Are Hummer Owners Idiots?

www.sfgate.com.../gate/archive/2003/01/15/notes011503.DTL

Great article...

More delightful proof positive that most SUVs are, in fact, morally repugnant. Go, America!

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Just in time for America's latest murderous war for oil, just in time to be reminded of exactly why our foreign policy is so horribly mangled and debilitating and Saudi enslaved and terrorist ready ...

Just in time to crush a few thousand smaller cars and kill a bunch of pedestrians and poison the environment and still be able to traverse six feet of standing floodwater in order to make it in time for Timmy's soccer game, it's the rollout of the new Hummer H2, the biggest joke of the entire SUV world, representing, well, just exactly everything that's wrong with America's view of the world.

Oh come now. You know it's true. You've seen the magazine ads and you've ogled the billboards and maybe sat there sort of benumbed and sad as you witnessed the noxious TV commercials that show the Hummer proudly spanking the soul of humanity and necessity and subtle intelligence. Grunt and drive, baby.



www.alternet.org...

Have you ever wondered why sport utility vehicle drivers seem like such assholes? Surely it's no coincidence that Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, tours Washington in one of the biggest SUVs on the market, the Cadillac Escalade, or that Jesse Ventura loves the Lincoln Navigator.

Well, according to New York Times reporter Keith Bradsher's new book, "High and Mighty," the connection between the two isn't a coincidence. Unlike any other vehicle before it, the SUV is the car of choice for the nation's most self-centered people; and the bigger the SUV, the more of a jerk its driver is likely to be.

According to market research conducted by the country's leading automakers, Bradsher reports, SUV buyers tend to be "insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communities. They are more restless, more sybaritic, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."

He says, too, that SUV drivers generally don't care about anyone else's kids but their own, are very concerned with how other people see them rather than with what's practical, and they tend to want to control or have control over the people around them. David Bostwick, Chrysler's market research director, tells Bradsher, "If you have a sport utility, you can have the smoked windows, put the children in the back and pretend you're still single."

Armed with such research, automakers have, over the past decade, ramped up their SUV designs to appeal even more to the "reptilian" instincts of the many Americans who are attracted to SUVs not because of their perceived safety, but for their obvious aggressiveness. Automakers have intentionally designed the latest models to resemble ferocious animals. The Dodge Durango, for instance, was built to resemble a savage jungle cat, with vertical bars across the grille to represent teeth and big jaw-like fenders. Bradsher quotes a former Ford market researcher who says the SUV craze is "about not letting anything get in your way, and at the extreme, about intimidating others to get out of your way."

Not surprisingly, most SUV customers over the past decade hail from a group that is the embodiment of American narcissism: baby boomers. Affluent and often socially liberal, baby boomers have embraced the four- wheel-drive SUV as a symbol of their ability to defy the conventions of old age, of their independence and "outdoorsiness," making the off-road vehicle a force to be reckoned with on the American blacktop.

But as Bradsher declares in his title, this baby boomer fetish is considerably more harmful than the mere annoyance of yet another Rolling Stones tour or the endless commercials for Propecia. In their attempt to appear youthful and hip, SUV owners have filled the American highways with vehicles that exact a distinctly human cost, frequently killing innocent drivers who would have survived a collision with a lesser vehicle. Bradsher quotes auto execs who concede that the self-centered lifestyle of SUV buyers is apparent in "their willingness to endanger other motorists so as to achieve small improvements in their personal safety."

After covering the auto industry for six years, Bradsher is an unabashed critic of sport-utility vehicles and the automakers that continue to churn them out knowing full well the dangers they pose. He doesn't equivocate in his feeling that driving an SUV is a deeply immoral act that places the driver's own ego above the health and safety of those around him, not to mention the health of the environment. Ironically, and though most supposedly safety-conscious owners don't realize it, SUVs even imperil those who drive them.



[Edited on 17-1-2003 by Netchicken]

The truck, the truck!!! (dirty minds)

hummer as in ex military everything you could want

I didn't post in the other SUV threads, but I'll take a swing here!
I own a 1998 Chevy Tahoe. I have the scratch to buy a newer one, but won't till they come out with the right engine. Chrysler said that they had a hybrid engine with enough torque to put in the Durango AND get over 30 MPG, but I haven't seen it yet. I'll wait for that sort of innovation.
Mine is a necessity - we did over 30 inches of snow in the month of December!
I also can't see spending the money: an H2 is selling over sticker in the $60K range, and all those other Caddie/Lexus/Toyota are coming in the same.

Forgot to mention my Saab does 30 MPG and that it's my primary vehicle.

