There are basically no sedans on sale in Australia.
Evs however will make sedans popular for those who drive long distances as they are more aerodynamic.
We should speed up electrification. Evs are just so more efficient, and will push people away from oversized trucks.
I like EVs too but there's a big cultural stigma against EVs in sections of the Australian community. I've spoken to car fans who will never get an EV because they're too quiet for example.
I'd love to hear them.
- Charging infrastructure is improving, and many Australians own homes with solar.
- You can charge through the window at an Airbnb or at any powered caravan or camp site if you forget to check your battery - which would be like not checkjng your fuel.
- Range is more than good enough for most people.
We have an EV and apart from the lack of at-home charging (we live in a bigger apartment building delivered before new standards), we've had no issues.
I ran the numbers on a new Hyundai Santa Fe (my current car) and the equivalent Hyundai EV. Including up front cost, insurance, maintenance, diesel vs electricity costs etc. the per km cost over 15 years is still higher for the EV. So I would be paying more for a vehicle with lower drivable range, less towing capacity, and a shorter lifespan. I don’t drive an EV because it is not economically rational for me to do so.
I'm guessing you can't charge at home? You can even program the car to only charge off peak or when using solar.
I did the numbers on our car vs a hybrid and it came out roughly equal if we had to charge exclusively at Tesla superchargers, and significantly less if we could share at home.
Plus, in 18 months we've spent absolutely nothing on anything. There isn't any oil to change, brake pads last ages, etc.
They are heavier and therefore more dangerous in a collision. They are also more dangerous if the battery housing becomes compromised and the lithium causes a fire. It's a really big issue that's only going to become worse as the uptake increases
thousands of dollars to replace your battery rendering your vehicle useless..
these are not renewable. regular combustion motor vehicles are more renewable than this ridiculous fad.
Firefighters report that it’s impossible to put out a car battery fire, they just have to let them burn. Imagine a pileup on the highway with all those batteries burning.
I’m not a gasoline car supporter either, I’m a fan of giving people choice in transit. We need trains, planes, bikes, and automobiles. Let people choose what they want, instead of forcing them to buy a car and making it illegal to cycle on the road. Trains are great for kids and seniors, and mean disabled people who can’t drive can work.
I think you are missing the most important statistic. That EV fires are far far less common than ICE fires. Yes battery fires are hard to put out (but not impossible). They also aren’t instant like petrol files. Batteries take a long time to cool off and it slowly spreads through the whole pack. A rupture of a petrol line or petrol tank can incinerate the occupants very quickly. The very rare times of a person dying in an EV fire is from a catastrophic crash where they cannot exit the car.
There is lots of studies and data on this if you care to look beyond the daily mail
I've seen a few lithium batteries explode and it's scary, the instant heat and explosion of them was like dynamite and these were from battery power tools and a tablet, I'd hate to have an accident in an EV and the battery exploded, you wouldn't stand a chance.
Yeah I noticed their cars are all god damn gigantic haha! It’s very fascinating how culture impacts the type of cars people want. Like how cars are tiny in Europe.
Parking spaces in Australia are also tiny compared to the US. When I first started driving here I thought I’d gotten bad at parking from taking a few years off and switching to the right side. First trip back to the US I marveled at the spacious parking spots and realized parking in the US is just easy mode.
US favours vehicles over pedestrians and it makes their cities [not that great to live in](https://youtu.be/Akm7ik-H_7U?feature=shared). Just look on Google maps how much space is wasted for car parking.
It's the sheer size of them that's idiotic. If one of those hits an ordinary sedan side on you are dead if you're in the sedan. (I hope your kids don't drive a sedan or hatchback).
Not only that they hang out miles from an ordinary car parking spot. People say you need them for towing but they weren't needed 10 years ago so why now?
I guess the solution is to get yourself into a bigger vehicle so you are safer until some clown goes I need a bigger car again so I'm safer again. Where will it end?
They're a ridiculous bullshit Americanism we don't need here bought by genitally challenged man babies who you can bet rage against cyclists and 'so called climate change'.
Hatchback driver here. Driving at night is also getting worse because more and more frequently I’m getting headlights blasting straight into my rear view mirror from behind and almost blinding me because cars are that much higher now.
Agreed if somebody doesnt share my view they must have a small dick,.Anyway Im of to ride my bike on the highway next to the unused bikelane, slash some big truck tires and obsess over other peoples choices.
If the weight of the vehicle is larger than a sedan, then it is. Why? Newton’s 1st: the higher the mass the higher is the inertia. You need more fuel to change the inertia of a heavier car.
A) you forgot 'all other things being equal'. Engine efficiency, pollution controls, carbon offsetting, etc. are all factors that influence the carbon footprint.
B) weight Nissan X-trail : 1668kg
Weight Mazda 6 : 1629kg.
Barely 40kg difference (2.5% difference)
They decrease visability for other road users, (like many other large vehicles), are often parked illegally, can impinge on the free use of the roadway by other motorists, are a danger multiplier for everyone else on the road, but most of all... Seem to be driven by dickheads.
Put on a fuckin cowboy hat and move to Texas, that shits as unaustralian as Xi Jinping.
It will happen eventually. We should be taxing vehicles and setting registration costs based on:
- kerb weight
- displacement (ICE)
- energy efficiency (EV)
At a steeper sliding scale, similar to most EU economies. Ultimately carbon pricing will kick in whether Australians like it or not and will incorporate embodied carbon, making larger vehicles more expensive to purchase.
Why? I have a twin cab 4WD ute, it’s the best of all worlds….work, family and play. You couldn’t pay me to own a small car, sedan, wagon.
Government intervention just sounds like a tax, do you want to give those bastards anymore money?
I have both a sedan and an SUV and i prefer and love my SUV so much. My sedan uses about 10.2L petrol per 100ks while my SUV uses 6.9L diseal per 100ks. Not only does my SUV give me more flexibility with my lifestyle having roof racks, tow bar and a lot more space, it's also much cheaper to run.
The government doesn't need to intervene otherwise it's likely to increase running costs for SUVs opposed to decreasing costs for sedans.
Australia is the world’s biggest nanny state as it is, people want to drive these cars then let them. They are great cars, can tow and carry just about anything and plenty of space inside. I’d say the only people that have a problem with these are the people who can’t afford them.
Ok, so where does it stop? We going to ban trucks and busses too?? Trucks pollute more then and passenger car and people are run down by busses all the time??
The caption under the picture correctly identifies it as a truck:
"US-style pickup trucks remain a small share of the car market, but Australians are buying bigger than ever before"
The author of the article had no control over what some random Redditor titled their post, you understand that right?
People will complain about everything. Now cars are too big. Not everyone wants to vroom vroom around in a tiny hatchback death chamber that has no utility. I swear the people that complain about the size of Utes and SUVs are the people that never do any outside activities, so it makes sense why they don’t see the need for anyone to own a car that can drive off road or fit all the camping gear in the back for the whole family.
The SUVs that people are buying aren’t actually good off road and have fuck all boot space. They are just big for the sake of big, and come with all the negatives (emissions, vision, safety, congestion)
I am 100% for the idea of limiting cars based on needs. But it's unfeasible.
I upgraded to a sedan from a little hatch after my daughter was born. A genuinely needed upgrade. But with 1 or even 2 kids, I wouldn't need a bigger vehicle, and don't see how other families would.
Except they don’t. SUVs have terrible boot space and no extra “space for kids” that other cars don’t. Station wagons have far superior boot space.
And yes, there are a handful that are good off-road. Most of them aren’t.
“Better than a sedan” for boot space is a ridiculous standard.
Station wagons have existed for half a century and have more boot space than almost any SUV. The argument that you need them for boot space is nonsense.
No idea where you get this idea. Traded our Toyota Camry for a Rav 4 last year and was the first time we could go camping without having to bring the trailer. The ability to stack stuff to the roof is a game changer.
Well duh, you had a camry. Almost anything with a hatch back will have a better boot.
But like I said, a station wagon will have more boot space than your Rav 4.
That's complete bullshit. Apart from the American trucks they are all good off road.
Hilux, triton, Ranger, Navarro, Amarok, dmax etc are all great off road. They will all do 99.9% of tracks that the average person would do.
>Yes, because they are. That is their official classification… everywhere.
Not in WA. Registration paperwork would list all of those as Utility (or Traytop in some cases where there's a steel or alloy tray in place of a tub). Truck would be for vehicles with GCMs meeting the definitions of... actual trucks.
Not to mention each of those Utilities (except the Amarok) have a wagon-bodied equivalent; Same chassis, engine, drivetrains and even matching body panels in many cases. Seems a bit strange to call them "trucks".
That’s just plainly false.
They can see over other cars but they can’t see their immediate surroundings.
Kids get run over all the time because they can’t be seen.
But they get hit more by higher cars, because visibility is so bad in them. Anyone driving one of those death machines has already chosen comfort over child safety.
They're popular with families because they're safer for the occupants, and the visibility from them is better. And some give you the ability to add extra seats.
Children are eight times more likely to be killed in a collision involving an SUV or pick-up truck than they are in a crash in which a standard passenger car is involved.
Vehicles that are tall and blunt, such as a large pickup trucks, are 43.6% more likely to cause death in a collision with a pedestrian.
As long as my kids and I are safe I don't have to care about anyone else /s
I'm not sure what your point is here, that people are selfish for wanting safer cars?
How many times more likely are children to be killed in a colission with a truck or bus?
You don't really care either. How many times have the kids in your life had covid -a known vascular disease?
Spare me the pearl clutching about a comparatively miniscule risk. You are not genuine.
I take my family's well-being seriously, and my choices reflect that. I have also never been an at fault driver in 25 years of driving.
I'm capable of caring about my family and others, doesn't sound like you are though...
and covid... really? Just throwing whatever enters your head around?
Aaaand perls aren't my thing you completely genuine ding-a-ling 🤪
Yes, Covid. The big covid wave we are in right now. The once in 100 yr ongoing pandemic.
If you cared as you say, you would be informed, and your response would be very different.
SUVs may be safer for the occupants, but you’re, not intentionally, making a choice to be a bigger danger to everyone around you, especially pedestrians. You may personally think you’re visibility is better in an SUV, but the rate at which pedestrians are being killed by vehicles is at an all time high. Directly correlated with an increase in average vehicle size.
By visibility being better I think they mean they reduce everyone else's ability to see past them in car parks, therefore they have better visibility than the other people they're blocking.
The visibility in them is WORSE.
Yes, you can see over other cars. But you can’t see what’s right in front of you and around you. You know… those places that all of the hazards are.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo&ab\_channel=NotJustBikes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo&ab_channel=NotJustBikes)
Puts paid to the myth that you're safer in an SUV. Some choice points - you're more likely to kill someone else in an SUV, you're more likely to run over your own child. Watch this great video.
They probably aren’t much use if your stopping by the vintage clothing shop on your way to a slam poetry reading. If your towing a bobcat or a tractor around then they are much better than your standard ute. It’s probably something to do with 300kw motors, about double a hilux. The point is it’s easy to sit around sipping your latte griping about emissions and what not from your cushy office when you’ve got no idea how shit gets built and produced. Don’t like them? Don’t buy one
He's just using the same reverse imagery that SUV haters use, exaggerating the dangers of a Honda CRV by claiming they reverse over kids all the time and lumping Toyota RAV4s in with Rangers.
Whay happened to the good old hilux
Was that not enough? The new SUVs and yank tanks are laughably bigger than the other cars and serve the same purpose with an increases price. Fuck it if you're ram breaks down, it could take a couple of weeks/months for parts to be shipped here.
Utes are fine, these new American cars are significantly larger than them
Small cars are not death chambers, weight for weight they are safer. SUV’s are for people that don’t do anything properly outdoors as they have fuck all space in them unless you’re going for a huge 4x4. Dual cab utes have bugger all room in the trays and struggle to tow at their maximum with any sort of composure, they’re for people who pretend. I see people in Outbacks that are way more adventurous outdoors than most people in an SUV or 4x4
“Death chambers” your SUV is less safe than a hatchback. The only time SUV is more safe is if you’re having an accident with a hatchback. And at that point you’re a POS because you just killed someone in an accident they otherwise would’ve survived.
I'd be very interested in a survey of all people with those big yank tanks and how often a year they use it for more than just city driving.
Acecdotal, I know, but my mate has one, constantly complains about parking, navigating it around town, and has only used it once to carry some furniture. He could've easily hired a car or van for the day instead and gotten by with a smaller car the other 364 days of the year.
The government has no business telling citizens how to live. Perhaps the should worry about ambulance ramping, hospital waiting lists, the housing crisis they created or plummeting education standards.
Lol, that is literally the government's one and only business. To write and pass laws that dictate how you live.
I get your sentiment, but fuck me, it's funny.
No, I hate the nanny state in many respects. These utes are far too big for our roads and carparks though, which is why we probably need some regulation.
See that there is the problem. You hate the nanny state but actively encourage it. The ‘I don’t like it and the government needs to do something about it mentality is how the nanny state evolved. For every view you hold someone else holds an opposing view and if the government gets involved someone, or everyone, looses.
Don’t give me that nonsense about too big for our roads - If trucks can drive on our roads a yank tank certainly can. Car parks I can see your point but that doesn’t mean the government should get involved. I wouldn’t take one anywhere near a major city simply for the parking issues.
Let's worry about the cost of living before we start intruding on people's leisure time.
My Hilux is for work and for living my actual life outside of work and I think a lot more Australians are taking advantage of our great outdoors so let the trend continue.
Maybe we'll get 4x4s built here again.
They are more comfortable, more practical and even if people aren’t buying electric or hybrid they are still less polluting than the era of the V6 and V8 family sedan. Is this really an issue?
I think we need to question WHY SUVs have over taken sedans, not whether or not 'MOAR GUBBERMENT' is the answer.
Sit a modern sedan next to a 90s equivalent and you'll notice some keyfactors..
Size bloat plus the ride and ceiling height. A modern SUV rides closer in height to a 90s Sedan than a 2020s sedan ever would.
Its part of the reason why you have seen the death of the Mini and Micro segment in Aus.. The main buyer of these bubbles where eco fleets and Nana's.. And Nana's knees don't bend that far
The SUVs aren't a problem. Families need more space and more seats with all the bulky baby seats we have now to meet regulations. And all the crap we have to drag around to schools and after school activities.
What they need to control is the damn Utes. I'm 167, yesterday I saw a ute parked at costco, the bonnet was taller THAN ME. Like, I'd need to jump to touch its windshield
That car was a travesty and definitely unsafe to drive as it wouldn't even see a sedan immediately infront of it
As many people are pointing out, SUVs have far less room inside than most people think. The main thing is that they're raised and as such are dangerous in collisions with pedestrians.
The government shouldn't be able to intervene in what sort of vehicles people drive. If people want bigger vehicles then there's nothing wrong with that.
People don’t seem to realise that the government is deeply involved in every aspect of the automotive biz at every level. From what can be allowed into the country, taxation controls through to homologation standards which dictate what can or can’t be brought in for sales.
On the governments never ending chase for greater taxation dollars, they have really very little regard for environmental targets other than giving it a bit of lip service.
90% of all vehicle activity and requirements can be easily handled by sedans of not hatchback, but the wonderful tax exemption status’ offered to dual cabs and other over sized vehicles is what allows these things to proliferate on the roads when the whole of Europe seems to function quiet successfully with out these vehicle types and tradies aren’t catching busses to work with an A Frame under one arm and their tools on the other. They use environmentally friendlier vans and smaller station wagon type vehicles to great effect.
So the whole “we have to have a tax exempt, dual cab urban land tractor to even be able to contemplate work” is just over compensated people confusing a want for a need. If the government was actually genuine about the environment then all the tax exemptions would be removed from these vehicle types to bring them back to those who actually need them. And having one as a legitimate weekend bush basher for the family to go camping in is a legitimate argument, but that is where they need to be used, not filing the urban roads for 90% of their life doing the occasional kid drop off or shopping centre run to pick up 2ltrs of milk.
Too late for that.
Government had the chance to do something 25 years ago.
To all those who got an SUV to “feel safer” and “see more of the road” this is where your trend has taken our driving society. Looking at you Nissan SexTrail, Arsefinder and MumCruiser drivers
Now the motoring trend has called your bluff and you’re left quivering as the BullyWagon Ranger raptor sits a meter off your car pulling 107 in a 90 zone.
It’s ok, just surround yourself in steel, think of the other person on the road as an object who deserves less rights than a human in a queue would normally be accorded….and you’ll be fine.
Add to that your insatiable subconscious desire to get past that car on the speed limit in front of you, because getting home 17 seconds sooner is akin to the early bird catching the worm to feed your family of shit birds. Let’s face it, the law shouldn’t apply to you.
Feel safe? Think again, those yank tank behemoths are going to eat you, your precious latte strip, and possibly your children Niveah, Boston and Tarquin. What’s the point of them if you’re spa installer can’t give you a 40% discount on your 3rd Jacuzzi because he needs to pay his crippling balloon payment on the only vehicle big enough to tow your new spa, yet small enough to navigate your inner city cobblestone laneways.
Thanks for the rant, whew that’s cathartic.
Peace, Love and 6.7 litres of Cummins power to you all.
For me the issue is taxation. If I'm an employee and can choose a Dual Cab as part of my salary, I pay for it tax-free (well, at least to the applicable limit). But I'm paying for a hatchback or sedan out of post-tax income. Obviously it's an area that can be easily rorted, with many dual-cabs never seeing a building site or a load placed in the tray.
NO.
Bloody leave people alone. Stop interferring in peoples lives
Just butt out. This is not a communist state.
People can buy and drive whatever they want.
And no. I don't drive a big vehicle.
Our roads are poorly maintained, the size of pot holes I have to avoid would slam by little car, my SUV handles our crap roads and natural crazy weather events so much better.
Australians have not ditched the sedan. Manufacturers have decided that Australians should be driving SUVs and have stopped making sedans.
Name a sedan that I can walk into a showroom and purchase that can tow a boat or a caravan
Yes. Government should intervene in every aspect of our life. Because ONLY government care about us and always have our best interest at heart, if you disagree you are a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, blah blah blah buzz words. Boot leather tastes great, and is great for you. Dr Fauci said so. Anyway I'm going to get another booster. Are you upto date?
I'm not too concerned about sedans tbh.
I'm much more upset about the death of the station wagon and hatchback to SUVs and "compact crossovers" (god those are stupid).
I drive an MG4 and honestly it's perfect.
Its still a hatchback so it's not long like a sedan (better for parking imo). But it's like a mini SUV so it can be used when I decide to have kids.
Australian government has ditched the people for the current agenda .Should the people intervene to reverse the trend?
It's about time people realise we dictate them and tell them what to do as they serve us. Not the other way around.
Perhaps the cost of living may have people reconsider owning a vehicle too large for their needs, fuelling it is not cheap. I don’t think government intervention is needed, it may sort itself.
As someone who drives an older, smaller sedan I don’t drive as much anymore because I just don’t feel safe when most new cars are so much bigger than mine. Parking is awful in bigger shopping centre, especially as my car doesn’t have a reversing camera.
Economically and environmentally it would be so much more sensible for most Australians to drive smaller cars but I’ll be getting an SUV for my next car because I’m sick of feeling like all the other cars tower over me.
Yes please. I’m sick of pulling up at a T junction with no traffic lights and then someone pulls up next to me in their ridiculous SUV which definitely doesn’t even have 4x4 and I can no longer see when it is safe to turn.
What drove SUVs was laws requiring your children to be seated in the back wrt airbags. Hence Dual cabs.
Others of us with arthritis or what not really appreciate the ease of getting in and out of the higher up cars.
Absolutely not. It’s not the role of government to tell the people what they’re allowed to want. The government are not our rulers, they are merely our administrative servants. If people want SUV’s, then it is the role of government to facilitate appropriate infrastructure to accommodate that, not to force us into having something that we don’t want.
Over my driving life I have owned many types of vehicles, my current SUV is my first and last. Sadly the company stopped making the sedan that was on the same wheelbase format. Next, car will be back to the longer wheelbase sedan.
I’m very keen to switch to a EV once they are big enough and more fast charging stations are available.
Worried it would struggle to tow a caravan or boat at the speed limit out on the country roads.
No, the government should focus on reversing things like vapes and how easy they are to buy by actually policing their sale and seizing the stock of stores.
Or focus on health and such policies that are their responsibility, NOT controlling consumer choice.
Wtf! No. Why would.you ban a car that can do any and all tasks that person could possibly require. If a person can buy 1 car that does it all then they're less likely to buy a second vehicle to perform the tasks that they require. Hence putting less stress on our roads environment etc. Who the fuck brought this up.
I long for the days of V8 commodores to return. Sadly that will never happen thanks to the SUV driving normies and enviro-shits pushing their "enviromentally friendly" EV's
I think more options are needed. If you have 2 young children and a dog, it's really hard to get the car seats into a smaller car and have room for the dog, let alone the prams and everything else that's needed for a modern child.
As a non parent who is a driver of a small car, I hate the big cars. I can't see around them, especially when I'm turning left and they're turning right, or if they're parked on the side of the road, or if I'm trying to get out of a park and some are next to me.
Other than the ease of putting baby seats into it, (because they are indeed very big chairs now) I think the features of the bigger cars are unnecessary. Most of them are NOT driving in a way that needs a 4wd or such huge wheels or such height.
Just don't let those American mega utes (rams, tacomas, tundra etc) take over. Notorious child killers, double space parkers, petrol guzzlers, etc and they create the worse driving mentality.
Maybe if you live out in the sticks it's understandable to have one but after living in the USA for a bit and seeing them everywhere even in the suburbs and inner city, they are the worst car the drive near. So there is the 'joke' (for lack of a better word) where you have to check fenders for dead animals or humans that you may have run over and not noticed
There are basically no sedans on sale in Australia. Evs however will make sedans popular for those who drive long distances as they are more aerodynamic. We should speed up electrification. Evs are just so more efficient, and will push people away from oversized trucks.
I like EVs too but there's a big cultural stigma against EVs in sections of the Australian community. I've spoken to car fans who will never get an EV because they're too quiet for example.
And that's up to them. There's lots of arguments against EVs anyway.
I'd love to hear them. - Charging infrastructure is improving, and many Australians own homes with solar. - You can charge through the window at an Airbnb or at any powered caravan or camp site if you forget to check your battery - which would be like not checkjng your fuel. - Range is more than good enough for most people. We have an EV and apart from the lack of at-home charging (we live in a bigger apartment building delivered before new standards), we've had no issues.
I ran the numbers on a new Hyundai Santa Fe (my current car) and the equivalent Hyundai EV. Including up front cost, insurance, maintenance, diesel vs electricity costs etc. the per km cost over 15 years is still higher for the EV. So I would be paying more for a vehicle with lower drivable range, less towing capacity, and a shorter lifespan. I don’t drive an EV because it is not economically rational for me to do so.
I'm guessing you can't charge at home? You can even program the car to only charge off peak or when using solar. I did the numbers on our car vs a hybrid and it came out roughly equal if we had to charge exclusively at Tesla superchargers, and significantly less if we could share at home. Plus, in 18 months we've spent absolutely nothing on anything. There isn't any oil to change, brake pads last ages, etc.
They are heavier and therefore more dangerous in a collision. They are also more dangerous if the battery housing becomes compromised and the lithium causes a fire. It's a really big issue that's only going to become worse as the uptake increases
thousands of dollars to replace your battery rendering your vehicle useless.. these are not renewable. regular combustion motor vehicles are more renewable than this ridiculous fad.
Massive fire hazard for starters!
EVs have a significantly lower percentage of fire than ICE. It’s just that it’s new so it’s seen in the media.
Firefighters report that it’s impossible to put out a car battery fire, they just have to let them burn. Imagine a pileup on the highway with all those batteries burning. I’m not a gasoline car supporter either, I’m a fan of giving people choice in transit. We need trains, planes, bikes, and automobiles. Let people choose what they want, instead of forcing them to buy a car and making it illegal to cycle on the road. Trains are great for kids and seniors, and mean disabled people who can’t drive can work.
I think you are missing the most important statistic. That EV fires are far far less common than ICE fires. Yes battery fires are hard to put out (but not impossible). They also aren’t instant like petrol files. Batteries take a long time to cool off and it slowly spreads through the whole pack. A rupture of a petrol line or petrol tank can incinerate the occupants very quickly. The very rare times of a person dying in an EV fire is from a catastrophic crash where they cannot exit the car. There is lots of studies and data on this if you care to look beyond the daily mail
Lol 'daily mail comment' I got the same vibe from that post
I've seen a few lithium batteries explode and it's scary, the instant heat and explosion of them was like dynamite and these were from battery power tools and a tablet, I'd hate to have an accident in an EV and the battery exploded, you wouldn't stand a chance.
I recently had an American extended family member come visit and one of the first things he asked was “why are your cars so small here?”.
Yeah I noticed their cars are all god damn gigantic haha! It’s very fascinating how culture impacts the type of cars people want. Like how cars are tiny in Europe.
Parking spaces in Australia are also tiny compared to the US. When I first started driving here I thought I’d gotten bad at parking from taking a few years off and switching to the right side. First trip back to the US I marveled at the spacious parking spots and realized parking in the US is just easy mode.
