posted April 26, 2004 12:17 PM            

As for the soccer mom with the tank, I echo your sentiments. Sure, people have the right to spend their money on whatever they want and that's fine. It seems wasteful to me to own one unless you need one for your business or a rural lifestyle. I am glad to see that a number of companies are making models now that are a mix of mini-vans, SUVs, and the good old family sedan. I'm all about capacity and efficiency for your needs, but it is nice to also be able to save some gas money and not take up excess parking space ... not to mention your point that if involved an accident, those giants might very well crush the life out of the smaller vehicles, literally. The same goes for pick-up trucks, especially the ones like the Ford F-350. It's a monstrosity! I'm not saying it doesn't have it's uses, but it really is very, very large and intimidating. The only guy I ever met that had one that actually had a legitimate use for it was one who lived on the Miccosoukee(?) Reservation, almost as far out as the Everglades, and definitely in swampy lands prone to constant and heavy flooding.

posted April 26, 2004 02:03 PM            

I have spent the last few years working with the agriculture market because of one of our biotech products. Almost all of the people had pickups to haul hay, tubs, feed supplement, horse trailers, cattle trailers, goats..etc..you name it.

I think it is absurd to see a biga$$ pickup in downtown Baltimore - that is an OVER COMPENSATION for something..then again, maybe the dude is from Western Maryland and had to come to the city to pick up something from the University or worse had to go visit someone in schock trauma.

As for the soccer mom - well, what if she is the coach or has 4 kids and the soccer equipment. Should she make 3 trips taking kids back in forth - maybe squish the kids in the car.

A Corvette, although MUCH smaller gets only 21 MPG - as do most sport cars -so we will want to get them off the road as well. Besides have you ever seen a Corvette haul hay?LOL

posted April 26, 2004 02:57 PM            

Oh yeah, I didn't mean to imply that I am fond of sports cars on the road. I don't really like them too much for the same gas issues, though I won't deny that I find racing (done by people who know they're doing like professional race car drivers on a track) can be very exciting ... perhaps one day their vehicles will also be able to be more fuel efficient.
By mentioning the corvette, I was simply giving an example of how easy it is to miss a common vehicle/type of vehicle (in Miami anyway) that is hard to detect in the blind spot of a big old SUV. Personally, I don't really enjoy the manuvering on those big vehicles anyway ... I drive manual and I like being able to control the car as much as possible. The whole roll-over issue, whether exaggerated or not, is also disturbing to me.