Ed Murray said he was woken up on Tuesday night by the sound of cars doing burnouts in a tennis court carpark near his Welcome Bay home, in the Bay of Plenty.

He told the Bay of Plenty Times he had dealt with…

you guys should have a show. nice work.

Alan Sokal

Ohhh yes, that definitely – so to speak, for example, I might say [aaargh, I can't stop, please help me!] um... yeah, whatever!

Drink Liquor.

Currently Johnnie Walker Black Label – on special at T' Mill (definitely no trouble there). However, I am a very mellow drunk. I'm much more opinionated and argumentative when I'm knurd.

As for the rest, completely fucking brilliant and not at all idiotic.

I might add ammendments along…

Is that a frozen Nazi?

On a stick?

You HAD to Godwin it didn't you? ;-)

Here's an old thing that may have paved the way for Godwin himsels.

How to Win Arguments

I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic,…

fascicle

Is that a frozen Nazi?

One of my faves in the Konspiracy Krowd is "beaurocrat", which I suppose is a particularly dandyish and probably philandering office worker.

42!

Bugger, can't top that.

the tactics of the right, including the actions of National in the house is to shout down any opposition to their wants, the fascicle protest at parliament was a case in point.
Posted at 12:16PM on 22 Nov 07. By Steve Barnes

From Here
Ohh,…

I have been known to entertan many at dinner parties with my knowledge, sometimes until they leave.

Did you know that while Reg Smeaton claimed that there is no proper name for the backs of the knees ( Vivian Stanshall, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, album not the film), they…

M25 Three
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The M25 Three are Raphael Rowe, Michael Davis, and Randolph Johnson, who were incorrectly jailed for life, following a miscarriage of justice at the Old Bailey in March 1990 for a series of attacks and robberies around the M25, London's orbital motorway, on…

Exactly what freedom of choice does someone hit by one of those things have?
I don't follow this – they have the same freedom of choice as anyone else don't they? Choice of what?
Freedom of choice is not a euphemism for chances of survival & those chances depend on a…

I was just going to post something about some bus drivers in Auckland thinking they're Dale Earnhardt.

Quite a few of them. They treat red lights as advisory on a regular basis, too, which is quite scary when one is riding in them.

To be fair, as a cyclist I…

For instance, the heavier the vehicle the more weight and therefore friction onto the road surface, this along with the fitting of a tyre with the correct "footprint" this ensures that the vehicle could stop in a proscribed distance.

I'm no physicist, but surely it's not the amount of contact…

Let's amicably agree to disagree.

And get back to work? To hell with that – this just in: SUVs give you AIDS!

I kid, I kid. Agree to disagree works for me.

Having watched the apparently homicidal maniacs that drive buses in wellington, I'd dispute the buses driven slowly and responsibly bit.

Heh. I was just going to post something about some bus drivers in Auckland thinking they're Dale Earnhardt. (And I spend a bit of time on Auckland buses, so I'm…

Why must you make this all about you, when it's clearly all about me – me, damn it ME!!!

beat me to this Josh – but you're wrong, everything is about me!

Let's amicably agree to disagree.

Until I find more stats to back my position.

although I haven't heard an argument that persuades me

They persuade me – you asked why I feel the way I feel. And from the sounds of things, my experiences on the road are quite different to yours, so what I'm saying doesn't apply to you.

Why must you make…

Somehow some people think that freedom of choice automatically extends to freedom from criticism by the PC Thought Police,

I'll offer that if remove the words "freedom from", that would reflect your belief.

You're free to criticise, but I'm unconvinced that you're doing it from any position other than a…

Buses however however are brighly coloured, driven slowly and responsibly on predictable routes in cities. There is also a difference between amateurs and professionals.

Having watched the apparently homicidal maniacs that drive buses in wellington, I'd dispute the buses driven slowly and responsibly bit.

Buses however however are brighly coloured

And to be fair, I'd prefer more buses & less cars of any kind.

But how many people are killed by brightly coloured, professionally driven buses each year in NZ?

Exactly what freedom of choice does someone hit by one of those things have?

I…

What do you propose, everyone has to drive vehicles that are exactly the same size or spec?

Straw man argument. My argument is that anyone who believes that SUVs (or FUVs?) are inherently "safe" is a few ants short of a picnic. In a direct one-on-one collision a heavier massing…

.Do I have any right to tell other people what to drive? Of course not.…

Dude, we've been over this.

