**Nope.

**Nope.

**OK.

Trevor Wilson

zing!!  LOL!

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

Your logic brain is just a bit screwed!

Ever try and move a family of 5 in a Corolla?

Methinks your vision is too limited.

Cheers,

Rich

If you were really and truly serious, you could take a real step and go
without a car all together. No...you don't need a car, no matter how small
or how fuel efficient it is. You can use public transport or a bicycle to
and from work...and to get your food, and to do your shopping. Cars, all of
them, are not a need, but a luxury.

You're an extremist, extreme right?

The  Corolla is a nice car and would fill my urban driving needs, but
unfortunately it needs a telescoping steering wheel for me to drive it
comfortably.  I've looked at it very closely.
I've had large vehicles, even a full sized van when I needed it.

A truck based SUV is  unnecessary for me even though I could write a
cheque for the largest of them. I don't buy something just because I can
easily afford it.

I really wouldn't care if people drive large SUVs, but dam it they block
the view of other traffic. Plus many driving them attempt to push others
off the roads, driving far too close and too fast.  NOTE I SAID MANY,
not all.  If they continued to buy the Transam GM wouldn't have had to
shut the factory.

As for the need to have an SUV, nope not the way I see it in my necj of
the woods.  For example  neighbors across the street have 3 large SUVs
and two cars. Each adult has one large SUV and one of their three
unmarried children.  Obviously they only need one at the most, but like
many they just have to spend their high income on SUVs.

BTW I'm already in another country, thank goodness!

Oops.  "...save the world."

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

[liberals'; feigned]

Personally, I believe much of the discourse around SUV use has little
to do with GHG emissions.

To begin with, I'm not sure that SUVs on the whole actually emit
greater quantities of GHGs than other vehicles of simlar engine
capacity and functionality. In Australia, friendlier tax treatment
borne of a the desire of conservative governments to keep rural
constituents happy has led to widespread use of these distinctive
vehicles in urban settings, which use many think inapproriate.

People use them in urban settings for a variety of reasons, at least
some of which seem specious. They are widely seen as safer (at least
for occupants) though the higher centres of gravity of some models and
their use by relatively inexperienced drivers has led to higher
insurance  premiums on some models. They've been associated with
reversinbg injuries -- typically toddlers and small children being run
over in suburban driveways. They also tend to obstruct through vision
-- trying to turn right when one is on your left or vice versa can be
difficult.

Like most things, car purchase is often a lifestyle or identity
statement. These vehicles are often marketed in ways that underline
irresponsible or borderline taboo behaviour -- running over wildlife
or cattle and tearing up the wilderness -- in one ad, someone tries to
pull out a stump and inadvertently rips out a tree in Japan, neatly
underlining popular perceptions -- too much power and too little
responsibility. Accordingly the vehicles are seen as driven by people
who are potentially irresponsible, road rage candidates or
environmental vandals. And because the more expensive of the vehicles
tend to be driven by upmarket buyers, the idea of these things being
an extension of the rich man's castle onto the roads (his tank?) their
appearance does provoke widespread animus. If you've ever tried to
negotiate a busy shopping centre car park during the peak and seen how
many large SUVs are parked illegally on the ends of aisles, you won't
have to think too hard to work out what dozens fo frustrated drivers
are saying as they squeeze past.

My own view is that people should avoid car use wherever practicable,
and that adequate provision should be made to make that an easy choice
to make in urban settings much of the time. One should choose cars
that are modest, fuel efficient, relatively safe tfor all and serve
your needs adequately and leave a small footprint. If that's an SUV-
style vehicle, so be it.

Fran