[Tom_77]

Interesting piece in The Guardian about SUVs.

[quote]

Sold as a means of escape from the concrete realities of the modern world, a symbol of individualism and the pioneer spirit, the SUV represents instead a uniform kind of selfishness, a collective indifference to community to which, alas, we are all more or less prone.

[/quote]

 

Topic

[HoldingOn]

I’m not sure SUVs are the

I’m not sure SUVs are the problem, I think the squidgy things that drive them badly are the problem.

If SUVs were banned, they would just drive something else badly.

[the little onion]

I’d make vehicle choice a

I’d make vehicle choice a factor in sentencing guidelines – if you choose to drive a monster vehicle, and don’t need it for clear and consistent purposes (i.e. you are a farmer or builder), then you can expect a heavier fine or longer prison sentence.

[BalladOfStruth]

Just a reminder how small a

Just a reminder how small a percentage of UK SUV owners can reasonably justify owning one:

Below is a picture of my driveway, it’s 3/4 mile long, it has 15% gradients in places, the surface quality has deteriorated quite a bit since the picture was taken (thanks to the summer of rain), it’s rutted, muddy, slippery, and it usually has a small stream running down it.

Based purely on this, I have more justification to own an SUV/Pickup than 99.99% of SUV/Pickup owners in the UK. I drive a 1.5l Mini Cooper. F*ck SUV owners.

[KDee]

Need to think about the wear

Need to think about the wear/damage some of these huge electric SUV’s can do. A Tesla model X is about 2400kg unladen!

[Cycloid]

SUV = Socially unaceptable

SUV = Socially unaceptable vehicle.

You know you are in a bad place when you look over your shoulder and the car coming up behind is a Big, Black, German SUV. Ticks all the boxes!

[Cycloid]

jaymack wrote:

OldRidgeback’s right, the most straight forward option would be a hefty annual vehicle excise licence. Say, in region of £2,500 to £3,500 p.a?  As Ronald Reagan once said if you wan’t to encourage something you subisdise it, if you want to discourage something you tax it. 

Totally agree with the sentiment.  But for a percentage of the population if you make something more expensive it becomes a bigger status symbol.

[Simon E]

I agree, I would find ways to

I agree, I would find ways to make it less attractive to own them. Keep car parking spaces small and charge fines for overlapping/taking up 2 spaces. A higher congestion/road pricing fee for vehicles over a certain size and weight. Distribute free ‘wankpanzer’ stickers.

Would you incorporate higher fees for more powerful engines into your revamped VED model? I would.

[jaymack]

The most straight forward

OldRidgeback’s right, the most straight forward option would be a hefty annual vehicle excise licence. Say, in region of £2,500 to £3,500 p.a?  As Ronald Reagan once said if you wan’t to encourage something you subisdise it, if you want to discourage something you tax it. 

[OldRidgeback]

I wouldn’t ban them. If

I wouldn’t ban them. If people want to buy them it should remain their choice. However, I do believe they’re inappropriate for urban use. They pose dangers for other road users, particularly vulnerable road users. In the event of crashes they will pulverise more conventional cars as they’re heavier and higher. They use more fuel, produce more emissions and cause more road wear due to their extra weight. My feeling is that the VED system for private cars and motorcycles should be revamped. I’d use gross vehicle weight as the key factor in the algorithm to calculate the VED charge as this correlates to road wear and also the risk to other road users in the event of an impact due to Kinetic Energy. I’d pitch the VED costs so as to penalise private cars weighing more than around 1.6tonnes.

[Author]

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