optilt

I was on holliday in Vancouver and i saw this Hummer,

Temporary_User

I don't get it. Don't lots of companies do this? promotional vehicle?
I'm in Calgary and lots of companies/bars have hummers (or other expensive vehicles) with advertising all over them

breid

I like it. Anyone have a big bottle opener?

Carno

Fitting that a shitty beer would be plastered on a shitty vehicle.

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Brewmaniac

Can you say Tax right off!

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Ch'i

Reminds me of the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile we ran into during my vacation in Oregon.

highthief

Can't afford one, huh?

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Leto

i see quite a few like that around town. I'll snap some shots, and post em as i find them.

Charlatan

If it's not a hummer it's a mini, smartcar or a VW Bug.

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n0nsensical

Needs phatter rims!

JustJess

Wouldn't want to! What a !@#$@#$@#^$ waste of money and gas. I hate them. Frankly, everytime I see one (in QUEENS, mind you, where they're oh-so-necessary) I want to take a baseball bat to it. It sparks a lot of outrage and anger in me.

So... they have made it clear: I guess I don't want to be drinking Coronas either!

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feelgood

Fuck Hummers!

I endorse other types of hummers

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Yakk

Hummers, and other SUVs, are a "fuck you" to everyone else on the road.

They increase their own driver's visibility by reducing the visibility of everyone else.

They decrease the safety of everyone on the road, but bring a feeling of safety to the drivers (just a feeling -- because death rates in SUVs are no better than death rates in other cars. Roll overs are dangerous.)

Driving an SUV is no different than embezzeling 1 penny from everyone in Canada. It is a distributed crime.

If SUVs paid for the reduced safety of everyone else on the road, it would be one thing. But as it stands, they take away from everyone else's safety and ability to see without recompensating others for it.

And that is why SUVs suck.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

Leto

Good point Yakk. I would go further. I remember back in the early 1990's that everybody started to buy minivans. I, in my sizable, yet lower profile LeBaron sedan, or smaller Tercel, was unable to view the road ahead when I was surrounded by Caravans, Astros, Safaris and the ilk.

But even though minivans were just as big, or just as gas-guzzling (except for the magic wagons - the Voyagers/Caravans didn't even get a gas-guzzler sur-tax probably because they were basically K-cars) they never suffered the same rap as SUVs.

I'm actually looking at a CRV at the moment. I need some space, but still a car like vehicle. The cross-overs look good. The new CRV is lower and wider. But then there is the new Ford Edge too.

Baraka_Guru

There's something I hate worse than promo Hummers:




WTF?!

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Yakk

Leto, that is possibly because Minivans where almost entirely purchased by people with large families. And many people are willing to be generous to families -- to "give" them the credit to pay for the extra LOS problems.

But, even Minivans should pay for their Line of Sight blocking, and the reduced safety of everyone else on the road.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

Leto

Hummers alongside the Don Valley Parkway, usually two advertising Menupalace.com, today there were three (sorry about the quality, I took it with my phone, while driving on the parkway):

Shauk

eh, Hummers suck.

http://www.ihumpedyourhummer.com

filtherton

I much prefer hummers with something like this on them.

Mauser

I hate those billboard trucks, can't they just pay a compay to put them on the side of their trucks? Or use a regular one and I don't know. . . ship stuff!

JustJess

Filtherton -that's hysterical! I think that's just perfect.

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canucker

Just goes to show that different strokes for different folks.

Nothing wrong with them if you 4x4 and use it as it is supposed to be used for. I now if I had one, it would be off road alot. Not that I would like the gas, but I think if I had one, I could afford the gas too.

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Amaras

Hey, I got a hummer once in Vancouver.

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Boo

Back button again. I must be getting old.

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billyeggs

The H1 is a sweet ride. I think the H2 is built on a Yukon chasis, so why not hate Yukons too?

n0nsensical

I think we do.

Sue

Hummers and every other SUV out there annoys the shit outta me. I just wanna slash all the tires and put them down to our midsize/compact car level. Dontcha just love the headlights blinding you in your side and rearview mirrors?

