yeah, idiotic driving is really my biggest peeve, no matter what the car. and of all the subcategories of idiotic driving, not paying sufficient attention probably wins the booby prize.
i like SUVs. i like them for practical reasons: more road clearance, higher loading area, better visibility. that last bit is not so much for looking over the other cars since where i drive for the most part there are not many other cars; i just like seeing more of my surroundings, and of the road ahead; a couple of seconds more warning of an obstacle feels like a good thing. and since i do go off into the wet woods on old logging roads on a regular basis, i like the 4x4 as well. but i don't like SUVs for their environmental impact, and that's a biggie. it might well be what will keep us from buying a (small) SUV, though at this time i am really torn about that. maybe we'll get a smartcar and dirtbikes instead. i will hate giving up the greater visibility; maybe i should get an ultralight instead, *heh*.
right now i drive a full-size pickup truck, which will have outlived its usefulness for the most part when the boat is finished. it's never been about the size advantage over people in passenger cars -- yeah, they can't see as well over or around me, but i can't see well over and around minivans, delivery vans, semis -- that's just a feature of sharing the road with differently sized vehicles, and i adjust by keeping more distance when driving (something a lot of other people seem strangely opposed to; i don't get it). i don't actually like driving the truck in urban areas, where looking over the tops of other cars is pretty much its only advantage, and not much of one. i feel it's ... too big and cumbersome in a city. bitch to park, always too damn close to the side of the road. if i lived in a city, i'd drive something much more small and agile.
Re: SUVs
i like SUVs. i like them for practical reasons: more road clearance, higher loading area, better visibility. that last bit is not so much for looking over the other cars since where i drive for the most part there are not many other cars; i just like seeing more of my surroundings, and of the road ahead; a couple of seconds more warning of an obstacle feels like a good thing. and since i do go off into the wet woods on old logging roads on a regular basis, i like the 4x4 as well. but i don't like SUVs for their environmental impact, and that's a biggie. it might well be what will keep us from buying a (small) SUV, though at this time i am really torn about that. maybe we'll get a smartcar and dirtbikes instead. i will hate giving up the greater visibility; maybe i should get an ultralight instead, *heh*.
right now i drive a full-size pickup truck, which will have outlived its usefulness for the most part when the boat is finished. it's never been about the size advantage over people in passenger cars -- yeah, they can't see as well over or around me, but i can't see well over and around minivans, delivery vans, semis -- that's just a feature of sharing the road with differently sized vehicles, and i adjust by keeping more distance when driving (something a lot of other people seem strangely opposed to; i don't get it). i don't actually like driving the truck in urban areas, where looking over the tops of other cars is pretty much its only advantage, and not much of one. i feel it's ... too big and cumbersome in a city. bitch to park, always too damn close to the side of the road. if i lived in a city, i'd drive something much more small and agile.