"JR North" wrote in message
...
/rant
The main problem is the nitwits that drive them have no experience driving
a large, high vehicle.

Didja ever notice how a really bad driver always seems to be surrounded by
what he perceives to be bad drivers?

El Alumbrado
"Civis Texanus Sum"

"JR North" wrote in message
...
/rant
The main beef I have with SUVs is the people who drive them have little
or no experience with the shifted drivers perspective due to the
elevated eye level. I have come within a short hair's width of being
broadsided TWICE by Lincoln Navigators, who's drivers ran a stop sign on
an intersecting side street. This is because they are used to looking UP
at a stop sign in a car. The elevated eye level in an SUV puts the sign
about level with the driver. So, it doesn't register. People who are
used to driving trucks do not make this error. The higher driver
position causes an error in judging the distance of the car in front,
and sometimes not even seeing it because it is below the drivers
straight ahead line of vision. I was waiting to turn left into a 7-11
with my brake and T/S lights on in my '70 Datsun Roadster. I glanced in
my RVM to see a Ford Expedition barreling right at me at 45mph. I
stomped the gas and got out of her way just in the nick of time. I could
see her face as I glanced- see was staring straight ahead- didn't even
see me sitting there. If I hadn't moved, I would have been killed-
literally run-over by that monster.
Suvs rear-end cars for the above illustrated conditions. I have 3
neighbors with SUVs, all 3 currently have front end damage.
As I said, look at the number of cars with rear end collision damage
well above bumper height.
I have had SUV's repeatedly change lanes into me(without colliding),
because they can't see smaller cars next to them.
Am I discourteous to SUVs? You bet. I can't trust one behind me, and
can't see around one in front of me. If one is next to me, I'm just
waiting for it to swerve into my lane. If one is approaching on a side
street, I expect it to run the stop sign. This is no way to drive with
peace-of-mind.
The main problem is the nitwits that drive them have no experience
driving a large, high vehicle.
I'm just counting the days till I get killed by one.....
\rant
JR

Ad absurdum per aspera wrote:
Three times in the past week or so, I've noticed something I don't
recall seeing befo someone with a high-riding pickup or SUV who had
two to six inches of drop hitch -- installed upside down.

Two of them had a trailer on, and in the worst case, a flatbed behind a
Ford Excursion, the upside-down apparatus combined with the tall
vehicle to leave it sitting at maybe a twenty-degree angle. I'm
surprised he didn't leave his trailer taillights on the speed bumps --
or his cargo on the road going up a steep hill.

Just for completeness, I went to a local store and looked at the
catalogue from one of the big makers of trailering tools and toys.
Sure enough, it contained not only instructions but photographs showing
what things are supposed to look like when properly rigged. Somehow
people are spending money on an accessory that they probably need --
and using it exactly wrong.
Fishtailing soon down an Interstate near you...

--Joe



--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

Maybe you are bad driver. I now drive an SUV and a Chevy 2500 truck. I
have been hit over the years, including those when I drove non-suv, by
several vehicles. None an SUV or truck. An Oldsmobile while stopped at a
red light. A BMW at a stop light in San Francisco. hitting a Chevy 2500
truck trailer hitch does no damage to the truck at commute stop and go
speed. I have had my S-10 Blazer hit when it was 2 weeks old. Stop and go
on the freeway off ramp. Older Datsun. A fullsize T-bird hit my regular
car while parked. A honda civic in a parking lot. From his perspective I
had to be large, so why did he drive into me while I was in a parking slot.
I was about 2' from the Expedition when he ran into me. A guy fell a sleep
driving through a parking lot and smashed the rear bumper and corner of my
s10 p/u while driving a small rental car. Fact is, I have been hit 5 times
while parked. None were an SUV.
Bill

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 23:16:27 -0600, "El Alumbrado"
wrote:

"JR North" wrote in message
...
/rant
The main problem is the nitwits that drive them have no experience driving
a large, high vehicle.

Didja ever notice how a really bad driver always seems to be surrounded by
what he perceives to be bad drivers?

Look at what he's driving - a roller skate.

No wonder nobody can see him.

JR North wrote:

This is no way to drive with peace-of-mind.

Anyone who drives with too much peace-of-mind isn't paying enough
attention, in my opinion. Any vehicle can have a moron behind the wheel
and by paying too much attention to the SUV you could miss the idiot in
the car next to you.

JR North wrote:

The main beef I have with SUVs is the people who drive them have little
or no experience with the shifted drivers perspective due to the
elevated eye level. I have come within a short hair's width of being
broadsided TWICE by Lincoln Navigators, who's drivers ran a stop sign on
an intersecting side street. This is because they are used to looking UP
at a stop sign in a car. The elevated eye level in an SUV puts the sign
about level with the driver. So, it doesn't register.

That, sir, is cobblers.

A *competent* driver of *any* road-legal vehicle will see the stop
sign ahead of him *long* before its exact height becomes relevant
(unless, of course, the highway authority has allowed it to be
obscured by other clutter - but that's quite another matter).