Hrm, I would be interested to know the statistics of how many ppl who own these cars actually use them for anything they are designed for.

Bout time, you evildoer - driving a SUV! I live in a 'snow belt' and get tons of snow - yet, my commute car (60+ miles a day) is a Saturn. You should be ashamed of yourself. You support terrorists (and those evil regimes in our biggest oil supplying countries, like CANADA)

In all seriousness, why the SUV bashing? Last week SUV owners support terrorists - now SUV owner are self-centered. The thought police are at it again!

Kano, I doubt they do, but I sure beat the hell out of my blazer when I had it. Now I am married w/ children and own a couple of sedans - and my wife wants a minivan

[Edited on 17-1-2003 by Bob88]

Too many times, I've had to really engineer how to fit some things in my car, even with fold-down rear seats, and a big trunk... I do a lot of working with wood, and my next vehicle will definitely be an SUV. As far as the "supporting terrorism" arguement, what a load of dung... So, by driving a car, I'm supporting terrorism, only a little bit less than an SUV driver? Geesh, give me a break!

[Edited on 17-1-2003 by Gazrok]

[Edited on 17-1-2003 by Gazrok]

My Tahoe was a pure utilitarian purchase: I was building a home and needed a bulk hauler, I used to hunt and still do allot of fresh water fishing so I take it off road and I live in the Catskills Mountain range of the Hudson Valley....so it snows like a somna'bitch up here! Front wheel drive ain't cuttin' it in 30 inches!
Though the Saab with snow tires is great for the light stuff.

Hey, I'll swap my Test-site White Dodge Pickup truck, for a Hummer! Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I really need a Hummer. The gravel roads out here are pathetic. I tell you what....... I'll even throw in an official Art Bell KNYE 95.1 cap autographed by the man himself. And if that's not all......... A five foot tall green Alien signed in permanent ink by Art. What A Deal!!! Oh yeah, the truck was driven in Area 51 in the 80's. So I've been told.


[Edited on 09/08/2002 by MountainStar]

is the $38,000.00 tax deduction for buying one
www.msnbc.com...

THE HUMMER H2 SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF ITSELF.


I don't give a crap about that terrorist crap. People shouldn't even call it a "Hummer". It doesn't even have the original hummer chassis! Anway, most people don't buy trucks for hauling stuff, they buy 'em because they can. We bought our truck to all my 100, 200, and my dad's 600 (their motorcycles in case you don't know). And it works really good, but then I see people with those "sporty" trucks, and they don't even use em for anything!

LOL!

Aaaahh...the Hummer...reminds me of that car that Homer Simpson designed one episode - ridiculous.

Once had the misfortune of seeing one on the street...this was on a NZ street mind you...not a big assed American street...damn thing was almost half in the opposing lane and the driver was all nervous he might get it scratched...everyone else on the street just looked and laughed at his gullible egotistical ass...

...what do ya think Netchicken...think we should let Americans know that they look bloody stupid driving those behemoths or should we leave it as a 'running gag'


...oh oh...and get the bling bling yo...da mad bling 30inch yo...and we be woop woop all up the strizel ma nizel...


Peace,
ALIEN

[Edited on 18-1-2003 by alien]

alien,

"...what do ya think Netchicken...think we should let Americans know that they look bloody stupid driving those behemoths or should we leave it as a 'running gag' "

I wouldn't look bloody stupid driving the behemoth. You see there's no busy streets here just a whole lot of desert!

[Edited on 09/08/2002 by MountainStar]

I dont like the Hummer H2 but if someone was to give it to me id take it in a heartbeat. BUt like what was stated earlier its not even a true Hummer. The pppl who buys these are the kind of ppl who dont wanna go offroading because it might get dirrty. If i could pick any car i would get one of the old hummers top of the line. Id love it. But the major reason i would want it is just for the fact that i could do anything with it. Im paranoid thats why i want it.

That's my second car.

And I do not think that I'm selfish or that I've a problem with my ego.

VRROOOOOAAAR VROOAAAAAAAR

I'm with quicksilver, original hummers are tough, and you can do anything with them. Take off the back, get it DIRTY, and just have alot of FUN!!! HEAR THAT FRIGGIN "H2" OWNERS HAHAHA! I FART IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION!!!

Actually I think people don't like hummers out of envy. Give these people unlimited money and many will own a hummer over time.

YESYES

Not only do they get horrible milage, but they take up too much of the road, and make my attempts to park easily a hellish task

Sorry I saw the guy was banned, but I just had to say my piece. It just really irritates me that everything is blamed on SUV's