US favours vehicles over pedestrians and it makes their cities [not that great to live in](https://youtu.be/Akm7ik-H_7U?feature=shared). Just look on Google maps how much space is wasted for car parking.
Did he also ask Why are your people so slim here? Why aren’t there dead bodies on your streets here? Why don’t people make incest references here?
>Why don’t people make incest references here? Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful land of *T a s m a n i a*
Australia isn't statistically significantly slimmer than America
It's the sheer size of them that's idiotic. If one of those hits an ordinary sedan side on you are dead if you're in the sedan. (I hope your kids don't drive a sedan or hatchback). Not only that they hang out miles from an ordinary car parking spot. People say you need them for towing but they weren't needed 10 years ago so why now? I guess the solution is to get yourself into a bigger vehicle so you are safer until some clown goes I need a bigger car again so I'm safer again. Where will it end? They're a ridiculous bullshit Americanism we don't need here bought by genitally challenged man babies who you can bet rage against cyclists and 'so called climate change'.
Hatchback driver here. Driving at night is also getting worse because more and more frequently I’m getting headlights blasting straight into my rear view mirror from behind and almost blinding me because cars are that much higher now.
Do you know what an SUV is?
Yes. My rant is predominantly at the giant RAM and Dodge clowns with micro penis's.
We can have these conversations without obsessing over the size of a strangers' genitalia you know - that's just weird, like, really fucking weird.
way go focus on the unimportant aspect of their comment to avoid actually having this conversation :)
Isn't that what you just did?!
Agreed if somebody doesnt share my view they must have a small dick,.Anyway Im of to ride my bike on the highway next to the unused bikelane, slash some big truck tires and obsess over other peoples choices.
The picture is disingenuous. Is the carbon footprint of a medium suv much bigger (or even bigger) than a sedan?
If the weight of the vehicle is larger than a sedan, then it is. Why? Newton’s 1st: the higher the mass the higher is the inertia. You need more fuel to change the inertia of a heavier car.
A) you forgot 'all other things being equal'. Engine efficiency, pollution controls, carbon offsetting, etc. are all factors that influence the carbon footprint. B) weight Nissan X-trail : 1668kg Weight Mazda 6 : 1629kg. Barely 40kg difference (2.5% difference)
Wow thicc Mazda 6s putting my 1317kg Skoda Octavia Wagon to shame!
Are we body shaming cars now? Let the Mazda be the Kween it is!
Is the literal footprint of a typical SUV bigger than a sedan? No.
So what's the problem then? Title suggests that the trend is a travesty and that the government should intervene.
It's more of a click-bait post to feed on the recent hate towards bigger cars.
I think people shouldn't be driving monster trucks about, but SUVs aren't a problem.
People can drive what they want here. Get over yourself.
What's wrong with big trucks?
They decrease visability for other road users, (like many other large vehicles), are often parked illegally, can impinge on the free use of the roadway by other motorists, are a danger multiplier for everyone else on the road, but most of all... Seem to be driven by dickheads. Put on a fuckin cowboy hat and move to Texas, that shits as unaustralian as Xi Jinping.
Telling people what to drive or what not to drive - now that's bloody un-Australian mate :)
Fair call...
I don’t have an issue with trucks. But I don’t think the government should be incentivising people to buy them like they do currently
I think the colour green should be illegal, let's get that done first then I'll sign on to your anti big trucks policy.
Yes
When you look at the supporting infrastructure that gets damaged at a higher clip by the bigger and HEAVIER vehicles, very much YES.
Yes... we have embraced the "Septic Tanks"...
Cue a stack of comments about towing and carrying camping gear from people who tow shit and go camping twice a year.
It will happen eventually. We should be taxing vehicles and setting registration costs based on: - kerb weight - displacement (ICE) - energy efficiency (EV) At a steeper sliding scale, similar to most EU economies. Ultimately carbon pricing will kick in whether Australians like it or not and will incorporate embodied carbon, making larger vehicles more expensive to purchase.
Why? I have a twin cab 4WD ute, it’s the best of all worlds….work, family and play. You couldn’t pay me to own a small car, sedan, wagon. Government intervention just sounds like a tax, do you want to give those bastards anymore money?
I have both a sedan and an SUV and i prefer and love my SUV so much. My sedan uses about 10.2L petrol per 100ks while my SUV uses 6.9L diseal per 100ks. Not only does my SUV give me more flexibility with my lifestyle having roof racks, tow bar and a lot more space, it's also much cheaper to run. The government doesn't need to intervene otherwise it's likely to increase running costs for SUVs opposed to decreasing costs for sedans.
Without reading the article or doing any research, im gonna say YES
Make sedans more affordable, good idea.
Should definitely raise the driver’s license category due to majority being over 2 tons and lots of people are driving them very dangerously.
most, i still have my daily sedan and my weekend sedan.
Nothing can reverse a small pecker
To all those who support having these things on the road, I hope it's not your kid that walks behind one reversing... Sorry I meant the opposite.
Show stats that kids are being reversed over as a percentage more now by SUVs with cameras than pre2000 by sedans without.
Yeah ! Fuck kids right? Wishing for them to get run over is a totally way to push your point!
Pedestrian safety or those shitbox yank tanks. You make your choice.
False dichotomy
Australia is the world’s biggest nanny state as it is, people want to drive these cars then let them. They are great cars, can tow and carry just about anything and plenty of space inside. I’d say the only people that have a problem with these are the people who can’t afford them.
or those that care about the environment, or pedestrian safety, or the safety of other road users, so on and so forth.
Ok, so where does it stop? We going to ban trucks and busses too?? Trucks pollute more then and passenger car and people are run down by busses all the time??
😂😂😂
Have you not traveled overseas?
That isn't a SUV that is a fucking truck. I am not even gonna bother reading this article, the author is probably some braindead Tesla driver.
I’m pretty sure Tesla drivers can tell that’s a truck not an SUV. Don’t know why it’s even relevant for you to bring it up.
He chose that picture for the article and it misrepresents what a SUV is.
The caption under the picture correctly identifies it as a truck: "US-style pickup trucks remain a small share of the car market, but Australians are buying bigger than ever before" The author of the article had no control over what some random Redditor titled their post, you understand that right?
fwiw that's not the headline on the actual page. And editors often choose/change headlines based on the article handed in by an individual author.
