Here's what they could do about the high cost of gas......

Whoah.....perhaps I didn't make myself clear in my original post.......I'm not talking about people who have a real purpose for owning an SUV. I'm referring to soccer moms texting on cell phones, and people who don't really need one but do for stupid reasons. Maybe just as a suburbanite status symbol?

City roads are too congested for large vehicles....... if everyone drove one of these things in the city then it would be OK, but people in smaller vehicles are at risk and can't see around them in parking lots or at intersections. Around here they cut in front of you, speed past you, block you in in parking lots, push you into other lanes, and blind you at night with their bright lights. Road rage seems to have gone way up over the past few years, and around here it's the people in the SUV's who seem to be the most rude in my opinion.

It's sad that our freedom of choice includes the freedom to create a hazard on the road for other people. Some people, but not everyone, drive those things like they are invincable, putting others at risk. Especially in the winter when the roads are slick, they think everyone should move out of their way as if they were a fire truck going to a fire or something.

This is un-acceptable to me, and if people who didn't really need one and don't know how to properly drive one had a smaller vehicle in the first place I think our gasoline consumption as a nation would go down.

And believe me, they'll tax our classic cars long before they will tax anything else. :spank:

 

Your example drives(I couldn't resist) my point home. By your logic large commercial vehicles should also be banned from the road. They also get poor mileage(4-6 mpg for the truck I operate) and cause extensive damage when colissions occur. I happen to operate these on a regular basis also and have seen the damage they can incur. I don't think everyone pays higher premiums due to the other vehicles. I have found through my experience that the locale and your driving record has more to due with the premium rates than anything else.

 

Tex.......

My 23 year old son was nearly KILLED last year in his Ford Tempo less that a mile from our old house.

Some rich kid who only had her license for a month driving her mom's SUV sandwiched him inbetween a bridge abutment guardrail and totalled his car. All her damage was only a few scrapes, the Tempo was so badly wrecked he couldn't even get out of the car. This kid has been driving for 4 years and has never had an accident.

All the insurance company would give him was $950 for the car, which was rust free and perfect. It only had about 60,000 miles on it. This accident was absolutely NOT his fault......he was just standing still at a red light under a thruway underpass. His insurance still went up, and he did nothing wrong. His car was ruined, one week before school started. I'm just glad he was still alive. I had to buy him another car for school.......do you think THAT was fair?????

I'll say it again.....vehicles that cause extensive damage to other cars should pay higher insurance rates. :moonu:

Perhaps you should need a special endorsment on your license to be allowed to drive these big SUV's? (oops, now I'm really gonna get it!) ou:

 

So, is there a test to see if you are gonna use your SUV off-road before you get taxed for driving a vehicle you like? People that drive the Excursions and H2's in-town get taxed to death every time they pass a gas pump. 8mpg come on! NOBODY needs to pay more to be able to drive their cars. Fuel prices are up because we WILL pay these prices, period. Why we are willing to do so, and for how long are up for debate. If we couldn't afford $3 we wouldn't be driving, but we are, so we can.

As for me, I plan on not buying any fuel for the next 15 months. but I don't think OPEC will notice.

 

Nope, but drivers who do should.

After 20 years of law enforcement, I agree with the basis for your solution. But to make life easier and cheaper, I would recomend that drivers just have a minimal amount of driving experience, say two years.

 

- H2 -

"federal tax deduction of nearly $38,000."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/104601_hummer17.shtml

:error:

 

Sounds to me like another government plan to encourage more fuel consumption while claiming to discourage it........no news there ou:

 

It isn't about driving a vehicle that drinks more gas, it is all about the profit that is being made off of a product that the modern world can't do without! (see above)

Steve

 

First off I want to comend the 'masses' here for not getting out of control and having a meaningful exchange of ideas.

You are making my points for me here. That is the very reason I wouldn't let my wife and children venture out onto the dangeous american road in anything less. One of the things my dad used to tell me was he thought they should not only require seat belts but helmets too when driving.

I do pay a higher premium for insurance for both of our Suburbans and will continue to do so. Money well spent in my estimation.

As far as your estimated value received you don't have to take that. Go to the auto trader and get prices from similar vehicles and document the need for more compensation for your loss. Get your insurance company involved. You are obviously paying them for their services. Demand to be served! Squeaky wheel gets the grease as they say.

I guess I qualify as I do have a CDL and if they required it I'd get my wife one too.

Not to go against the grain here but buying oil from overseas seems like the way to go here just as buying products from China are cheaper than producing them here. This would seem to go against my better judgement as I work for an oil field service co. This will enable us to preserve our reserves until needed. The real problem as I see it is the refining capacity in this country. There can be an infinate supply of crude oil but if there is no way to refine it into useable fuel it is useless. We are early on in the gas price increase in my estimation. Just wait until China, India and some of the other up and coming third world contries get 'up to speed'. Their demand for not only oil, but steel, coal, food will create demand this earth has yet to see. With demand comes higher prices so get ready.

 

Doesn't it allready balance out somewhat. I can barely afford to drive my car now at maybe 17 mpg, but if gas were like 6 dollars then i could never drive it. Little cars are rewarded and big cars hurt because gas savers only have to fill up every so often. Not daily. Right now its like 50 a fill for SUV a week and the little cars are like 20. Do you really want it to be 80 and 5 or something.

