#11
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SUV Protest
Robert Uhl wrote:
So potentially someone in an emergency situation might run out to his vehicle and be unable to get to the hospital, or his parents' home, or his kids' school, or whatever. Yeah, that's really taking the moral high ground. In an emergency situation, people should call 911. The last thing we need is a guy in a hummer driving like a madman to get somewhere. Rich |
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#12
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SUV Protest
Robert Uhl wrote: So potentially someone in an emergency situation might run out to his vehicle and be unable to get to the hospital, or his parents' home, or his kids' school, or whatever. Yeah, and what if the poor guy with the homemade bombs needs to blow a hole in his apartment wall to get out in case of a fire? We'd better not bother him either! Owners of SUVs already pay for their folly... Not enough. And the rest of us are paying too much for their folly. - Frank Krygowski |
#13
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SUV Protest
gds wrote: While SUV's get really bad press I imagine that in fact SUV's and pick ups are the vehicles of choice for many environmentalists. While tooling around central Paris or even downtown Chicago in an 6 mpg Hummer is pretty sick, I think that many who consider themselves environmentalists are involved in the types of outdoor activites for which high clearance and 4wd are pretty important. For myself I do a lot of back country hiking and rock climbing. Many of the mountain roads that I use would be unpassable in a car. I don't know what your roads are like. But I recall during the 1970s driving a VW Beetle or a VW Bus into some very remote mountain roads for backpacking and camping trips. I recall one trip where the Bus couldn't make it up a steep, gravelly dirt road, so the four passengers had to get out to reduce the weight as I drove on through the steep part. No big deal. 4WD isn't necessary for most backcountry work. That idea's just another product of the ad-man's fantasies. BTW, of the SUV owners I know, the one (and only) one who bought it for "backpacking, rock climbing, yada yada" does those activities about once per year. The rest of the time he drives it the three miles to work and back. And I was with him the first time he took it into the woods - about 100 yards. He freaked about the possibility of cosmetic damage, then decided to slowly back out. As a conservative estimate, I'd say 99% of SUV owners have no practical need for the monstrosities. The trend is driven by a combination of conspicuous consumption and stupidity. - Frank Krygowski |
#14
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SUV Protest
" wrote in message oups.com... I heard this on NPR today. I'm not sure why but I found it humorous. It seems that in the St. Germain des Pres district of Paris environmentalists are protesting the presence of monster SUVs by letting the air out of the tires. They then leave a pamphlet on the windshield explaining their motives. Here is a link to today's show (September 13th): http://theworld.org/latesteditions/09/20050913.shtml You can listen to the entire show or scroll to the bottom and click on the "Geo Answer Interview". Article in The Times this morning. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...778863,00.html "Ecowarriors go into battle against 4x4s - with cycle pumps" Includes... "DRIVERS who park gasguzzling 4x4s overnight in Paris are receiving an unpleasant surprise in the morning: flat tyres. A gang of young activists are deflating the tyres of what they regard as anti-social urban tanks which clog the narrow streets of the Left Bank." "To the amazement of furious owners, the police say that it is not a crime because property is not damaged. "We have had complaints, but it is not clear that any offence is being committed," said an officer at the sixth arrondissement." "They expel the air slowly without setting off the vehicles' alarms, fixing open bicycle pump hoses to the tyre valves and returning later to collect their equipment. They leave a leaflet explaining their action." Cheers, helen s |
#15
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SUV Protest
" wrote in message oups.com... I heard this on NPR today. I'm not sure why but I found it humorous. Something else folks might find humorous, on the topics of SUVs: http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/suv.ra (requires Real Audio) -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
#16
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SUV Protest
Rich writes:
So potentially someone in an emergency situation might run out to his vehicle and be unable to get to the hospital, or his parents' home, or his kids' school, or whatever. Yeah, that's really taking the moral high ground. In an emergency situation, people should call 911. The last thing we need is a guy in a hummer driving like a madman to get somewhere. Ambulances cost money. I live about six blocks from a hospital. Does it make more sense to drive the five minutes thereto or wait around for an ambulance which will take longer to arrive? -- Robert Uhl http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl Contrary to popular opinion there often is a right answer. --Carter & Sanger, Thinking about Programming |
#17
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SUV Protest
