-
SUVs (and I'm largely talking about urban use here) are just shit on every level:
Chris Harris of that motoring programme had a fantastic long form of your post in regards to the stupidity of SUVs.
There’s definitely a distinction between actual utility vehicle (comment up thread about a pick up on a farm?) and what most people actually use a motor car for.
I am a polluter: ironically purchased a car to get to cross races, now use it for visiting grandparents etc.
The cargo bike dream is just that though for nursery drop off - I don’t feel safe enough on the roads of zone 6 to risk it. If I can’t face it, how can we convince others to switch from the car?
...but more importantly, they should be legislated against.
Perhaps we can legislate towards greener choices, how many years would it take to switch the road mentality through education to respect ‘the lesser’ road user more?
lookitsluke-
how many years would it take to switch the road mentality through education to respect ‘the lesser’ road user more
I think part of the answer is changing the way we think about travel. As I said, it's inherently a public thing; every time you step out your door the way you travel and the infrastructure you require to do it has an impact on other people. Being able to move around should absolutely be a right and our access to roads, paths, bridleways etc. is something to be proud of in the UK and something we should defend: however, the way we travel should absolutely in the firing line for legislation. Limiting what cars can be used seems just a basic requirement at this stage.
In terms of valuing 'lesser' road users I think we need to push the message that SUV use fundamentally runs against the wider aspiration of being able to live in a safe and pleasant environment. I don't really think we need to factor in people's aspirations when it comes to owning a bigger car, as I think there will always be the type of people who want to flash their wealth and a much greater number who simply don't think about the fact that, just because you're cocooned inside an armoured box that you own, it doesn't mean that how you choose to travel isn't everyone else's business. We can't wait for that social shift and I think it's hard to engineer (although advertising limitations might help), I think we just need to legislate in order to limit the degree to which the public highway can be an environment where you externalise the cost of your choices.
ffm
I totally get the point about apparently taking aim at "aspirational" cars. I wish the point could be clearly made that this is not about aspiration (if you want to gold-plate your Tesla I don't give a shit). It's about a basic minimum expectation of acting as part of a society when using a public resource (the highway) and interacting with your fellow citizens (which all travel involves as it's inherently a public activity). SUVs (and I'm largely talking about urban use here) are just shit on every level: safety, emissions, space etc. etc. and the justifications are all crap: everything you can do in an urban SUV can be achieved more cheaply, equally safely, and in just as much comfort in a standard estate car (and I particularly hate the "they make me more confident in traffic" line, as if that isn't obviously starting a size-based arms-race for safety on the roads). They are purely about putting your own comfort and/or self-aggrandisement over the wellbeing of others and the planet and should be called out as such...
...but more importantly, they should be legislated against.