Yeah we have – although I haven't heard an argument that persuades me – it's still nasty old SUVs. Buses & trucks? we need them! It's not their fault!

And I'm prepared to be disproven, but I dispute that there are more SUVs than buses & trucks,…

In the case of buses and trucks, I'd be lucky to drive past two or three a week in the driving I do – they're less of a danger to me, because there's less of them. They tend to drive slower, too (on the urban…

They are also a danger to you.

Safety wise – it compares to the Vw Passat, which has been named the safest car on the road. According to this site anyway

It gets one star out of five for safety to others.

And that's the thing – I'm less likely to survive being in a crash with…

Thhhhbbbtttt!!!

You call me a "fucking idiot" – allow me the luxury of telling you where to go with that.

It likely gets a couple of its stars for having enough airbags to be hired out to children's parties as a bouncy castle

Undoubtedly true. It also (untested by me),…

Safety wise – it compares to the Vw Passat, which has been named the safest car on the road. According to this site anyway

Supposedly, though the NCAP criteria favour the sort of collision normally suffered by lower CoG vehicles (not swerves, loss of control and rolls on wet/black ice…

also runs a Range Rover Sport, a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a work-related Humvee... although not all at once.

There are limits IMO. :)

I'd cheerfully support a car free wellington, how do we arrange it?

And a wicked link, too. Thanks.

Just to mix things up, one of the most hardcore road cyclists I know also runs a…

From the perspective of a cyclist I'm less than happy to be surrounded by vehicles that seem expressly designed to kill people like me in the event of an accident,

Check the front page of the paper... ban trucks.

Also, on a less irritated note – check this out

From the perspective of a cyclist I'm less than…

they must feel it does it quite well, or you'd probably assume that they would own something else.

It does what I want very well, it's drawback is the cost of fuelling it, but it actually does better in that regard than minivans & stationwagons belonging to tradespeople I am related…

So why an SUV and not a station wagon?

And at last – None of YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS.

...but it would be idiotic to claim that an SUV is a practical, reasonable proposition. The only practical rationale for an SUV for an urban dweller who is not a builder or tradesperson is ergonomic ...

I'd probably separate usage from purpose a bit more in this context. A 4wd…

"iconic" removed from function = fetish.

You'll need to explain that one for me, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean that you don't think those examples are functional, which makes them some sort of fetish? Or something else.

If you meant the first, I'd suggest that…

Mind you, it's pretty hard to find much beauty in the majority of vehicles that currently ply the roads.

Agreed. I can't help but think of the ideal of the privately owned car as being but the most current espesssion of tulipmania. If one…

I will add too that the inherent proportions of the monstrosities means that there has never been a beautiful SUV and that the neon sign can be footnoted "I also have irredeemably vulgar taste."

I don't know about beautiful, but the original Willys jeep was a pretty iconic design, so…

That and the 20 or so airbags, since we travel notorious parts of SH1 at least once a week.

"I want to be SAFE (and screw the consequences for you)" angle to the urban SUV that…

I think that most people are ignorant of that law – although I presume the professional drivers that ferry the big trucks & buses up & down the length of the country should know of it at least.

But if so, then they do willfully ignore it.

They seem to treat speed…

Shame on NZ Post?

Freighting airmail letters up country – they have to go fast.

I presume the professional drivers that ferry the big trucks & buses up & down

I hadn't thought of it in this context before, but it occurs to me that the fastest trucks on the road are actually govt run. Shame on NZ Post?

As Andrew observes it's probably mostly ignored, but it is what the law says

I think that most people are ignorant of that law – although I presume the professional drivers that ferry the big trucks & buses up & down the length of the country should know of it at least.…

Why would anyone learning to drive a car would need to learn about the speed of a completely different type of vehicle that they're not allowed to drive?

But you are allowed to drive them. Class 1==GVM below 4,501kg. 90km/h limit==GVM above 3,500kg. So on your car licence you are…

So we can yell abuse at truckies when they speed?

Now that you mention it

]]> Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:31:51 +1200 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/island-life-bp-fuelled-rage/?p=54685#post54685 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/island-life-bp-fuelled-rage/?p=54685#post54685

And this is where your understanding points to a woeful ignorance on the part of the driving public – as if we needed any more proof that our licence testing is a joke.

Settle down I was just asking.

The information didn't come from the process of acquiring my drivers…

However, vehicles weighing greater than 3,500kg (the old class B licence limit) are subject to a speed limit of 90km/h on the open road.

