About Dallas-area driving: a few people have waved - more have talked when I'm in the parking lot. But a lot of people drive like they on some kind of substance. Quite a few of them probably are on drugs or something.

On a freeway with four-lanes in one direction, being in the right-most lane does not buy much safety in Dallas. Way too many people are racing in the right lanes too. People can be in queue for a quarter-mile doing 30-50 mpg approaching a turnoff, yet some yahoo is doing 70-80 in the next lane! I was almost rear-ended by such and idiot as I was taking the 190 (Bush) tollway from US 75. It would have been the third rear-ending in three years, no fault of my own. I was in a couple of other wrecks that I might have avoided, although those were not my fault.

Monolith, some of the wild freeways are I35E around Texas Stadium, the High-Five mixmaster construction, the 190 (Bush) tollway, and LBJ.

 

[monolith]

Oh, I know, I avoid them purposefully. The mixmaster is not something to be taken lightly! Sorry about your accidents, I find using the access road if possible or taking alternate routes keeps me in really nice traffic, all the crazy drug-addict yahoos stick to the main highways (35e, 75, 635, etc - you know the drill. )