An *incompetent* driver may very well miss the sign, whether he is
driving a Lincoln Navigator or an E-Type Jag.

There may, of course, be a *statistical correlation* between choice
of vehicle and driving competence, but competence is *far and away*
the more significant factor in road safety.

"JR North" wrote in message
...
snip
I was waiting to turn left into a 7-11
with my brake and T/S lights on in my '70 Datsun Roadster. I glanced in
my RVM to see a Ford Expedition barreling right at me at 45mph. I
stomped the gas and got out of her way just in the nick of time. I could
see her face as I glanced- see was staring straight ahead- didn't even
see me sitting there. If I hadn't moved, I would have been killed-
literally run-over by that monster.

And why would that be a bad thing?

This smells like the crap it is. At least you could have made up a
convincing tale. Just for the entertainment value.
--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message
...

"JR North" wrote in message
...
snip
I was waiting to turn left into a 7-11
with my brake and T/S lights on in my '70 Datsun Roadster. I glanced in
my RVM to see a Ford Expedition barreling right at me at 45mph. I
stomped the gas and got out of her way just in the nick of time. I could
see her face as I glanced- see was staring straight ahead- didn't even
see me sitting there. If I hadn't moved, I would have been killed-
literally run-over by that monster.

And why would that be a bad thing?

This smells like the crap it is. At least you could have made up a
convincing tale. Just for the entertainment value.
--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com



Unfortunately, JR is probably telling the unvarnished truth.

Drivers tend to look straight ahead and neither up nor down - if they don't
see another driver's head or the roofline of a vehicle then, to them, it
simply isn't there.

I was rear-ended by a driver who "didn't see" my '62 MG Midget, hit head on
by another driver [same Midget], and sideswiped by yet a third driver while
I was driving an '81 GMC pickup [he was driving a '79 LTD].

All 3 claimed that they didn't even know my vehicle was there.

Your olfactory organ is malfunctioning - go see your doctor.

Unfortunately, JR is probably telling the unvarnished truth.

Drivers tend to look straight ahead and neither up nor down - if they
don't
see another driver's head or the roofline of a vehicle then, to them, it
simply isn't there.

I was rear-ended by a driver who "didn't see" my '62 MG Midget, hit head
on
by another driver [same Midget], and sideswiped by yet a third driver
while
I was driving an '81 GMC pickup [he was driving a '79 LTD].

All 3 claimed that they didn't even know my vehicle was there.

Your olfactory organ is malfunctioning - go see your doctor.



Getting rear ended I can buy. Seeing it coming, and reacting, and
accelerating out of the way, in a Datsun, and seeing the driver in the
rearview, I don't buy at any price.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

I have had to do that same thing on several occasions (accelerate away from someone I saw in my rear view mirror who had no idea I
was in front of them) in my 1/2 ton GMC 4X4 P/up
Fredo
"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message ...

Unfortunately, JR is probably telling the unvarnished truth.

Drivers tend to look straight ahead and neither up nor down - if they
don't
see another driver's head or the roofline of a vehicle then, to them, it
simply isn't there.

I was rear-ended by a driver who "didn't see" my '62 MG Midget, hit head
on
by another driver [same Midget], and sideswiped by yet a third driver
while
I was driving an '81 GMC pickup [he was driving a '79 LTD].

All 3 claimed that they didn't even know my vehicle was there.

Your olfactory organ is malfunctioning - go see your doctor.



Getting rear ended I can buy. Seeing it coming, and reacting, and
accelerating out of the way, in a Datsun, and seeing the driver in the
rearview, I don't buy at any price.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

The fact that he was in a 1/2 ton pickup and they claim they did not see
him, negates all his arguments about only looking forward, not up / down.
As to getting rear ended and seeing it coming, yes you can. I got rear
ended at a stop light. Guys brakes failed, and I sam him coming to fast,
but no where to escape. I laid across the seat and braced myself.
Bill

"FredO" . wrote in message
...
I have had to do that same thing on several occasions (accelerate away
from someone I saw in my rear view mirror who had no idea I
was in front of them) in my 1/2 ton GMC 4X4 P/up
Fredo
"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message
...

Unfortunately, JR is probably telling the unvarnished truth.

Drivers tend to look straight ahead and neither up nor down - if they
don't
see another driver's head or the roofline of a vehicle then, to them,
it
simply isn't there.

I was rear-ended by a driver who "didn't see" my '62 MG Midget, hit
head
on
by another driver [same Midget], and sideswiped by yet a third driver
while
I was driving an '81 GMC pickup [he was driving a '79 LTD].

All 3 claimed that they didn't even know my vehicle was there.

Your olfactory organ is malfunctioning - go see your doctor.



Getting rear ended I can buy. Seeing it coming, and reacting, and
accelerating out of the way, in a Datsun, and seeing the driver in the
rearview, I don't buy at any price.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com