I didn't know that. It must be pretty much ignored I think.

All I'm doing is responding to the arugments you've made. I believe I've done so clearly and politely. That is all.Z

Josh, y6ou're clearly & politely telling me you know better than me what I need.

Wow – 1 in 5 accidents causing death or injury involve trucks.

Gee, is that really surprising? Consider the forces involved. It's very ulikely that a crash between a truck and a car will be non-injury, unless it's a very, very minor nose-to-tail. I've had a car written off in…

It's my understanding that 90km/hour arises from towing a trailer, and applies to my car when I tow as much as a truck with a trailer. Doesn't have anything to do with weight at all?

And this is where your understanding points to a woeful ignorance on the part of…

http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/NewPDFs/section3-trucks-2006.pdf

I think up thread people provided some information about how this was a reality problem for SUVs, not just a perception problem.

Did they? I reasd some stuff about saintly minivan drivers & satanic soccer mums, but not much in the way of hard fact. A fait bit of unsubstantiated opinion.…

Notice that Volvo drivers, stereotypically safety-conscious, don't get the same animosity, for example. They don't obstruct the view, they're not noted for hitting other cars high up, and their drivers anecdotally are cautious and careful.

Actually, quite a lot of motorcyclists used to consider volvo drivers the most dangerous things…

the Honda CRV,

Oh yeah, the 2 litre, 4 cylinder CRV, which had a big save the planet sticker stuck on it by a guy who hopped out of an old Ford Falcon station wagon.

whereas you don't need to be as big and heavy as an SUV to perform the functions they're used for or to get the safety advantages they offer.

Like the behemoths that are the Suzuki Samurai/Jimny, or the Honda CRV, or the Toyota RAV4, do you mean?

Let's face it,…

What's wrong with wanting to be safe Stephen? Or wanting our families to be safe?

Nothing's wrong with that. I applaud it. It's what you do to try and achieve that safety which is the issue.

My argument wrt the SUV is that it's a false sense of safety.

The…

whereas you don't need to be as big and heavy as an SUV to perform the functions they're used for or to get the safety advantages they offer

Tell you what Josh, why don't I sketch out my needs & run them by you, then you can tell me what I…

Doesn't this also apply to trucks & buses?

Only because you ignored the second part of what I said – buses and trucks are necessarily the size and mass that they are, whereas you don't need to be as big and heavy as an SUV to perform the functions they're used…

Stop beating around the bush, call me a rich prick & I'm out of here for good.

SHow me the stats! Maybe it's just my perception that every 2nd road death seems to have involved a car/truck collision.

I don't even need to link to stats I think for that Andrew. I think everyone knows that the prime causers of accidents on the road are alcohol and…

What's wrong with wanting to be safe

Nothing at all – the objection is that SUVs make you safe in a way that endangers others unnecessarily. Endangers others, in the ways that others have already pointed out here: their larger size and greater mass makes collisions more deadly and they…

It's the "I want to be SAFE (and screw the consequences for you)" angle to the urban SUV that gets me

What's wrong with wanting to be safe Stephen? Or wanting our families to be safe?

And who do you know that has ever said "screw the consequences for you"?…

What's next on the list?

Air travel. Seriously.

Seriously, this whole SUV discussion has really been about something else.

I suspect so.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NOr6EFoXZMk

Indeed.

WOW!!

That clip gave me an adrenalin rush. And not in a good way. I cannot believe Greenpeace actually made that clip and put it up for all to see. I will now have no hesitation in telling the next clip board holding donation seeking Greenpeace 'volunteer' to **F@CK…

Indeed.

On the baggage thing, I suspect you'll find…

You can move house using just a bicycle.

Pfft. You can move house using just the postal service. I was behind just such a person at the post office on Saturday. I wish I were making this up.

Disentangling the two might help drive the discussion to a useful point no-one has got to yet.

there is baggage for sure. one often wonders whether the owners of such cars know how they are perceived. there is a chap around these parts who is seen often driving a hummer.…

What I was getting at was:

1. Evaluate the risk of an incident occurring through your choice of a car over another form of transport. A car is probably second only to a motorcycle I would guess, but the risk of something…

And I broke my own rule twice – I never discuss driving with anyone in NZ. There's some funny deeply ingrained "right to…

I think 4WD is a red herring. It's not…

Then people can *choose* if they want to sacrifice other things for the SUV (or indeed the suburban house, which is the other way to drive your fuel bills up).

