What is with Austin and trucks? (Cleveland, Happy: transplants, to rent, loan)

[2austin]

We moved from Pacific NW and continue to be amazed by how many over-sized and under-utilized trucks and SUVs we see on Austin roads. I do understand trucks and big SUVs have a purpose but most of the time I see single men or women driving them or families who can fit very well in sedans and smaller versions of trucks and SUVs.

I've been told this is a Texas thing and part of the "Texas-sized" culture.

Besides my concerns with the amount of fuel these beasts burn, I am worried that with these monsters around I could be unsafe in my sedans. Is this worry warranted or is this something I'll get over with?

In some sense the rising gas prices makes me hope that people will wake up and smell the coffee. My realtor neighbor who drives his noisy V10 truck to his office daily can definitely save a lot of gas money, spare the environment and feel a lot more serene if he drives a sedan.

Happy new year.

[jwb123]

Besides my concerns with the amount of fuel these beasts burn, I am worried that with these monsters around I could be unsafe in my sedans. Is this worry warranted or is this something I'll get over with?

No, this is a very real concern. Seriously.

My mom was in a major car accident over a year ago on 79, in front of the Dell Diamond. She was rammed by a truck from behind while she sat at a stoplight. Her mid-sized SUV was totaled. Had she been in a smaller car, she would have been totaled too.

Don't drive small cars here. Read the paper... there are highway fatalities everyday.

[twange]

Originally Posted by 2austin

We moved from Pacific NW and continue to be amazed by how many over-sized and under-utilized trucks and SUVs we see on Austin roads. I do understand trucks and big SUVs have a purpose but most of the time I see single men or women driving them or families who can fit very well in sedans and smaller versions of trucks and SUVs.

I've been told this is a Texas thing and part of the "Texas-sized" culture.

Besides my concerns with the amount of fuel these beasts burn, I am worried that with these monsters around I could be unsafe in my sedans. Is this worry warranted or is this something I'll get over with?

In some sense the rising gas prices makes me hope that people will wake up and smell the coffee. My realtor neighbor who drives his noisy V10 truck to his office daily can definitely save a lot of gas money, spare the environment and feel a lot more serene if he drives a sedan.

Happy new year.

This annoys me greatly. And while Texas definitely has a super-sized mentality, I don't think it's simply a "Texas thing". When we lived in Cleveland, Ohio there were a ton of giant vehicles roaming about. I think it's an American characteristic to desire big things. Most of my friends and family there have large SUVs these days...they always trumpet it's virtues as a family vehicle...but I think people just like the convenience, status and extra room. I do like small pick-up trucks however as I think they can be very useful depending on your needs, but there's really no reason to be driving these army tanks around.

The safety issues are legit though. Drivers here are aggressive and the high number of war tanks on the road does make one in a standard sized vehicle feel a bit self-conscious. The ubiquity of these things will eventually be diminished as gas prices get sillier.

Can't wait.

[jwb123]

Yeah, I am not sure it's just a "Texas thing"... 2austin, you said you are from the PNW... if you lived anywhere around Seattle, like I did, surely you saw the ridiculous amounts of Super SUV's the mommies all drive around?

Cuz, you know, you never know when you might encounter a 6 ft snow drift on the way to soccer practice, or have to off road to get to Starbucks.

At least here, the likelyhood that at some point you are driving on a gravel road is higher...

[Derek ATX]

My wife and I are actually shopping for a larger SUV from the one we have now that is only a year old, simply because since we had a baby it is just too small. When we go on trips just for the weekend my wife and I have to pack light and use the same bag otherwise we wouldn't have room for the baby's things. I would have prefered to get a sport wagon such as a Volvo or BMW, the problem is that we go to Taos a couple of times a year for vacation and though I know these cars have the option of all wheel drive, they simply don't have the ground clearance we require to get to the house. I tried it once in a Subaru Outback wagon which is a great car, but we got stuck due to lack of ground clearance.

[twange]

Originally Posted by Derek ATX

My wife and I are actually shopping for a larger SUV from the one we have now that is only a year old, simply because since we had a baby it is just too small. When we go on trips just for the weekend my wife and I have to pack light and use the same bag otherwise we wouldn't have room for the baby's things. I would have prefered to get a sport wagon such as a Volvo or BMW, the problem is that we go to Taos a couple of times a year for vacation and though I know these cars have the option of all wheel drive, they simply don't have the ground clearance we require to get to the house. I tried it once in a Subaru Outback wagon which is a great car, but we got stuck due to lack of ground clearance.

