What you drive says a lot about you
I used to poo-poo this idea, but now I think I'm doing a 180 and going to go with it -- what you drive speaks volumes about who you are.
My specific contention in this post is that if you drive a Hummer, you're an asshole.
And if there's someone I know how is reading this and thinking "Hey, wait, I drive a Hummer, but I'm not an asshole!"... Sorry. You're an asshole.
Let's examine this logically. Breaking it down:
- Do you have a reason to drive a large off-road capable vehicle? Maybe. If you live in a rural area with sketchy snow clearing, or need to actually drive off-road, or have roads that pretty much qualify as off-road... sure. Maybe you need to have a big-ass SUV. At least you need a 4x4, so I'll grant you that. But if you live in Naperville, or Chicago, or Manhattan... well, sorry. You don't need to drive a big off-road vehicle.
- Okay, I don't need to drive an off-road vehicle, but I do need to drive a big car because I have a kid/3 kids/a kid with a hockey/soccer/baseball/etc team Hmm. Okay, for that you need an inefficient four wheel drive vehicle? Why won't a minivan work? Minivans are easier for kids to get in and out of, they get better fuel economy. What justifies the big-ass SUV?
- SUVs are safer than regular cars or vans. No, they aren't. I could point to multiple studies and articles, but why don't you go to Google and type "are SUVs safer than cars?" You'll see the results for yourself. Some folks contend that the drivers may be safer in an accident, but SUVs get into an awful lot of accidents, and you're basically giving a big "screw you" to anyone unfortunate enough to have a run-in with you. We're a society. A civilized society. These are not built on the precept of "Look out for number one", no matter what you might think. When the majority begin to hold that opinion, you may find it an awful lot harder watching your back. Stop putting me at risk because you feel safer driving a behemoth.