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10516643

While I feel for the two that lost their lives in this terrible accident it appears that the "nasty aggressive" SUV driver was just minding his own business when the careful driver of a nice small car crossed the centreline and hit the SUV.

Probably the…

The marginal threat to others between you driving a, say, Echo vs. a Land Cruiser is in the realms of a rounding error.

Statistically far more significant is having full-time 4WD and ABS.

So if we were…

My bicycle weighs ~12 kg, and has a fuel rating of 0.0 litres/100km

My bike weighs 14.2kg (bit heavy as full suspension) and has a similar fuel rating to yours.

However it will shortly be transporting two people along once I have one of these clamped on to…

My bicycle weighs ~12 kg, and has a fuel rating of 0.0 litres/100km.

I'm reminded of one of David Haywood's posts along the lines of "you don't get energy for free."

Something powers your bicycle (probably your legs), and the energy you need to do that has to come from…

everything else on the road is a danger to him [the cyclist]

Absolutely. We simply take cars for granted as part of the landscape without even questioning if they're the right thing for the job. Even if there was no risk of collision, every vehicle would still be causing harm…

The article linked mentions "a behemoth like the four-ton Chevy Tahoe".

Those are actually heavy enough to have a maximum speed of 90km/h on the open road here. I wonder how many of the people who own them here are aware of this. I wonder how many of the cops…

Ahem. Me & the car salesman

Bollox to the…

1. Most of you will be driving with under-inflated tyres. The pressures quoted in your manual are generally for cold (tyres are warm by the time you get to the petrol station) + the inaccuracy of most guages at forecourts means you are probably sucking down 10%…

Professional drivers such as bus drivers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, courier drivers, police officers etc tend to have better safety records on the road.

SHow me the stats! Maybe it's just my perception that every 2nd road death seems to have involved a car/truck collision.

Given the size of car I drive, the result is going to be pretty much the same whether it's an SUV or an articulated truck. And there are a lot more SUVs around.

What about George & his bicycle Lucy, he's even smaller than your car (presumably), I think if we're…

Doesn't change the fact that aggressive driving in articulated trucks is inherently much more dangerous to my health than aggressive driving in SUVs.

Professional drivers such as bus drivers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, courier drivers, police officers etc tend to have better safety records on the road. Some receive additional…

Doesn't change the fact that aggressive driving in articulated trucks is inherently much more dangerous to my health than aggressive driving in SUVs.

Given the size of car I drive, the result is going to be pretty much the same whether it's an SUV or an articulated truck. And there…

In the US it applies to 4000kg mammoths like the Chev Tahoe (of which there are a few on NZ roads).

In NZ we seem to be applying this term to anything that looks a bit like a 4…

Doesn't change the fact that aggressive driving in SUVs is inherently much more dangerous to my health than aggressive driving in small cars.

Doesn't change the fact that aggressive driving in articulated trucks is inherently much more dangerous to my health than aggressive driving in SUVs.

And so it goes.…

Keep people off the road?

Well, maybe restrict that to: keep stupid and inconsiderate people off the road....

Keep people off the road?

Well, it'd drop the road toll pretty substantially, wouldn't it? ;)

Mine was basically powered by a the equivalent of a works rally engine.

A father of a mate of mine worked at Ford, and my mate was able to borrow an escort sport that sounds just like this one, for ski trips (a small fleet would head north, of which…

If a particular type of driver is not courteous, or drives unsafely, it is a driver education issue. This suggests a response aimed at improving driving standards is required. Railing against their vehicle seems a bit stupid, and unlikely to address the issue of driver behaviour.

Doesn't change the fact…

If we are talking about modern small cars vs modern big cars then the thirst of the small one, no matter how hard you have to drive it up the hills, will be more modest than the larger car.

Not with the motor I had in that escort it won't.…

How about treat the disease, not the symptoms?

Keep people off the road?

The answer isn't to ban SUVs. It's both more complicated and simple than that. Things like encouraging people to have their children…

At 1/18th scale

Well I'll be... OK, here's me & the car salesman looking over my next car earlier today.

SUVs don't kill people, people kill people?

How about treat the disease, not the symptoms?

If you have a problem with drivers, then focus on them. Focusing on an inanimate object as the epitomy of evil seems a bit pointless.

If a particular type of driver is not courteous, or…

The slower on corners thing of big vehicles is true, but by the same token, small, underpowered…

Sheesh. I'm tempted to order a Hummer.