 

Finally Tex and I agree on something! LOL :laugh:

Here's some food for thought: Our manufacturing base in this country is nearly gone, and our military is stretched so thin, that if China starts crap with us, we just may have to order our bombs from Taiwan and send them right back! ou:

 

Woo Hoo! I saw regular is down to 2.99 today! :beers2:

 

Lets look at the real culprit here and that is behavior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would venture a guess it is in 90% range that most accidents are driver carelesness because we just don't give a darn about anyone else. I have driven a truck for years with two million "accident" free miles, it can be done.

That same behavior is why we pay $3.00+/gallon for gas and there are no good paying blue collar jobs for the average American because we let manufacturing jobs go offshore, customer service is now offshore too (we want a $5.00 toaster but want to earn $20.00/hour). Economics does not work that way. Our standard of living will be the same as where our goods and services come from.

Our government wants one world economy. We are letting them have their way and we are paying the price for it.

Mikey

 

My randomly assigned company vehicle is a Cadillac STS. Sounds nice, eh?

In the last three weeks I have had to swap for a pickup/SUV five times, in order to pull my trailer to:

a) Retrieve my son's disabled vehicle
b) Trailer my racecar to a meet
c) Retrieve same son's crashed vehicle
d) Trailer my GTO to a show
e) Haul building materials from Home Depot

Not having one of these offensive SUVs around is really cramping my style...:af: At least I've got good "trade bait".

The reason these vehicles look like they do is because they have a specific function to perform (ie, WORK).

K

 

Again.......I have no problem with that. Read my posts......where the problem lies is with inexperienced drivers and soccer moms who can't judge these huge vehicles, driving with a cell phone in one hand while texting with the other as their mp3 player is blasting in the front and the TV is playing in the back while the kids are all fighting over which program to watch.......and she's following WAY to close to the vehicle in front of her!

I've seen women in parking lots with these things that can't back them up and don't have a clue what 4 wheel drive even MEANS much less how to use it. Some of these young girls couldn't drive in reverse more than 10 feet even in a small car, but they can be the most aggressive drivers on the road!

This is a real problem in my opinion, and whether or not it happens in an Excursion or a little Chevy Blazer, these vehicles ROLL OVER and cause a lot of damage to other vehicles and MANY are driven by careless people who could not care less about anybody elses safety but their own.

Tow your boats, bring your cars to the races, bring home Home Depot building materials.......but for god's sake, if the vehicle is too much for you to handle (most men don't fall into this category) then you need a smaller vehicle.

ou:

 

While many have good points and have valid concerns on the state of energy I must protest . I understand supply side economics and the capitalist democracy we live in . Oil companies arer creating this (shortage) for higher profits . The guy that stated his friend makes only .07 on a gallon is being mislead . I ran a station in the late 70's and still know many that do so now . The average take is about 15 cents but at times it can be 40 cents a gallon . The oil companies on the other hand are making HUNDREDS of
BILLIONS in profits each quarter . How many of you have passed a station thats out of gas ? I have not seen it since the Carter administration . I have stated and will again you cannot compare a gaooln of gas to a gaooln of milk or beer because you can do without and still keep your job . Many do not live close enough to their jobs to walk . Public transportation is laughable in most cities . I have been stagnant in pay in my job as a firefighter because every small raise is overtaken by higher insurance, taxes and yes commodities including gas and electricity . These goods that people have to have to live must be removed from the markets and regulated . Oil companies need to build new refineries and update and clean the ones they have during slow usage seasons . Come on we all know the play create a fake shortage and let the markets drive up the price . Time to stop this crap and write your elected reps . The government can regulate and should put an end to this suffering . Oh yeah and china would not be a world power if we stop buying all that plastic crap !

 

I guess Im confused, this quote doesnt say anything about inexperienced drivers. Just that you cant afford to drive your car because people like me have my wife and twins in a Yukon XL. Im sorry if your son was in an accident because of a bad driver,but stick to your guns. If its bad drivers your madd at then fine. But first it was all about gas guzzlers, now 4 pages later its about bad drivers. Banning SUV's is like banning guns, guns cant shoot themselves, and cars cant drive themselves. It takes irresponsible peole making poor decisions. That being said I do agree with you on 2 points (1) I strongly disagree with you & (2) You should hide under your desk for a while!!:beer

 

You can't compare milk to gas. A gallon of milk may cost a little more,but you sure as hell can't burn it in your car! A gallon of milk will last you a couple days to a week. A gallon of gas only lasts 30 minutes at the most when you are using it. The bottom line is,we are being raped at the pump.Again and again ,going on the 3rd year now. And each year since,the oil companies are busting their profit records.Exxon made 39 billion last year.Watch and see if they post a 50 billion $ profit for this year. Seems like they are in a freeforall.Trying to get all they can get while they can.I wonder if they know something that we don't?

 

Could this work? I'll try it. I understand it would be hard to do, at some point i'll be so low and i might not have much of a choice. If it could work i'll go elsewhere whenever possible.

 

D........you are correct. When I talked about "bad drivers", I wasn't trying to put a spin what I originally said, I have been stating additional facts as I see them, elaborating on what I had said in my original post. I have been sticking to my guns.

Every vehicle has a specific purpose.......frankly, I'd buy a Volvo or a Saab if I wanted a safer car. Maybe with all the behemuth's on the road I need one! ou:

They do make some real nice 4wd vehicles that aren't so far oversized and are good on gas. I think huge SUV's are totally rediculas......that's just my opinion, as it relates to my lifestyle. As I stated earlier, I hate the things, and I always will......and everyone has the right to disagree with me. If I didn't think I could handle the fireworks, I wouldn't have started this thread in the first place. :TU:

Hungry? Price of gas got you down? Then eat your Hummer! :spank: