Quote Originally Posted by Chris
I guess I don't disagree that SUVs could be held to the same emissions standards as passenger cars, in fact, that should really be looked into. Whether you like it or not though, some people have a use for them. If you own a home, have a family, have stuff to haul around/tow, or all of the above, you know what I mean. One could argue that a truck makes more sense, but a truck doesn't always do it all. This day and age, it's all about finding the vehicle that will do it all - that's why SUVs sell so well. Sure many people who don't need them buy them, but the same could be said of trucks. So what are the options? Lower their emissions or make people fill out applications to make sure they actually need them? Forcing the same standards as passenger cars sounds more realistic - but even that sounds like a stretch.

Again, I personally would rather have a truck, but my mother-in-law's Durango has come in handy everytime we needed it (long trips, home depot, camping, home depot, dump runs, home depot, etc). A truck would have only worked out in half of the cases we used the SUV.


Well, that's assuming everyone who owns an SUV doesn't need one. How do you separate the people who use them to their full potential (carpooling, hauling, towing, etc) from those who could get by just as well with a passenger vehicle? You can't group everyone together - so then what? Start suing people individually for damages? I think people have good intentions and even some good points here, but many of the arguments just don't hold water. Fighting to ban public smoking is one thing, but trying to ban SUVs because they might "have an adverse affect on others"? Please. Why don't we just skip to the root of the problem and see about getting "stupidity" and "inconsideration of others" banned too?
Would you agree that driver's who don't need large vehicles should not be encouraged to buy them? If you do agree, do you know we have no Federal Government policy to discourage the use of unnecessarily large vehicles? In fact, Federal policy does just the opposite. See Swerd's post on the income tax deduction for SUV purchases up to $100,000, allowed to doctors, lawyers, and other self-employed workers.