-- mark wrote ... I don't know what your roads are like. But I recall during the 1970s driving a VW Beetle or a VW Bus into some very remote mountain roads for backpacking and camping trips. I recall one trip where the Bus couldn't make it up a steep, gravelly dirt road, so the four passengers had to get out to reduce the weight as I drove on through the steep part. No big deal. A lot of the backcountry roads here in Colorado may well havde been negotiable in a VW Beetle or Bus in the '60s and '70s, but the dramatic increase in SUV traffic on these roads, the excess weight of modern SUVs, and lack of maintenance have made these roads impassable for anything without big fat tires, lots of clearance, and either very low gearing or a fair bit of low end torque. Even with an SUV, travelling these roads can be a difficult, unpleasant experience. Hiking them, OTOH, is fairly pleasant and not a whole lot slower than driving on them. VW bugs/busses were designed in an era when lots of roads weren't paved, so it's not surprising that they do well off pavement. I recall John Muir's repair manual "How to keep your Volkswagen Alive" devoting a fair bit of attention to off pavement travel in busses and bugs. I still see a fair number of VW based offroad vehicles around my part of Colorado, most of them obviously used off-pavement more than on (unlike the SUVs I see). 4WD isn't necessary for most backcountry work. That idea's just another product of the ad-man's fantasies. True, but as the big heavy SUVs tear up the roads smaller vehicles have more and more trouble negotiating them BTW, of the SUV owners I know, the one (and only) one who bought it for "backpacking, rock climbing, yada yada" does those activities about once per year. The rest of the time he drives it the three miles to work and back. And I was with him the first time he took it into the woods - about 100 yards. He freaked about the possibility of cosmetic damage, then decided to slowly back out. As a conservative estimate, I'd say 99% of SUV owners have no practical need for the monstrosities. The trend is driven by a combination of conspicuous consumption and stupidity. Here in Colorado the number is probably more like 80%, but that's still a lot of conspicuous consumption and stupidity. -- mark |
#18
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SUV Protest
"gds" wrote...
While SUV's get really bad press I imagine that in fact SUV's and pick ups are the vehicles of choice for many environmentalists. While tooling around central Paris or even downtown Chicago in an 6 mpg Hummer is pretty sick, I think that many who consider themselves environmentalists are involved in the types of outdoor activites for which high clearance and 4wd are pretty important. For myself I do a lot of back country hiking and rock climbing. Many of the mountain roads that I use would be unpassable in a car. I will tell you that my SUV does a lot less damage to roads and is a lot quieter than the more fuel efficinet ATV's that wreak havoc in some of these areas. I do a fair bit of backcountry hiking and climbing myself. I drive my Honda Civic as far as I feel comfortable on dirt roads, then I park it and start hiking. Many of the roads I use have been trashed by large numbers of big, heavy SUVs that these roads were never designed to accomodate. Driving these roads in any vehicle is a slow, uncomfortable process and entails a significant risk of cosmetic and mechanical damage to the vehicle, while walking them is not bad at all (except when a motor vehicle comes by). My back country trips entail up to 200 miles of paved or good dirt road, followed by 3 or 4 miles of really bad road that requires an off road vehicle. With those numbers it makes a lot more sense to drive a passenger car as far as practical, then walk when the road deteriorates. -- mark |
#19
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SUV Protest
Claire Petersky wrote:
http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/suv.ra (requires Real Audio) That's pretty good :-) Here's another catchy tune: Oh oh, you and me In our sport utility vehicles Cruisin to 7-11 For a bag of Frito Lays Oh oh, you and me In our sport utility vehicles We'll slam into four wheel drive And pick up a dozen eggs QT video clip at: http://www.bigidea.com/videos/veggie...022/clip04.htm RFM |
#20
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SUV Protest
14 Sep 2005 09:31:21 -0700,
.com, "Fritz M" wrote: Claire Petersky wrote: http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/suv.ra (requires Real Audio) That's pretty good :-) Here's another catchy tune: Oh oh, you and me In our sport utility vehicles Cruisin to 7-11 For a bag of Frito Lays Oh oh, you and me In our sport utility vehicles We'll slam into four wheel drive And pick up a dozen eggs QT video clip at: http://www.bigidea.com/videos/veggie...022/clip04.htm Here's the opening tune from the "Rocky Dino Opera" http://bikesexual.org/dinos/opera.html A MIGHTY FORTRESS Key: G Tune: "Luther's Hymn" A mighty fortress is my car, My great strong box of steel, My shiny sporty four-by-four, My urban sex appeal. This safe on wheels may crash And small cars I may smash, Some slobs may be dispatched But I shall not be scratched, My sport ute is my fortress. The world can see how cool I am, How excellent is my life-style. All tongues proclaim the brands I buy My choices are such high style. Now get out of my way, Bike bums in spandex gay And stupid old ladies! Leave the road to me In my shiny fossil fortress! © 2001-2004 Lee Henderson. Licence granted for free performance and reproduction for study. -- zk |
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