Henry Payne for January 16, 2015

Just interesting that in my small town (rural, lots of “ranch” vehicles) three different folks in even “crossover” SUVs found it impossile to see around these massive pickups and “standard size” SUVs to safely enter an intersection, or back out of diagonal parking, and that’s with those gigantic pieces of junk PARKED!! BTW, that 90% of these pigs only carry cargo or more than one person 1% of the time, does make one wonder, Why?

BTW, I do have one old ‘91 SUV and a 2006 “crossover” that either will get me wherever I want, and do what I want, and they’re less than half the size of the “new wave”. Of course the biggest waste and “psycho-machine” was the “civilian” Hummer, which was transformed into an even less useful pile of junk while still on the showroom floor.

“hese pigs only carry cargo or more than one person 1% of the time, does make one wonder, Why?” Not everyone carries bulky objects (hay, bags of feed, lumber, rolls of wire) everyday. It’s better to have a pickup and not use it than need the pickup and not have it. Please, grow up and stay on the pavement where you belong.

The fact that temporary reductions in gas prices made people feel safe to buy gas guzzlers shows the mindset of the American public. Think about only today; worry about tomorrow…..sometime.

Good enough for Uncle Sam, must be good enough for me.

Hey, she needs that giant gas guzzling sport utility vehicle to drive on paved city roads to the mall for some shopping and a lunch date with the ladies. An economical, fuel efficient vehicle just would not be handle the workload of an upper middle class suburbanite housewife.

@dzw3030

“It’s better to have a pickup…..”Hear Hear! I’ve bought 4-cylinder Nissan Frontiers since 1985. Having this kind of pick-up, with it’s comfy interior is very handy and economical. Plus, I get calls from old friends who just bought a piano!

When auto makers came up with the SUV to get around the recently-passed fuel consumption legislation, our congressmen could have acted at once to close the loophole! Why didn’t they?

My vehicles are utllity, 4 wheel drive, we get snow and ice, and my ’91 has 117,000 miles, half of that distance on gravel/dirt roads, and they get 25+ miles per gallon. For large loads, like brining a car across the country, I use my TRAILER!

What got me one time was a video of the Ventrura freeway at “commuter time”, and 2/3 of the vehicles were big SUVs, that would NEVER get off pavement, OR need that extra horsepower for pulling a trailer, or have it’s seats full of people. The argument is these big pigs were “safer”, despite the fact of you dying in one was roughly three times that of being in a single car wreck in a “Smart Car”, or even in a collision with other vehicles. “Big” does NOT equal “safer”, in fact, they’re so big, folks are MORE LIKELY to lose control and get in a wreck with them!