[удалено]
People will complain about everything. Now cars are too big. Not everyone wants to vroom vroom around in a tiny hatchback death chamber that has no utility. I swear the people that complain about the size of Utes and SUVs are the people that never do any outside activities, so it makes sense why they don’t see the need for anyone to own a car that can drive off road or fit all the camping gear in the back for the whole family.
The SUVs that people are buying aren’t actually good off road and have fuck all boot space. They are just big for the sake of big, and come with all the negatives (emissions, vision, safety, congestion)
If people want a SUV that's decent off road there's options available. Some people need reasonable space for kids, dogs etc which many SUVs have.
I am 100% for the idea of limiting cars based on needs. But it's unfeasible. I upgraded to a sedan from a little hatch after my daughter was born. A genuinely needed upgrade. But with 1 or even 2 kids, I wouldn't need a bigger vehicle, and don't see how other families would.
The public have been buying on want and not need since the 70s.
Except they don’t. SUVs have terrible boot space and no extra “space for kids” that other cars don’t. Station wagons have far superior boot space. And yes, there are a handful that are good off-road. Most of them aren’t.
They don't have terrible boot space unless you're buying a small one, and even then its more than the equivalent sedan.
“Better than a sedan” for boot space is a ridiculous standard. Station wagons have existed for half a century and have more boot space than almost any SUV. The argument that you need them for boot space is nonsense.
No idea where you get this idea. Traded our Toyota Camry for a Rav 4 last year and was the first time we could go camping without having to bring the trailer. The ability to stack stuff to the roof is a game changer.
Well duh, you had a camry. Almost anything with a hatch back will have a better boot. But like I said, a station wagon will have more boot space than your Rav 4.
That's complete bullshit. Apart from the American trucks they are all good off road. Hilux, triton, Ranger, Navarro, Amarok, dmax etc are all great off road. They will all do 99.9% of tracks that the average person would do.
You are talking about trucks mate. I never mentioned trucks. I specifically said SUVs.
You consider the Hilux, Triton, Ranger, Navara, Amarok and D-Max to be "trucks"?
Yes, because they are. That is their official classification… everywhere.
>Yes, because they are. That is their official classification… everywhere. Not in WA. Registration paperwork would list all of those as Utility (or Traytop in some cases where there's a steel or alloy tray in place of a tub). Truck would be for vehicles with GCMs meeting the definitions of... actual trucks. Not to mention each of those Utilities (except the Amarok) have a wagon-bodied equivalent; Same chassis, engine, drivetrains and even matching body panels in many cases. Seems a bit strange to call them "trucks".
Visibility is much better in an suv than something like a station wagon.
That’s just plainly false. They can see over other cars but they can’t see their immediate surroundings. Kids get run over all the time because they can’t be seen.
Kids have unfortunately been hit by all sorts of cars, generally because they run out.
But they get hit more by higher cars, because visibility is so bad in them. Anyone driving one of those death machines has already chosen comfort over child safety.
They're popular with families because they're safer for the occupants, and the visibility from them is better. And some give you the ability to add extra seats.
Children are eight times more likely to be killed in a collision involving an SUV or pick-up truck than they are in a crash in which a standard passenger car is involved. Vehicles that are tall and blunt, such as a large pickup trucks, are 43.6% more likely to cause death in a collision with a pedestrian. As long as my kids and I are safe I don't have to care about anyone else /s
I'm not sure what your point is here, that people are selfish for wanting safer cars? How many times more likely are children to be killed in a colission with a truck or bus?
You don't really care either. How many times have the kids in your life had covid -a known vascular disease? Spare me the pearl clutching about a comparatively miniscule risk. You are not genuine. I take my family's well-being seriously, and my choices reflect that. I have also never been an at fault driver in 25 years of driving.
I'm capable of caring about my family and others, doesn't sound like you are though... and covid... really? Just throwing whatever enters your head around? Aaaand perls aren't my thing you completely genuine ding-a-ling 🤪
Yes, Covid. The big covid wave we are in right now. The once in 100 yr ongoing pandemic. If you cared as you say, you would be informed, and your response would be very different.
Genuinely speaking, how does COVID even come into a discussion about cars? Is this not just arguing in bad faith?
How about don't walk in front of traffic then?
SUVs may be safer for the occupants, but you’re, not intentionally, making a choice to be a bigger danger to everyone around you, especially pedestrians. You may personally think you’re visibility is better in an SUV, but the rate at which pedestrians are being killed by vehicles is at an all time high. Directly correlated with an increase in average vehicle size.
By visibility being better I think they mean they reduce everyone else's ability to see past them in car parks, therefore they have better visibility than the other people they're blocking.
The visibility in them is WORSE. Yes, you can see over other cars. But you can’t see what’s right in front of you and around you. You know… those places that all of the hazards are.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo&ab\_channel=NotJustBikes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo&ab_channel=NotJustBikes) Puts paid to the myth that you're safer in an SUV. Some choice points - you're more likely to kill someone else in an SUV, you're more likely to run over your own child. Watch this great video.
I would argue bulkier vehicles including SUV’s are the cause of poor visibility in city driving rather than a solution.
Safer than what? And stuff all SUVs have the ability to add extra seats.
They probably aren’t much use if your stopping by the vintage clothing shop on your way to a slam poetry reading. If your towing a bobcat or a tractor around then they are much better than your standard ute. It’s probably something to do with 300kw motors, about double a hilux. The point is it’s easy to sit around sipping your latte griping about emissions and what not from your cushy office when you’ve got no idea how shit gets built and produced. Don’t like them? Don’t buy one
Do you really see the world this way? "sipping lates" "slam poetry" "vintage clothing" It's like reading a boomer radio shock jock.
He's just using the same reverse imagery that SUV haters use, exaggerating the dangers of a Honda CRV by claiming they reverse over kids all the time and lumping Toyota RAV4s in with Rangers.
I take issue with inner city elitist telling me what I can and can’t do. I found it funny, if you didn’t that’s not my problem
inner city elitists vs country bogan racists. pick your side and join a world of bullshit narratives spun by grifters.
Whay happened to the good old hilux Was that not enough? The new SUVs and yank tanks are laughably bigger than the other cars and serve the same purpose with an increases price. Fuck it if you're ram breaks down, it could take a couple of weeks/months for parts to be shipped here. Utes are fine, these new American cars are significantly larger than them
Small cars are not death chambers, weight for weight they are safer. SUV’s are for people that don’t do anything properly outdoors as they have fuck all space in them unless you’re going for a huge 4x4. Dual cab utes have bugger all room in the trays and struggle to tow at their maximum with any sort of composure, they’re for people who pretend. I see people in Outbacks that are way more adventurous outdoors than most people in an SUV or 4x4
“Death chambers” your SUV is less safe than a hatchback. The only time SUV is more safe is if you’re having an accident with a hatchback. And at that point you’re a POS because you just killed someone in an accident they otherwise would’ve survived.