I lie actually, when the SUV dies, I'll swap it for one of these.

If I need to move livestock in future, I'll get a roofrack.

Minivans are favored by senior citizens and others (male and female, equally) who volunteer for their churches and carpool with other people's kids. But that's the problem. SUV owners buy them precisely because they don't want the "soccer mom" stigma associated with minivans.

I've gotta be honest & say I think…

It's like blaming aerosol cans for tagging, it just doesn't make sense.

SUVs don't kill people, people kill people?

If I wanted to travel 100 kilometres in one hour, I couldn't do that on a bike either. Especially not with two kids, a load of groceries, firewood, and couple of sheep in behind.

The point I'm idly skirting around is that there are more reasons for owning a particular…

The article linked mentions "a behemoth like the four-ton Chevy Tahoe".

Holy hell, 4 tons? WHat does a typical SUV in NZ weigh?

Quite a bit less. At that weight, I think an HT license would be needed to drive it in NZ.

The normal 4wd in NZ probably weighs…

Now maybe I'm being a bit defensive here AS, but as someone who worked in the automotive trade for many…

probably kinder to the environment than an old, poorly maintained jap import

That's a pretty shaky place to start off from. An SUV driver will be considering station wagons and sedans of comparable age and condition. Unless you can demonstrate that an SUV is markedly cheaper than a lighter vehicle…

Can any of the pro-SUV persuasion explain to me why we should allow such an inherently dangerous vehicle on our roads ?

The article linked mentions "a behemoth like the four-ton Chevy Tahoe".

Holy hell, 4 tons? WHat does a typical SUV in NZ weigh?

And for anyone that scorns SUVs that never leave the paved road... I assure you I've had to drive up on the curb on more than one occasion.

driving. FAIL.

Good luck getting ariound Mt Victoria with them.

If you lived in Lyall Bay however, it would be quite a reasonable position. You've got me though Andrew: a bike cannot do everything a car can. When I lived in Mt Vic, a load of groceries required a bus, a taxi,…

But ultimately, the problem I and many others have is that you are imposing costs (externalities) on others, when that vehicle is compared to a lighter vehicle that performs almost better under almost all use scenarios.

The externalities are a consideration, although I'm unconvinced that they relate specifically more to…

Not so great for moving a load of firewood &/or a couple of sheep.

Not such a common sight these days on the morning commute in the big cities I'd suggest. The sheep tend to make a terrible mess of the leather seats in the X5.

Here's a better link

Admittedly, there are occasions when you're going to need a motor vehicle

You can move house using just a bicycle. Here's a guy doing it in Lyon

You can see his home-made T-Shirt a little more clearly in this photo. I forget the precise words but their import was that…

and don't tell my girlfriend's wee hatchback. It'll get delusions of grandeur.

actually, I did move wood & at least one sheep in a mazda presso hatchback once.

I used to bike EVERYWHERE, but I consider it too dangerous to bike around Wellington anymore. And to temper my gas guzzling SUV…

A good cargo bike will carry two children and a load of groceries in style!

Good luck getting ariound Mt Victoria with them.

And for anyone that scorns SUVs that never leave the paved road... I assure you I've had to drive up on the curb on more than one occasion.

You need an SUV to drive up on the curb? Man, my 2WD Toyota sedan must be a real workhorse, and don't…

Not so great for moving a load of firewood &/or a couple of sheep.

There are a lot of things you can move on a bicycle. Especially if you have a cargo bike, a http://www.metaefficient.com/bicycles/longtail-bikes-a-review-and-buying-guide.htmllongtail bike, or a bike trailer. A good cargo bike will carry two children and a load…

Just a niggly little point. SUVs don't really have a single stated purpose. By definition, they are supposed to be able to do many things, hence the Utility part of SUV.

Yeah, but not many other vehicles have a single stated purpose, and if you're considering the set of purposes…

Too try-hard, he thought.

This is almost embarrassing to mention – we have a removable tow bar.

In conclusion, having a 4WD is a little like having a towbar. It's quite useful, but you might be rather surprised what you can do without one. Admittedly, towbars don't do a great deal for street cred.

I wanted to get a towball on my Suzuki Swift, but my partner…

Lets all consider the alternative. It's pretty good. And the fuel costs are zero.

Not so great for moving a load of firewood &/or a couple of sheep.