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glasscutter43

Just another

S tupid
U seless
V ehicle

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Book 'em Danno

Deltona Couple

I always love threads like this. It makes me laugh at people who think that if someone doesn't believe the way they do, then the original thinker must be stupid. Just because YOU don't see a use to a vehicle, and just because YOU cansee a reason to buy a minivan, doesn't mean EVERYONE that has one is stupid and senseless. I have a Jeep cherokee, and I use it for what it was made for, and I also own a minivan, and I use IT for what it was designed for, so why does that make me stupid?...simple... IT DOESN'T...it makes me a person who buys a vehicle for the use it is intended for. Try to fit a family of 6 comfortably in a Mini Cooper..... If it was only my wife and me, then SURE, I would buy something smaller.

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Silvy

Deltona Couple, you're right! Absolutely right!

But, this thread is not discussing the owners of the vehicles as much as the vehicles themselves.

The larger SUV's ARE blocking other's views on the road. They DO decrease overall road safety because line-of-sight problems, impact increase in case of collisions, etc. What most of the posters in this thread seem to agree on is that SUV's (Hummers, Cherokee, etc) annoy others because of these reasons.
(In addition, they're less environmentally friendly, which also seems to annoy some non-drivers).

But, the thing that annoys me (and probably others too) the most, is the fact that few SUV-owners actually use the vehicle what it is intended for. Apparently YOU do, fine. Keep using it. But most SUV's I see driving around carry one person (perhaps a few kids on the way to school or such) and NO luggage / cargo / trailer / whatever. Seems that SUV's are more used for some mis-guided status icon than anything else.

(Oh, and if someone tows a boat trailer twice a year does not make it right that he/she should annoy traffic the rest of the year.)

And I'm not too sure about your argument. We're discussing the irritation caused by overly large personal vehicles. I don't care if the Hummer driver behind me is using it "for the right purpose"; he's still blinding me. Annoying the sh*t out of me.
From experience the SUV's rarely carry the load they were designed for, doubling the annoyance these vehicles give me.
If EVERYBODY used the cars to their design potential and mostly for that, people would not be so annoyed by them.
Compare with trucks: they're slow, they block the view immensely and in a collision they're the biggest bang. But they're not so annoying, you know why? Because they're necessary, and we all know that. Also they're rarely used for fun, status or pushing everybody ahead of them out of their lane.
And, at least around here, their speed is limited for those reasons.

Your argument does make sense in that "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover" and scolding individual owners/drivers is not fair. But in general terms, it can be said that SUV's are not fun for everybody, and that, on average, the SUV's are more of a nuiscance than a blessing.

Luckily there are not many SUV's around where I live, so the actual annoyance is minimal, but the point still stands.

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Deltona Couple

OK but in the same sense, how do people KNOW that just because you see a single driver, does it mean he is ALWAYS the only one in the SUV. I drive mine by myself all the time, but STILL use it with a full load when needed. And in the sense of blocking the view of other drivers, so do the big hauling trucks as well. If I can't see around it, then i follow a little further back, or I take my time and go around it. I don't see that the vehicle itself is the problem, as much as the drivers on the road in ALL vehicles. If you are careful, and watch your driving, then MOST accidents can be avoided, or atleast significantly reduce the effect. I am not trying to excuse SUV drivers, but I could also in the same reasoning complain about the motorcycles and small cars that whip in and out of traffic, cutting off other drivers and causing just as much trouble on the road. I don't think we should just zero in on a specific vehicle, but in the drivers on the road as a whole.

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Silvy

You're quite right there. It's not possible to know what a single driver does with his vehicle on average. But from my experience (the following figures are simplified):
For every 100 SUV encounteres, I see maybe 1 being used to it's potential (i.e. the use is 'justified'). This is everyday.
I can then conclude that 98%* of SUV trips do not require an SUV to do.

