civil engineer wrote:
To be honest the more people bang on with that type of nonsense the more inclined I am to get one! Probably with bull bars!
- We are going to run out of oil in 50 years at *current* rates of consumption - Fact.
- Consumption is in fact increasing exponentially - Fact.
Ergo we -are- screwing things up for the next generation - no nonsense. How can you be so selfish?
andys280176 wrote:
It's a class war-nothing to do with pollution or safety, all these arguments are just being profited from to instill fear. You could pick any subject out the blue and make people fear it.
How is it a class war? It's only the wealthy who will be able to afford to drive them in Europe in any case!
Quote:
For instance lets look at a kettle, you have 4 litres of water sitting around 250V and the potential to scald yourself, but why aren't we banning them.
The point is that people are quite aware of the hazards involved in boiling a kettle. The vast majority of people aren't aware of the effect of a high centre of gravity as regards torsional stability in a motor vehicle - many believe that the weight of the vehicle will make up for it, when in fact the opposite is true.
Quote:
It's easy to portray something as inherently dangerous to suit biased interests when it really isn't dangerous unless you want it to be-that is what these idiots are doing with 4x4's.
It's the same thing with the gun control argument. People buy the huge great f**k-off gas-guzzlers for a perceived sense of safety which is in fact erroneous and only puts the road user on foot, on bicycle and in regular cars in more danger. So the other drivers all up-size and we're in a nightmare situation for those who can't afford an SUV, to say nothing of the extra pollution involved.
Quote:
Personally I don't have much time for 4x4s but I don't want them banned to suit some warped dream of everyone on buses and trains and a giant 4x4 bonfire.
Why do you perceive such dreams as warped? Don't you believe in equal opportunity for all?
ed_m wrote:
but then if they're sold in europe they'll have to meet euro crash regs anyway. in fact i recall range rovers had different trim by the drivers knees for the US market as the requirements were different (euro to avoid crushing the drivers' knees, US to stop intrusion into the cabin)
The point is that such vehicles designed over here (such as the Range Rover) are actually engineered for both on and off-road use and at least pay lip-service to doing it economically. The Stateside monsters are simply MPV bodies bolted to the runnign gear of large pickups. The H2 is actually a Chevy Tahoe chassis with a Humvee-esque body shell bolted to it. These things were designed to carry industrial loads long distances - not taking the kids to school. I wouldn't want someone who, say, learned to drive in a Nissan Micra and pootled around in an Escort for the next few years trying to drive one - they'll turn over if you try what would be a relatively mild evasive maneouvre in a car.
Incidentally, thanks for the corroboration.
Tc.