SUVs are increasingly popular in the UK, despite being so bad for the environment. By early 2023 more than half of all new car sales in Europe were SUVs or the like. Why oh why?
Jenny and I still have our humble nine-year-old Renault Clio. It gets us from A to B and that's all we need. If we had had children we might have acquired something bigger, but what would be the point?
When I was young, most people drove bog-standard saloon cars, as they were then called, and strangely enough children still got to school and parents got to the supermarket. Nobody hankered after vehicles more suitable to pot-holed rural farm tracks.
My parents didn't even own a car, so I walked to school and back every day. Cheaper and healthier than being driven there.
Clearly the SUV drivers don't care about the enormous carbon emissions, hefty fuel consumption and danger to children (I read that children are eight times more likely to die when struck by an SUV compared with an average passenger car).
What is it with these fashionable monsters?
PS: I realise some of you may actually own an SUV. Do tell me why, I'm always open to debate!
I drive a small SUV (I believe it’s called a crossover because it’s between a car and a full sized SUV). The main reason is that it’s AWD, so it’s much safer in the snow, which we get a lot of here. It’s also handy for moving, which we did a lot of when my kids were in college. And we’ve used it nonstop when clearing out my mother’s house.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that they are safer than cars is the reason most parents prefer them. I don’t know laws there, but here the car seats for children (used till age 8) are massive and you can’t even fit more than two in a backseat, so for 3 young children, you basically need a van!
Bijoux: Getting through snow, moving stuff and clearing out your mum's house sound like good reasons. People here also mention their being safer than cars (though they can be more dangerous if they hit someone). Some of the SUVs here are as big as a van, if not bigger!
ReplyDeleteNick, here in Berlin SUVs everywhere and parents driving their child for 500m to school. Some schools put panels on their front door saying " my parents are cool, we come on our bicycles. " I have no driver licence and we have no car. We walk a lot and take the metro or when we have to go far in town (Berlin is very big)we take a taxi. Everybody speaks about climate change and pollution so why drive such huge and noisy cars.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: I like the "my parents are cool" message, though I wonder how many people actually act on it. Good that you don't have a car. When Jenny and I lived in London we didn't have a car for several years, as public transport was excellent. We went to Berlin by the way in 2014. I have a photo of me standing by a remaining section of the Berlin Wall.
DeleteAnonymous Fly...We need a four wheel drive to get to the house - the back roads are like a river bed by the end of the rainy season - and need space for Leo's wheelchair in the back, but have a 'normal' estate car. I see no point in having those huge vehicles.
ReplyDeleteFly: Good reasons for having a four wheel drive. My brother in law has a large car for the same reason - to accommodate my sister's wheelchair.
DeleteWe own a Honda CR-V. My TravelScoot fits in the back of it allowing me to go places I otherwise could not.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Another good reason for having a big car. Your TravelScoot is what we call a mobility scooter.
DeleteYes, but a TravelScoot is more versatile than most mobility scooters. It can fold up into a carry on bag if you want to take it on an airplane. And it only weights 35 pounds if you want to check it. Most of us Scoot owners ride it right to the gate and check it there.
DeleteLinda
Linda: A scooter you can fold into a carry-on bag is amazing.
DeleteI drive a 2010 crossover, purchased (used) when I had grandchildren to transport.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: That makes sense as well. But how come a few decades ago people were happy to own much smaller cars?
DeleteBecause kids didn't require car/booster seats so didn't need as much room.
DeleteLinda
Linda: I don't have a child so I have no relevant knowledge!
DeleteNot technically an SUV, but we have a very old Land Rover on the driveway - rusting away now, bless it.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, some people do need a big vehicle for a variety of reasons. People in Central London, or in any British City, probably don't.
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Ms Scarlet: Granted, some people genuinely need an SUV or very large car for good reasons. But the number on the roads now, especially round here, is ridiculous. As I said, people managed very well with much smaller cars a few decades ago.
DeleteI don't have a car as I don't go anywhere and the grocery story is right next door.
ReplyDeleteMary: A grocery store next door is very handy.
DeleteI considered an SUV because my parent are aging rapidly and mum in particular finds low seats very difficult to get out of.
ReplyDeletei didnt get one in the end because even 2nd hand they cost more than a smaller car and i just can't afford the extra on the possibility that mum would allow me to drive her somewhere.
I think the idea of needing them for childrens car seats is a silly justification for what is essentially following the crowd
Kylie: You don't seem to have much need for an SUV, if you would only be making occasional trips in it.
DeleteJenny Woolf says "I admit to getting a bit tetchy when I'm trying to cycle past local schools (mostly the independent schools which are our local industry around here) and the roads are choked with these large, ugly cars."
ReplyDeleteJenny: The roads are choked indeed. When parents are dropping off their kids at our local schools, there's constant gridlock of cars, vans, lorries and buses.
DeleteI abhor these monsters and have driven tiny Toyotas for decades. But feel vulnerable on the highways with these dreadful tons of metal surrounding me. I could be annihilated. And that's not getting into the environmental impact these selfish creatures make.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: I'm certainty a bit nervous when there are massive 70 tonne lorries rumbling past me. Can they even see me?
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