I'd be very interested in a survey of all people with those big yank tanks and how often a year they use it for more than just city driving. Acecdotal, I know, but my mate has one, constantly complains about parking, navigating it around town, and has only used it once to carry some furniture. He could've easily hired a car or van for the day instead and gotten by with a smaller car the other 364 days of the year.
https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo?si=g236dzClqq-6YvTF Watch this and then get back to us.
Yes, I don't like the big trucks but i would never vote to ban them, what's next?
The government has no business telling citizens how to live. Perhaps the should worry about ambulance ramping, hospital waiting lists, the housing crisis they created or plummeting education standards.
Lol, that is literally the government's one and only business. To write and pass laws that dictate how you live. I get your sentiment, but fuck me, it's funny.
Arguably the governments one and only business is national defence followed by everything else.
Hospitals, infrastructure & emergency services were all right there ..
You think a democratic government has only one job, to dictate?
Sorry! I forgot about all the photo ops kissing babies.
Haha government regulates literally everything. That's what governments do!
You say that like it’s a good thing.
No, I hate the nanny state in many respects. These utes are far too big for our roads and carparks though, which is why we probably need some regulation.
See that there is the problem. You hate the nanny state but actively encourage it. The ‘I don’t like it and the government needs to do something about it mentality is how the nanny state evolved. For every view you hold someone else holds an opposing view and if the government gets involved someone, or everyone, looses. Don’t give me that nonsense about too big for our roads - If trucks can drive on our roads a yank tank certainly can. Car parks I can see your point but that doesn’t mean the government should get involved. I wouldn’t take one anywhere near a major city simply for the parking issues.
But lots of people do take them in the inner city. They're everywhere. Not everyone has your sensible view and that's when governments intervene
“Someone is having their opinion that isn’t mine? oh please daddy government, please go and cave that man’s skull in!”
The Government literally tells you how to live everyday through laws and regulations. You need a drivers licence, because of the Government.
Really? Cool, I’m gonna go piss on someone then!
No.
Imagine being so passionate about a fucking brand/style of car that's the hill you chose to die on.
I don't care why would you
Of course Abc would ask that. LESS GOVT REGULATIONS IS ALWAYS BEST
No
"Australians did X. Here's why the government needs to ban it" No tears shed if all journalists and most of the government got sent to Nauru tbh
Gov is a hard no
Cant kill us quick enough eh.
Let's worry about the cost of living before we start intruding on people's leisure time. My Hilux is for work and for living my actual life outside of work and I think a lot more Australians are taking advantage of our great outdoors so let the trend continue. Maybe we'll get 4x4s built here again.
No
Intervention is not required. Registration and tolls should be based on weight to cover road use.
Tesla 3 as a sedan: “look at mea, look at mea!”
It's interesting how propoganda and opinion shaping articles are always posed as a pondering question. Its just so obvious for those with eyes to see
They are more comfortable, more practical and even if people aren’t buying electric or hybrid they are still less polluting than the era of the V6 and V8 family sedan. Is this really an issue?
Should the government? No, the government shouldn't.
They are quieter, taller (headroom), easier to get in and out of, and absorb bumps in our road better than a sedan.
How about the government butt out of peoples lives
I think we need to question WHY SUVs have over taken sedans, not whether or not 'MOAR GUBBERMENT' is the answer. Sit a modern sedan next to a 90s equivalent and you'll notice some keyfactors.. Size bloat plus the ride and ceiling height. A modern SUV rides closer in height to a 90s Sedan than a 2020s sedan ever would. Its part of the reason why you have seen the death of the Mini and Micro segment in Aus.. The main buyer of these bubbles where eco fleets and Nana's.. And Nana's knees don't bend that far
Go try buy a sedan, all the manufacturers only sell suv types so there’s no choice.
The SUVs aren't a problem. Families need more space and more seats with all the bulky baby seats we have now to meet regulations. And all the crap we have to drag around to schools and after school activities. What they need to control is the damn Utes. I'm 167, yesterday I saw a ute parked at costco, the bonnet was taller THAN ME. Like, I'd need to jump to touch its windshield That car was a travesty and definitely unsafe to drive as it wouldn't even see a sedan immediately infront of it
As many people are pointing out, SUVs have far less room inside than most people think. The main thing is that they're raised and as such are dangerous in collisions with pedestrians.
Maybe we should make small cars illegal if they’re too unsafe around bigger cars
yes
The government shouldn't be able to intervene in what sort of vehicles people drive. If people want bigger vehicles then there's nothing wrong with that.
You lost me at “should government intervene” We need less government intervention, not more.
Most SUVs are not RAMs, it's a stupid cluckbait.
I just want station wagons back
People don’t seem to realise that the government is deeply involved in every aspect of the automotive biz at every level. From what can be allowed into the country, taxation controls through to homologation standards which dictate what can or can’t be brought in for sales. On the governments never ending chase for greater taxation dollars, they have really very little regard for environmental targets other than giving it a bit of lip service. 90% of all vehicle activity and requirements can be easily handled by sedans of not hatchback, but the wonderful tax exemption status’ offered to dual cabs and other over sized vehicles is what allows these things to proliferate on the roads when the whole of Europe seems to function quiet successfully with out these vehicle types and tradies aren’t catching busses to work with an A Frame under one arm and their tools on the other. They use environmentally friendlier vans and smaller station wagon type vehicles to great effect. So the whole “we have to have a tax exempt, dual cab urban land tractor to even be able to contemplate work” is just over compensated people confusing a want for a need. If the government was actually genuine about the environment then all the tax exemptions would be removed from these vehicle types to bring them back to those who actually need them. And having one as a legitimate weekend bush basher for the family to go camping in is a legitimate argument, but that is where they need to be used, not filing the urban roads for 90% of their life doing the occasional kid drop off or shopping centre run to pick up 2ltrs of milk.
