(Here I drew fire with my tirades against SUVs. It's kind of
irrational to promote jungle vehicles --advertising does that job--
while bicycles come under constant attack. Where are the lions?)
Posted by GandJ
TibetanMonkey -
The incessant tirade against SUVs in many of your posts does not
advance your cause. First off, most of the difference is in ground
clearance and height.. Higher ground clearance or height themselves do
not use more road space. Width, not total size, height, or weight, is
the relevant measure when it comes to taking up room on the road, and
getting closer to the shoulder. . Most SUVs are only very slightly
wider than cars.
Some examples:
Two imports...Honda Accord and Toyota Highlander.
Width of Accord: 72.7 inches
Width of Highlander: 75.9 inches
That's a differnce of 3.2 inches, or just 1.6 inches extra on the left
side of the vehicle, and 1.6 inches extra on the right side of the
vehicle.
Tow domestic vehicles:
Chevy Corvette ZR1 and the (huge) Chevy Tahoe
Width of Vette: 75.9 inches
Width of (huge) Tahoe: 77.0 inches
That's a differnce of 1.1 inches, or about a half-inch extra on the
left side of the vehicle, and a half-inch extra on the right side of
the vehicle.
The reason you see SUVs and pick-ups doing 3-point turns just to get
in parking spaces is more because of their length than their width.
Length does not use more road width. People see those maneuvers of
SUVs and pick-ups to get in parking spots, and automtically assume
it's because of the width. Not so.
I've done a lot of cylcing, and appreciate your concerns. But, the
anti-SUV rants are unproductive. For something productive, maybe you
can open up a "bike ferry" service with small boats ..... one next to
each bridge. There are 42 bridges along US 1 in the keys. Think of the
opportunity! You can become the Cornelius Vanderbilt of the keys! .
The TibetanMonkey Ferry Company!
***
MY REPLY:
That's a great maritime enterprise. South Beach to Key West with
nonstop dancing... Should we allow weed on board? Well, maybe when we
are in international waters, just like casinos.
Anyway, original SUVs (before the current fad) were narrow. It was the
time of Land Rovers and Toyotas, and you would see them from the
African savannahs to the jungles of Costa Rica. They were narrow so
they could squeeze through paths where a Hummer would get stuck. Then
the Americans made an ego machine out of it, but in order to make it
more stable for the real world of the urban jungle, they became wider.
When I refer to SUVs, it's the supersized ones that are the problem.
Ford Rangers and Jeep Liberty's were OK but they are gone.
http://www.ferrari-insight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2012-Ford-F-350-Super-Duty-21.jpg
The car is cool but the SUV is nasty, and someday will be laughing
about it. Ironically the world has tilted toward the big beasts when
we should be encouraging bicycling. That's the price of Globalization,
I guess.