Off Topic: Dangerous SUVs

[Arcane]

i can't remember how many times we've bitched about SUVs amd the people who can't drive them...this is just something to back that up...click here (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/metro/news_7m7biker.html)...
i know this is a melancholy subject...but i guess it's my way of paying my respects...you will be missed Mongol... <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cry.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cry:'>

i know many of you don't know Mashito (Mongol)...but it would be nice to hear your thoughts on this...

[Grant]

<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cry.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cry:'> &nbsp;Wow, that's really sad. SUV's are very dangerous. Was he a friend of yours by any chance?

[Takumi]

I only know ONE person who drives an SUV like a fucking pro off-road racer. &nbsp;He used to go off-roading at this one spot that was all dirt roads and small hills. &nbsp;It was insane when I was in there, but he had awesome control of his vehicle. He was a good enough driver to keep up with the smaller FR cars during mountain runs (two S13's, Z32 and a Miata), if not faster than some of the guys with us. His Explorer's a 5-speed and he has huge ass off-roading fog lamps and a neat lookin' front grill. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':thumbsup:'>

Idiot SUV drivers are a dime a dozen. &nbsp;Finding one who actually uses their SUV for it's intended purposes like off-roading and drives it really well, that's one in a million!

[JeffNJ]

I hate to sound crass, but the truth is, that tragedy would likely have occured even if the vehicle wasn't an SUV. &nbsp;We don't even know how fast the car was going. &nbsp;If force is still equal to mass times velocity like it was back in high school, any vehicle is deadly when struck by it.

I don't want to be misunderstood. &nbsp;What happpened sucks more than most of us can imagine, but I think blame is on the driver's part for this one - not the car's.

[twofortysx]

I agree with Jeff on this specific instance. &nbsp;I do believe, though, that SUV's are dangerous vehicles. &nbsp;They are top heavy, have higher roll-over accident rates and fare worse in almost all accident scenarios than a comparable car. &nbsp;

Another thing that a lot of people don't look at (this is also why I bought a 240) is accident avoidance. &nbsp;I've dodged a lot of morons becuase the 240 can make a hard turn at about 70mph with no ill effects. &nbsp;An SUV on the other hand may end up rolling. &nbsp;

I love my 240 and I love knowing that people have been hit by SUV's like the Expedition, spun around and hit a light pole, then walked away. &nbsp;I wish they hadn't wrecked, but it gives me great peace of mind in my 240.

I <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/inlove.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':love:'> my 240

[Arcane]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Arcane @ Mar. 07 2002,03:43)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i can't remember how many times we've bitched about SUVs amd the people who can't drive them...this is just something to back that up</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
yes...Mongol is my friend...a tradegy like this shouldn't have happened...and what pisses me off is the other driver left...i hope that something really bad happens to that person...

Jeff and twoforty...i've quoted my earlier post in regards to your comments...read the bold and you can see that i didn't blame the car itself...just thought i would point that out to you two...

[96SEChick]

Arcane, I'm so sorry that happened. &nbsp;Most people driving SUV's don't realize how bad their blind spots are, and can be. &nbsp;It scares me that my mom drives a Tahoe (which, unlike most females driving an SUV, NEEDS the SUV because she lives out in the country--needs the 4WD--and because she's always driving my sister and her daughter around--needs the extra room), because I'm afraid she may try to change lanes, or turn, and not see someone next to her on a motorcycle, or in a car small and low to the ground, like ours. &nbsp;I think they need to make a SUV Driver's Education class.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and Mongol's family during this time of loss.

[Tuck&Poke]

im really sorry about your friend. &nbsp;in no way am i bashing your friend or anything because this accident doesnt sound like it was his fault and i dont know how good a driver he was so this is not directed to him. my mom is an accident recontructionist and its sad to see some of the cases she gets. id say about 60% are motorcycle involved. mostly sport bikes not a lot of harleys and the like. there was one where this bike hit a minivan at 70mph. the guys head went flying through the windows of the back doors. motorcycles are great fun and if it werent for the danger factor i would deffinatly have one in my driveway. i know a lot of people who ride motorcycles and most of them are resposnsible with them. but theres still quite a few guys who do some stupid things. this kid in my school died because he was at a party and some guy with a bike asked if anyone wanted to take a ride (the guy was drunk out of his mind) and they took a road at 100mph that had a dead end. ended up hitting a guard rail. those suv drivers buy them because of safety and style but the only safety the get is theirs. they dont thikn of the people in the other trecel that gets it roof crushed cause a friggin excursion ran over it. they should have premits to drive vehicles that big. (someone said it before im just backin them up)

[FastbackBoi]

oh lord... i had a near miss with an SUV today myself...
how odd that i find this topic <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

i was on my way home from school, and i go to merge from the freeway to a normal street at this big intersection, and some big 'ol suv is stopped right in the center of it waiting for a chance to merge (and missing each and every chance at that). Eventually the stoplight changes and there are no more cars coming at all. she STILL sits there and waits for some unknown reason.

by now i was quite irritated because i needed to get home and get ready for work. she finally decided to go, and the road we were going on to had two lanes. she didnt have her blinker on so i put mine on to move into the left lane and pass her. &nbsp;as i get over into the left lane i sped up (she was still going a god awful 20mph on a 40mph street) and start passing her when i notice she had decided to just randomly slide over into my lane, without checking i might add.

So here i am in a very messy predicament. On my left side, there is oncoming traffic on teh way, on my right, a monsterous SUV just eager to run me over, and coming to do so quickly. &nbsp;By now i was a little bit away from being right up next to the suv and she still hadnt noticed me whatsoever, and i was being slowly forced into the oncoming traffic. so i move over some more, downshift and floor it ahead of her to make her realize what she just did to me. i get back into my lane, and she proceeds to tailgate me and give me some quite nasty looks all the way down the rest of the street.

that pissed me off quite a bit. i was just about ready to slam on my brakes jsut so she WOULD hit me and i would have a chance to get out of my car and bitch her out.

i wholeheartedly agree with the SUV drivers education idea... too many people are simply unfit for driving such a bulky thing.