This is a good reason for a truck. Clearance. I'm an outdoors-type person, and I often find myself on rough gravel roads with large holes and ruts. These places are very hard on my small wagon(as well as many of my past compact cars that were never the same after these excursions) That being said, 90% of my driving is on normal roads and I just can't justify having a big vehicle like that. It just seems excessive. A small pick-up? That would be nice. For me, I think a good option is to rent an SUV when it's needed. I don't need one to go out for pizza.

And let's be honest, 90% of the folks that drive large SUVs, will NEVER find themselves on a rough secondary road. They simply like having big vehicles. It's a style and status thing. What's that local commercial about "runnin' with the big boys"?...jeez, what a caveman mentality.

Drive around low-income neighborhoods and while you'll see houses falling down, you'll see plenty of large vehicles scattered all about. Some people would rather have a nice SUV than a decent living space.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by twange

Drive around low-income neighborhoods and while you'll see houses falling down, you'll see plenty of large vehicles scattered all about. Some people would rather have a nice SUV than a decent living space.

That's REALLY common in small town Texas. A $40K truck and an $18K single wide.

[love roses]

My sister and I, being native Texans have no end of fun joking about her MIL and her giant SUV. Her kids are grown and she's not toting around anything or pulling anything. We drive a mid size suv and we also have a smaller truck. My sister and her husband have a f150 double cab and a regular car (toyota or something like that). I used to have a little ford escort in Texas, and had it for a number of years in Colorado after we moved there. It was terrible in the snow and I always had to weigh the back down with heavy stuff to get better traction in the snow. Then we had the kiddo, and after several months of cramming stuff in, we knew we had to upgrade and didn't think a bigger car would quite do it. Plus we did LOTS of offroading and camping and needed the higher clearance. Although once on Grays Peak we got stuck because we didn't have a high enough vehicle. Even now, back in Texas, we have a boat to tow and need the 4 wheel drive and towing capability. We keep the truck to haul plants and landscaping things for the yard, and haul firewood, etc... A small sedan just won't cut it. But we too do find it sort of wasteful to not USE your SUV. We noticed when we were in Colorado, people there love trucks, but they actually use them. Someone told us once, why have it if you don't push it to its limits (this was on another backroad adventure to an abandoned mine). We learned there to have one truck for things like that and for hauling things and one car for doing things in town. I'm glad that's something we learned from living in a mountain state and brought back with us. One thing to remember about Texans is they actually may feel more serene in a truck than a little car and don't like to have transplants telling them they're ruining everything. People (not everyone of course) don't have the same mentality about things like they do in the PNW.

[woodinvilleguy]

I try to bike commute to work in the Seattle area (moving to Austin in 12 days) and people that drive these tanks are often unaware of the road around them. There is nothing more frustrating and scary when a SUV decides that a bike doesn't belong on the road, even in the fog lane, and tries to buzz you and honk. Usually I meet them at the next light and just look at them through their window. This rarely happens with people in normal size cars.

It is especially nice when they have kids in the car, what a great message to give to the kids.

As far as clearance goes, why not get something like a Jeep Cherokee rather than a suburban? They are smaller and have more than enough clearance that the tanks.

[lago veteran]

trucks are verboten? come on! i drive a full size truck and love it for many reasons. one being my kids/and their friends toys all fight nicely. i can take four or five kids and their mountain bikes to all the neighboring failed subdivisions to ride, (they could ride their bikes there but then they would be sharing the road with all the vehicles that don't appreciate being slowed by bike riders). i can haul all the trash from "lake clean-up day" or all the rakes/shovels/coolers for the church fix it day. this is america.....once people that worked/paid their bills/raised their kids/contributed to their community were free to make some choices in their personal life. yeah i use gas. but i don't take my kids to fast food places, drive thru the drive thru, generate tons of burger wrappings, boxes, sacks, etc. I actually prepare their food and compost my scraps. so we all make choices, hopefully my truck choice is balanced by my other choices.
as for trucks making it unsafe for sedans....just day before yesterday i was driving a "loaner car" that my husband had while his car was being serviced. I was rear-ended at a light by a full sized truck that wasn't prepared to stop. guess what. that sedan took the hit, and i was able to drive it to a parking lot outta of the traffic, the truck needed to be towed.