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I find it interesting that not many people have driven both and are willing to see both sides. I love the SUV for its utility (AWD and can carry a lot more due to the open trunk area which is why families default to them). I love the sedan for its light feel where running errands for 5 minutes doesn't feel cumbersome or wasteful of gas. Both have positives & negatives.
This is also true of motorcycles (having to look-out for / compensate for their size & frailty). They are just as much a nuisance but on the positive side, there's not a lot of them.
And your extensive point about SUVs and classifying them with restrictions... why leave out minivans? I share your concern about seeing around them (I drive an SUV but also drive my wife's sedan a lot). Minivans, pickups, and SUVs are in the same category. If you prohibit SUVs from lanes, etc., you better do it for all other tall vehicles. What I do when I drive my SUV is drive on the center-right side of the lane so followers can still see around me - more people should do this for sure. It's for my safety too (and why would I want the headache of being rear-ended?). At the very least, if you're following a tall vehicle, maintain a slightly larger gap.
Funny you bring up the glare issue. MANY sedans have the perfectly-angled slanted rear windows that happen to put the glare of the sun right into an SUV driver's eyes. It's pretty annoying just the same. Logic dictates that it happens to sedan drivers too since rear windows are angled differently on all cars. Any chrome piece in the rear is also a magnet for glare. All I can (and often) do is change lanes.
Many sedans are also wanna-be ricers who install brighter aftermarket headlights, sometimes mis-aligned, which are annoying to fellow drivers, sedans/SUVs alike. These things are common annoyances so the SUVs aren't special. The one true thing about SUVs I can agree with haters about though is when their factory HID headlights are too bright since they're already near eye-level of everyone. The whole HID/LED light thing has gotten out of hand for every vehicle out there though. Every buyer wants their car brand to stand out if you ask the manufacturers so they all want to win the light-show race.
Changing lanes works on the highway but 40 miles of my commute is on two
Lane roads.i also want to make a distinction between regular SUVs and the title “large” SUVs. I don’t have a problem with most, but Expeditions, Escalades, those behemoths, are the ones that feel “rude” to me.
I find the aftermarket lights not in sedans at least around here, but on pickups. I’ve been tailgated by trucks with what seems like a dozen different blinding lights on the front. I’m sure they think I’m slowing down even more to punish them, but it’s actually because I can no longer see properly due to the lights.That’s another peeve...just because your vehicle comes with fog lights and other accessory lights does not mean you need to use them every night on the highway and regular roads. They aren’t meant for normal conditions.
Ford is dropping ALL of their sedans. Only the Mustang and an off road version of the Focus will remain. I love Ford, but I see this biting them in the ass. You can squeeze 17-20MPG city driving out of a truck/SUV with the right technology, but you can't get 30+ in a truck, and when gas hits $4-6 a gallon, people are going to make that painstaking move back to economy cars, and Ford will be poorly positioned to recover.
My 2011 Focus gets 25 city and 35 highway. I've put over 800 miles on it since I bought it the end of April. Only have spent $86.00 on gas between April 28 and yesterday, and I am in a high-price state ($2.80-$3.00+ for Regular). I went from driving a PT Cruiser, which is classified as a Suburban/SUV, to the Focus, and I much prefer the handling on the Focus, such as having a tighter turning radius.
But hey, if Ford wants to lose business to Kia (can't go one block without seeing one, Fortes and Optimas are very popular in my area), oh, well. i also see a lot of Fusions on the road in my area as well.
This is one Ford owner who will laughing at the interviews on the news of people standing at the gas pumping kvetching about the prices while the price sign says $4.00 or over. You notice they never interview anyone with a smaller car? Only SUV's and other larger vehicles.
I guess I don't hate them but I do not like them simply because the way they drive. People have already mentioned other things they do at roads. This is my contribution - when making a left turn almost half of them will pretend like they are driving a semi and will move over partially to next lane before making left turn
My 2011 Focus gets 25 city and 35 highway. I've put over 800 miles on it since I bought it the end of April. Only have spent $86.00 on gas between April 28 and yesterday, and I am in a high-price state ($2.80-$3.00+ for Regular). I went from driving a PT Cruiser, which is classified as a Suburban/SUV, to the Focus, and I much prefer the handling on the Focus, such as having a tighter turning radius.
