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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
"donquijote1954" wrote in message ... Are SUVs' tinted windows a sign of shame? Or are they a sign of misanthropism? I know their wanton disregard for the environment and their isolation from others causes a lot of problems. I can never read what they are up to, for one. And I feel terrorized in my bike or scooter. I just know I better get out of their way, just as from drunk drivers. I have never had tinted windows, but I think they want them for privacy. Maybe the built in TV sets and GPS screens need to block the light for the best picture. I know the sunlight often makes it hard for me to read a GPS screen. There are regulations at least in California limiting the darkness of the side front windows so that the police can look in. The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. Hybrid SUVs are now coming onto the market with decent gas mileage. It's very fitting what this quote applies to frequent flyers... Frequent flyers are usually doing it for business reasons. Almost all of them would prefer to cut their amount of flying, but can't without losing business. Travel in general is a function of the strength of the economy. So to have lots of jobs, travel is needed. Trying to same energy with bike or what ever is a dead end non-solution anyway. The oil will still run out even if you use less of it. The only real solution is the development of new alternative energy sources. |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
Jack May wrote:
The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Hybrid SUVs are now coming onto the market with decent gas mileage. So, with fancy technology a bigger-than-sane car can get half the mileage as my old '94 Honda Civic CX (40 mpg -- really). Such advancement. -- David L. Johnson I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks -- Thomas Edison, 1922 |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
"David L. Johnson" wrote in message ... Jack May wrote: The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Hybrid SUVs are now coming onto the market with decent gas mileage. So, with fancy technology a bigger-than-sane car can get half the mileage as my old '94 Honda Civic CX (40 mpg -- really). Such advancement. It looks like the EPA adjusted MPG report includes SUVs (light trucks) and the average fuel economy has been steady at about 20 MPG. I don't think it is just reporting CAFE data http://www.epa.gov/otaq/cert/mpg/fetrends/420r07008.pdf See pages i and ii with a graph of cars, trucks, and both on page iii |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
Jack May wrote:
"David L. Johnson" wrote in message ... Jack May wrote: The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Hybrid SUVs are now coming onto the market with decent gas mileage. So, with fancy technology a bigger-than-sane car can get half the mileage as my old '94 Honda Civic CX (40 mpg -- really). Such advancement. It looks like the EPA adjusted MPG report includes SUVs (light trucks) and the average fuel economy has been steady at about 20 MPG. I don't think it is just reporting CAFE data What the EPA report includes is one thing, the requirement was for the CAFE to rise to something like 27mpg by the early years of this century (or late in the previous one). The US car makers managed this by classifying many cars as "light trucks", exempting them from the requirements. And it's not just Hummers that were suddenly declared trucks in order to help the CAFE numbers, but also the PT cruiser, Subaru Outback, and a slew of other cars. That's why you see a rise of % of light-duty vehicles being called "trucks", from 19% to 49%. It ain't that we're all moving back to the farm. And to suggest that the public just wanted these trucks rather than cars is also specious. Marketing created the desire for suburbanites to suddenly want to drive a truck to work. I love the screaming headlines in the report, though: "Highlight #1: Fuel Economy Increases in 2005 and 2006 Reverse the Long-Term Trend of Declining Fuel Economy From 1987 Through 2004." According to their own data, the average fuel economy from 1997 to 2007 increased from 20.1 to 20.2 mpg. Impressive. To get back to the original point, indeed the average fuel economy, among cars and trucks, has decreased since 1987. This is despite the much-hyped hybrids, which caused only a minor bump, not close to bringing us back to the conservation "peak" of the late 80s. The data of the mid-70s is also skewed by the way in which Detroit dealt with pollution requirements at that time. Engines were de-tuned to not produce too much of the emissions that were being tested for. Looking a the graph from this report you see a huge jump in fuel economy when catalytic converters finally took over. -- David L. Johnson "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." --Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:04:13 -0500, "David L. Johnson"
wrote: Jack May wrote: The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Ah yes, the old law of unintended consequences. -- jeverett3ATsbcglobalDOTnet (John V. Everett) |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
In article , jeverett3
@sbcglobal.DEFEAT.UCE.BOTS.net says... On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:04:13 -0500, "David L. Johnson" wrote: Jack May wrote: The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Ah yes, the old law of unintended consequences. The other big reason there are so many SUV's on the road is the federal tax break for "business" use of large vehicles. I put business in quotes because the test you need to pass to call it business use on your taxes doesn't amount to a whole lot more than driving it to work (a little more, but not a lot). -- Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the newsgroups if possible). |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
"David Kerber" wrote in message t... In article , jeverett3 @sbcglobal.DEFEAT.UCE.BOTS.net says... On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:04:13 -0500, "David L. Johnson" wrote: Jack May wrote: The other big reason there are so many SUV's on the road is the federal tax break for "business" use of large vehicles. I put business in quotes because the test you need to pass to call it business use on your taxes doesn't amount to a whole lot more than driving it to work (a little more, but not a lot). Yes, that tax break is very large. Just for the record I do not own or drive an SUV |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
"David Kerber" wrote in message t... In article , jeverett3 @sbcglobal.DEFEAT.UCE.BOTS.net says... On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:04:13 -0500, "David L. Johnson" wrote: Jack May wrote: The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Ah yes, the old law of unintended consequences. The other big reason there are so many SUV's on the road is the federal tax break for "business" use of large vehicles. I put business in quotes because the test you need to pass to call it business use on your taxes doesn't amount to a whole lot more than driving it to work (a little more, but not a lot). People switched to SUVs because the small cars made by GM and Japan were so damn miserable to drive people got sick of it. |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
In article ,
"George Conklin" wrote: People switched to SUVs because the small cars made by GM and Japan were so damn miserable to drive people got sick of it. Yeah, that's why those miserable small cars outsell SUVs and the Big Three are sucking sewage. But no, blame it on the unions! Yeah, that's the ticket! |
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Should SUV Driving amount to Drunk Driving?
"John Everett" wrote in message news On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:04:13 -0500, "David L. Johnson" wrote: Jack May wrote: The last I saw, the average MPG did not change over the last couple of decades with the introduction of SUV's. You weren't paying attention, then. The corporate MPG requirements specifically excluded "light trucks", which is why SUV's exist. They are classified as trucks, thus don't count in the CAFE statistics. Ah yes, the old law of unintended consequences. No, it was assumed that trucks did different work from commuter cars. |
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