If I should ever choose to own and SUV, it is my call. I pay for it, I pay to run it

But ultimately, the problem I and many others have is that you are imposing costs (externalities) on others, when that vehicle is compared to a lighter vehicle that…

http://www.captainscarlet.free.fr/images/Sites/dinkyspv.jpg

Again, the rationale of the debate extended thus far smacks of dislike, rather than any compelling reason to change.…

Incidentally, if anyone's making loadsamoney out of the price of gas, it isn't BP shareholders. 5 year chart. The stock price has more or less underperformed the FTSE over five years.

Any idea of BP's total shareholder return (ie share price plus reinvested dividends) vs FTSE? I'll have a look…

If you own a Humvee for example, you should be going to war just occasionally, or at least training for such.

Or you probably should own it in a city where the roads are wider than the vehicle – not Wellington for example, but there are one or two here.

Reclassify SUVs as light trucks, so they'll need an HT licence to drive them

That would require reworking the whole classification system for driver's licences, which is based on weight and number of axles. An SUV weighs considerably less than 4500kg, which is the point at which a class 1…

Vans, trucks, buses and horsefloats need to be that big by virtue of their function. Likewise, by virtue of their function, they are quite rare.

Not so rare on State Highway 1 Stephen. Quite common in fact.

the car of choice for the nation's most self-centered people

I often wonder about SUV drivers.

Heh! As the owner of a BEAST of an SUV... I can tell you the choice was made by the primary driver, who feels the cold & fell in love with the heated seats.

That…

The debate continues on Global Warming/Global Dimming – possibly the sooner fossil fuels are used up and an alternative (cycling?) is found the better for everyone.

Umm, yup. There's an argument.

It is OK to have an SUV if you are using it for its stated purpose 100% of the…

It is OK to have an SUV if you are using it for its stated purpose 100% of the time.

However – if you have to interrupt your life of fun to turn up to work occasionally (as some of us do) then…

"SUVs are damn useful for their intended purpose. They are also very handy people movers, with good load capacities and ability to seat multiple people."

But really, isn't…

So a Subaru wagon is "OK" but a Ford Territory is not? Who decides what is an SUV and what is not? Perhaps Lucy could...

SUVs are usually driven by idiots who wouldn't…

Driving in parts of Auckland where SUVs are common is quite frustrating as they block your line of sight.

Vans, trucks, buses and horsefloats need to be that big by virtue of their function. Likewise, by virtue of their function, they are quite rare.

By the arguments put forward, I…

Vans, trucks, buses and horsefloats need to be that big by virtue of their function. Likewise, by virtue of their function, they are quite rare.

Furthermore, it has been my experience as the driver of a small car that buses and trucks tend to be quite curteous when it comes…

Yes, whether you want to run over your own toddlers, roll your vehicle at speed, crush pedestrians, or simply treat other cars as your crumple zone, there's an SUV for you!

You should work in advertising! Hehe.

Vans, trucks, buses and horsefloats need to be that big by virtue of their function. Likewise, by virtue of their function, they are quite rare.

Amazingly, A S, there are more than two kinds of cars to choose from. The opposite of a late-model SUV is not necessarily a badly tuned polluting pile of crap.

And the SUV is not the ride of satan, despite the opinion of some.

Last time I looked at stats…

I'd wager the emissions from the late model diesel SUV are a lot lower than the comparable emissions from the average poorly maintained family wagon.

Possibly, but there's a hell of a lot more than emissions to consider.

The amount of resources consumed in manufacturing big, heavy SUVs with big,…

The cost of diesel is entirely the cost of diesel, the tax is applied later through road user charges.

That's rather the point – people at my workplace are bitterly complaining that the shrinking gap in diesel prices have rendered them about as expensive to drive as their petrol compatriots.…

Amazingly, A S, there are more than two kinds of cars to choose from. The opposite of a late-model SUV is not necessarily a badly tuned polluting pile of crap.

SUV's make the roads more dangerous for everyone.
You can't see around them, they are so wide…

petrol has gone up 35 percent in the last year whereas diesel has gone up 80 percent

I read somewhere the other day that this is because there has been an underinvestment in diesel-producing facilities at refineries, combined with increasing useage.

What is the correct response to reading in this week’s Listener cover story that you will only get the keys to Julia Hartley Moore’s SUV from her cold dead hands?

Hotwire the SUV, run her over, take the keys, drive off.

Incidentally the cruise control thing might apply to the…

I would like the inquiry to throw some light on why, according to media reports today, petrol…

the car of choice for the nation's most self-centered people