But hey, if Ford wants to lose business to Kia (can't go one block without seeing one, Fortes and Optimas are very popular in my area), oh, well. i also see a lot of Fusions on the road in my area as well.
This is one Ford owner who will laughing at the interviews on the news of people standing at the gas pumping kvetching about the prices while the price sign says $4.00 or over. You notice they never interview anyone with a smaller car? Only SUV's and other larger vehicles.
Well we shall see won’t we because we all know more about the automotive business than they do.
[SIZE=-1]A. Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]1[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]In May 1972, Lily Gray was traveling with thirteen year old Richard Grimshaw in a 1972 Pinto when their car was struck by another car traveling approximately thirty miles per hour. The impact ignited a fire in the Pinto which killed Lily Gray and left Richard Grimshaw with devastating injuries. A judgment was rendered against Ford and the jury awarded the Gray family $560,000 and Matthew Grimshaw $2.5 million in compensatory damages. The surprise came when the jury awarded $125 million in punitive damages as well. This was subsequently reduced to $3.5 million.2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Six month following the controversial Grirnshaw verdict, Ford was involved in yet another controversial case involving the Pinto. The automobile's fuel system design contributed (whether or not it was the sole cause is arguable) to the death of three women on August 10, 1918 when their car was hit by another vehicle traveling at a relatively low speed by a man driving with open beer bottles, marijuana, caffeine pills and capsules of "speed."4 The fact that Ford had chosen earlier not to upgrade the fuel system design became an issue of public debate as a result of this case. The debate was heightened because the prosecutor of Elkart County, Indiana chose to prosecute Ford for reckless homicide and criminal recklessness.
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]A. Incident Facts[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]On August 10, 1978, three teenage girls stopped to refuel the 1973 Ford Pinto sedan they were driving. After filling up, the driver loosely reapplied the gas cap which subsequently fell off as they headed down U. S. Highway 33. Trying to retrieve the cap, the girls stopped in the right lane of the highway shoulder since there was no space on the highway for cars to safely pull off the roadway. Shortly thereafter, a van weighing over 400 pounds and modified with a rigid plank for a front bumper was traveling at fifty five miles an hour and stuck the stopped Pinto. The two passengers died at the scene when the car burst into flames. The driver was ejected and died shortly thereafter in the hospital. Inspecting the van shortly after the accident, the police found open beer bottles, marijuana and caffeine pills inside.6[/SIZE]
I find the aftermarket lights not in sedans at least around here, but on pickups. I’ve been tailgated by trucks with what seems like a dozen different blinding lights on the front. I’m sure they think I’m slowing down even more to punish them, but it’s actually because I can no longer see properly due to the lights.
Yes many pickups install and use light bars on public roads which are completely blinding. I'd like to give them all the finger.
Yes many pickups install and use light bars on public roads which are completely blinding. I'd like to give them all the finger.
Go ahead and you might give the finger to the wrong person and they will follow you and well you can guess the rest. People have the right to do what they want to their vehicle as long it’s not against the law and their is no law stating you can’t install a light bar just like you chose to drive a smaller vehicle it’s your choice. There is a billion dollar after market for SUVs and pickups and they don’t need permission from small vehicle drivers to do what they want to their pickups. Write your congressional leaders and express your anger and see what they say.
Go ahead and you might give the finger to the wrong person and they will follow you and well you can guess the rest. People have the right to do what they want to their vehicle as long it’s not against the law and their is no law stating you can’t install a light bar just like you chose to drive a smaller vehicle it’s your choice. There is a billion dollar after market for SUVs and pickups and they don’t need permission from small vehicle drivers to do what they want to their pickups. Write your congressional leaders and express your anger and see what they say.
I don’t understand your attitude. It’s not simply s matter of preference, but safety. Why would you defend the right to blind other drivers so they can’t see where they are driving, simply for something someone finds aesthetically pleasing but serves no real purpose on the road?
The automakers are building what the American people want, and that is SUVS and pickups so get use to it.
If that was the case Chevy, GM or Ford would be more successful than Toyota or Honda.
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