Torn Signal - I'm kinda

Torn Signal - I'm kinda torn about the SUV "controversy".

On the one hand, Arianna Huffington continues to make a name as the RINOiest RINO in America. And her spin needs some work:

Responding to the growing public outcry over its reckless gas-guzzling ways...

Er, hold on, Ari - the only "outcry" is the one coming from anti-SUV activists. The only "outcry" that that is getting out to the public at large is that of people looking to buy more of them.

On the other hand - well, she brings up a few good points in the article. The SUV has benefitted from a lot of political and administrative legerdemain (even allowing for SUVs' obvious market appeal).

On a related issue - I hear a lot of people say they buy SUV's for "safety". I'm tempted to do the same - to be safe from SUV drivers. Criminy, some of these people climb on top of those humonganoid behemoths and forget all the basic rules of the road, and every hint of highway courtesy.

True story - after every blizzard, or whenever driving conditions get terrible, I keep a rough count of the proportion of vehicles in the ditch. SUVs end up in the ditch roughly in double to five times their proportional numbers. Yeah, it's unscientific - and it's certainly not the SUV's fault. But the theory that many SUV drivers buy them to compensate for their own inadequate driving skills seems to be a fair one. (No, of course I'm not talking about you. Criminy). And I say that as someone who used to drive a CJ7, and would love to do it again.

Here's what I'd pay to see: The doddering Greenie in the smoke-belching Subaru wagon with the environmental and "peace" stickers that cut me off on 35W at 36th yesterday, in a demolition derby with the dim bulb in the jacked-up F-350 Club Cab that ran the red light on Highway 55 on Thursday. Maybe a cage match, to boot.

Posted by Mitch at January 11, 2003 07:31 PM