So if (and give me this assumption for now) SUV endanger others, or hinder their driving, wouldn't it be logical for people to be annoyed at "all those SUV" drivers? The main point is, that SUV-trips are largely unnecessary, so their effect on the rest of traffic is also largely unnecessary. And because of the quite large percentage of unnecessary* SUV trips, people get annoyed with them in general.

(Compare this with cab drivers: there are many taxi drivers that are pushy, annoying and arrogant. They annoy me. But the percentage of annoying taxi drivers is not high enough for me to consider all taxi drivers annoying until proven innocent)

Finally, I honestly do believe that more than 75% of the SUV drivers around here never use the car for something that requires an SUV. They consider it a status symbol and only want a bigger car than their neighbour. The huge popularity of luxury SUV's supports this notion.

I'll admit though, that jealousy can be a 'helpful' factor in the SUV generalization, but it is not the root cause.

* say, 1% of the trips is SUV-potential, + the return trip leaves 98% of the trips not requiring the use of an SUV.
**unnecessary trips are of course as perceived by other drivers.

I've left the actual "do SUV's endanger or hinder traffic" discussion out of this post. But you're point regarding the small cars and motorcycles, I agree: there are certain classes of drivers that are just as dangerous or more than the average SUV driver. Please don't get me started on that! I'm can't always keep my cool when discussing wreckless drivers. (SUV, truck, motorcycle or otherwise)
When I see a stuntdriver on the road, I sometimes silently (or not so silently) encourage him to drive of a cliff. And I keep getting the song "If I had a rocket launcher" in my head. No idea where that thought was going

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Deltona Couple

So, am I correct in assuming that you feel that SUV's should never be on the road unless it is being used in the way it were designed? If that is the case, what should those of us that use it say once a month do? buy another "econo" car to drive?

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Silvy

Personally, yes, something like that.
Again, I'm under the impression that SUV's compromise road safety unnecessarily.
Why should the local bank director's wife bring the kids to school in a SUV? It doesn't help her, it most certainly doesn't help me. The only thing it accomplishes is that she does not have to be seen in a "econo" car.

Of course if you're say, in the construction business, regularly moving heavy loads, I wouldn't expect you to buy another car.

The situation you describe lies somewhere in between, where a SUV is required some of the time, but not all of the time.
I don't know where to draw that line, but there are 3 possible scenario's:

1) Heavy lifting, offroading, etc for most of the time: Buy an SUV and use it always, no sweat
2) not so much SUV-worthy use: Buy an SUV and a "econo" car.
3) don't ever use an SUV for what it was meant to do: Don't buy an SUV.

Now, I think most would agree with scenario's 1 and 3 (given the assumption, once again that overall road safety is better off without SUV's). Scenario #2 is where the problem lies. Obviously not everyone is financially capable of buying and maintaining an extra "econo" car (or an extra SUV, whichever way you look at it). I don't know the exact economics, but I imagine that an SUV is more expensive in daily use. So at some low-usage point it likely becomes more economic to buy an additional regular "econo" car, or buy a single "econo" car and rent/borrow an SUV when it is necessary.
(And if/when it makes financial sense, and is better for traffic safety: what's keeping people from doing it?)

When a combined SUV / econo car scenario is not a financially feasible option (which I can quite understand), then don't buy a BMW, Mercedes or Hummer. Buy a decent pickup, Jeep or whatever. The expensive SUV's with all the options, make any economic argument very unbelievable.

Once again, if the bank managers, lawyers, rap stars and other hotshots of this world (scenario #3), would stop driving SUV's, the annoyance level would lower very quickly. They're very expensive in purchase, insurance and use (jealousy), they're dangerous to other traffic (danger), and they're a hindrance to other traffic (annoyance). These three combined with the perceived low total usefullness of the vehicles makes people very annoyed at them.

Man, I should stop writing such long posts, it becomes annoying to preview

Oh, btw, mind you: I live in Europe. Cars are a status symbol here, but I imagine the "I got me a truck" thing triggers some raw American frontier type feeling, making the SUV / larger pickups feel more of a basic necessity to americans.
Also, we see a that a rather large percentage of SUV's are the luxury variety, not being used for many occupants or heavy loads.

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