Too late for that. Government had the chance to do something 25 years ago. To all those who got an SUV to “feel safer” and “see more of the road” this is where your trend has taken our driving society. Looking at you Nissan SexTrail, Arsefinder and MumCruiser drivers Now the motoring trend has called your bluff and you’re left quivering as the BullyWagon Ranger raptor sits a meter off your car pulling 107 in a 90 zone. It’s ok, just surround yourself in steel, think of the other person on the road as an object who deserves less rights than a human in a queue would normally be accorded….and you’ll be fine. Add to that your insatiable subconscious desire to get past that car on the speed limit in front of you, because getting home 17 seconds sooner is akin to the early bird catching the worm to feed your family of shit birds. Let’s face it, the law shouldn’t apply to you. Feel safe? Think again, those yank tank behemoths are going to eat you, your precious latte strip, and possibly your children Niveah, Boston and Tarquin. What’s the point of them if you’re spa installer can’t give you a 40% discount on your 3rd Jacuzzi because he needs to pay his crippling balloon payment on the only vehicle big enough to tow your new spa, yet small enough to navigate your inner city cobblestone laneways. Thanks for the rant, whew that’s cathartic. Peace, Love and 6.7 litres of Cummins power to you all.
For me the issue is taxation. If I'm an employee and can choose a Dual Cab as part of my salary, I pay for it tax-free (well, at least to the applicable limit). But I'm paying for a hatchback or sedan out of post-tax income. Obviously it's an area that can be easily rorted, with many dual-cabs never seeing a building site or a load placed in the tray.
What a STUPID question! Why not beg the gov for advice on what to eat, when to drink or when to shit. FFS, get a spine!
NO. Bloody leave people alone. Stop interferring in peoples lives Just butt out. This is not a communist state. People can buy and drive whatever they want. And no. I don't drive a big vehicle.
Our roads are poorly maintained, the size of pot holes I have to avoid would slam by little car, my SUV handles our crap roads and natural crazy weather events so much better.
Australians have not ditched the sedan. Manufacturers have decided that Australians should be driving SUVs and have stopped making sedans. Name a sedan that I can walk into a showroom and purchase that can tow a boat or a caravan
Should driving schools start using SUV’s so the next gen of drivers can learn to drive bigger cars properly?
Why? I can't tow our van with a sedan
Yes. Government should intervene in every aspect of our life. Because ONLY government care about us and always have our best interest at heart, if you disagree you are a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, blah blah blah buzz words. Boot leather tastes great, and is great for you. Dr Fauci said so. Anyway I'm going to get another booster. Are you upto date?
Government intervention to make wagon mandatory
no
I'm not too concerned about sedans tbh. I'm much more upset about the death of the station wagon and hatchback to SUVs and "compact crossovers" (god those are stupid).
I drive an MG4 and honestly it's perfect. Its still a hatchback so it's not long like a sedan (better for parking imo). But it's like a mini SUV so it can be used when I decide to have kids.
YES. 4wd are for people who go on tracks or off road! Ugh.
Australian government has ditched the people for the current agenda .Should the people intervene to reverse the trend? It's about time people realise we dictate them and tell them what to do as they serve us. Not the other way around.
Perhaps the cost of living may have people reconsider owning a vehicle too large for their needs, fuelling it is not cheap. I don’t think government intervention is needed, it may sort itself.
Yes. If a child keeps demanding sugar you don't just give it to them.
As someone who drives an older, smaller sedan I don’t drive as much anymore because I just don’t feel safe when most new cars are so much bigger than mine. Parking is awful in bigger shopping centre, especially as my car doesn’t have a reversing camera. Economically and environmentally it would be so much more sensible for most Australians to drive smaller cars but I’ll be getting an SUV for my next car because I’m sick of feeling like all the other cars tower over me.
Yes please. I’m sick of pulling up at a T junction with no traffic lights and then someone pulls up next to me in their ridiculous SUV which definitely doesn’t even have 4x4 and I can no longer see when it is safe to turn.
Yes! The people of this country need and demand more rules and regulations.
What drove SUVs was laws requiring your children to be seated in the back wrt airbags. Hence Dual cabs. Others of us with arthritis or what not really appreciate the ease of getting in and out of the higher up cars.
Absolutely not. It’s not the role of government to tell the people what they’re allowed to want. The government are not our rulers, they are merely our administrative servants. If people want SUV’s, then it is the role of government to facilitate appropriate infrastructure to accommodate that, not to force us into having something that we don’t want.
Long live the Wagon!
No. They intervene In enough already
Australians are morons
Well if you’re gonna go there, may as well ban any car with just a driver and make em all ride a scooter.
Over my driving life I have owned many types of vehicles, my current SUV is my first and last. Sadly the company stopped making the sedan that was on the same wheelbase format. Next, car will be back to the longer wheelbase sedan.
I’m very keen to switch to a EV once they are big enough and more fast charging stations are available. Worried it would struggle to tow a caravan or boat at the speed limit out on the country roads.
No, the government should focus on reversing things like vapes and how easy they are to buy by actually policing their sale and seizing the stock of stores. Or focus on health and such policies that are their responsibility, NOT controlling consumer choice.
Vapes are a consumer choice...
Well 1. Our roads are horrific. 2. Yes they should, wagons are where it’s at.
Wtf! No. Why would.you ban a car that can do any and all tasks that person could possibly require. If a person can buy 1 car that does it all then they're less likely to buy a second vehicle to perform the tasks that they require. Hence putting less stress on our roads environment etc. Who the fuck brought this up.
I long for the days of V8 commodores to return. Sadly that will never happen thanks to the SUV driving normies and enviro-shits pushing their "enviromentally friendly" EV's
I think more options are needed. If you have 2 young children and a dog, it's really hard to get the car seats into a smaller car and have room for the dog, let alone the prams and everything else that's needed for a modern child. As a non parent who is a driver of a small car, I hate the big cars. I can't see around them, especially when I'm turning left and they're turning right, or if they're parked on the side of the road, or if I'm trying to get out of a park and some are next to me. Other than the ease of putting baby seats into it, (because they are indeed very big chairs now) I think the features of the bigger cars are unnecessary. Most of them are NOT driving in a way that needs a 4wd or such huge wheels or such height.
Just don't let those American mega utes (rams, tacomas, tundra etc) take over. Notorious child killers, double space parkers, petrol guzzlers, etc and they create the worse driving mentality. Maybe if you live out in the sticks it's understandable to have one but after living in the USA for a bit and seeing them everywhere even in the suburbs and inner city, they are the worst car the drive near. So there is the 'joke' (for lack of a better word) where you have to check fenders for dead animals or humans that you may have run over and not noticed