Minor Editorial Rant on....

[kybearfuzz]

... sport utility vehicles and minivans.

I walked a mile to the grade school where I usually hit the tennis ball against the wall. It was nearly 6 PM and I figured that the parking lot would be empty as usual. Unfortunately, the school is doubling as a day care it seems and I was trying to hit the ball against the wall during evening pick-up.

Usually I'd get a few decent hits in and a minivan would need to drive through, then a few more and an Explorer would drive up. It got to the point where trying to play was pointless as an endless parade of huge vehicles came up with Mrs. Cleaver-esque ladies were getting out to pick up their little darlings. The number and size of the vehicles were impressive, especially in this day of enormous gas prices.

It struck me as odd as to why parents needed such large vehicles to pick up a single kid. It seems that they are getting larger by the day. I'm fairly certain a Hummer had driven up to get little Suzie before or after I played what little tennis I could. My sister says it's for safety purposes as she drives her black Blazer to get my nephew from school. She had a wreck in her last one. She and my nephew escaped with only a scratch or two, soiled undies, and messed up hair. She threw her fist in the air and proudly proclaimed that she wouldn't drive anything smaller.

My brother the twin is childless, but carts his precious cargo of golf clubs with his large SUV (I don't recall the make/model, but remember that it's a cute shade of green). I guess his clubs are very much his children as he cares for them with strict parental glee, often leaving them only unattended while they bask in the candlelit glow of his shrine to Saint Tiger Woods.



I have to wonder where the next craze will go. Will the military, in their zeal to put a positive spin on the Iraqi war and offset the enormous debt, try to market the surplus army tanks to soccer moms? Will Mrs. Brady be able to pick up Cindy from her speech therapy class and find decent parking in a drab olive Sherman? I think I can almost see the "My child beat up your honor student" bumper sticker on the back.

Yeah, I admit, I am a hypocrite of sorts, I've been pondering buying a Toyota Rav4, but it's not that big... hee hee...

Rant Clarification: For the record, it's not that I don't like SUV's, but rather that I didn't get to practice tennis because of them and their drivers. I must vent somehow and speaking out against soccer moms seems wrong. That is all :P

Comments

[cincy-dave.livejournal.com]

A RAV5?!?!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL.. sorry, slip of the finger on the keyboard... :)

[cincy-dave.livejournal.com]

I drive a RAV4 and love it.
It gets good gas millage. And I do need to haul things for the theater all the time.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't say they weren't necessary for some things :)

... and I've been eyeing a Rav4 for some time.

[jkusters]

Actually, there's a ton of evidence that SUVs are not safer. Or rather, they may be safer for the occupants, but much less safe for everyone else on the road. With their higher center of gravity and wider stance, they do not drive much like a car, more like a truck. Mrs. Cleaver, much more used to driving the family sedan, has all of the wrong learned instincts to be able to handle the thing in an emergency. She's (not limited to women, men have the same issues) much more likely to tip or roll the SUV, hit other cars with it, and injure the occupants of other drivers on the roads. Combine those stats with the fact that they don't have to match the stringent safety standards required of standard cars, and all of this talk of "safety" evaporates in the blown sunshine that it really is.

These three links were the first three when I searched on "SUVs not safe"

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2002/08/29/146479.html
http://www.suv.org/safety.html
http://www.cars.com/carsapp/national/?&srv=parser&act=display&tf=/news/archive/suvs_analysis.tmpl

JOhn.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for the info, I'll pass it to my sister.

[hankbear.livejournal.com]

I saw a really great review of the new Highlander Hybrid. And, since it and a lot of the newer SUVs and minivans are on car-based platforms, they handle a bit better. I'm definitely looking at a hybrid for my next car. Gas is just too expensive!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think hybrids are eventually going to become the standard vehicle in the future. I have several friends who have them and love them.

[cincycub.livejournal.com]

I knew it! You secretly hate me!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, yes... but you were not my target specifically.. unless you're secretly a soccer mom and you've managed to keep this "double life" from all your friends :P (joke)

[bleuvalentines.livejournal.com]

One day while we were still living in Colorado, I walked out of my suburban home to check the mail. I looked down the street and saw driveway after driveway of SUVs. I couldn't help wondering how I'd ended up in this cookie cutter world (my SUV was off with Dave at the grocery store, thankfully our cat doesn't play soccer), it happened while I wasn't looking. At least, I told myself in an attempt to feel better, that I was still wearing ripped jeans and and a tie-dyed shirt. I hadn't gone over to the dark-side completely. (And in actuality, I blame Dave for cookie cutter-ness - he had to have the SUV. Not for protection, not for kids, but because, well ... he liked it. *lol*) However, even though it's not really a BIG SUV (Saturn View) we're now punished trying to manuever it through tiny European streets. At least I don't see a sea of SUV's when I go out to check the mail now. ;)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

With the gas prices in Europe, I'm shocked! Even more shocked that you can drive it down those narrow roads as fast as everyone seems to drive over there.

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

Personally, as long as the footprint of the SUV isn't any bigger than, say, a mid size sedan (Tarus or Accord or whatever) I think their fine. (says the guy who owns a Saturn SUV... hehe)

Now, if you bought some monster 7 seater... LOL. A Rav4 is TINY. TINY!! Heck, its based on the Honda Civic Platform!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think that's the appeal of the Rav4 for me, that it's not an enormous vehicle, but large enough to haul things on occasion. Even though I've not test driven one, I picture it as handling like a smaller car.

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

It does, from what I understand. Oops, and its based on a Toyota Corolla, not a Honda Civic. My bad!