cwodave

So I'm riding trough a parking lot and I pass a Ford Explorer with a sticker on the back that says "Gas Prices Suck".

I don't know if was joke or if they really were that ignorant. I almost waite4d around to see but I just couldn't.

Dave

CommuterRun

That is pretty funny in a paradoxical way.

"Out on the road todaaay,
I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac......"

KrisPistofferson

I saw one on a Blazer today that said "Would you be able to hear that cellphone better if I shoved it up your ass?"

Midnight Cyril

It'd be funnier on a bike.

seely

Its almost as ignorant as the Volvo 240 in bombed out condition I saw the other day that said "screw your SUV, I get 39mpg". Sorry, but your 1986 Volvo does NOT get anywhere near 39mpg, and it pollutes about 2x more than any new SUV. Pretentious people who think they are the savior of the world for driving a 2 stroke moped, a 1968 Beetle, or a Volvo shooting black smog out of the pre-ULEV/LEV exhaust bother me just as much as SUV drivers. Sorry, had to vent.

Blue Order

I don't like SUVs, but you're absolutely right.

slagjumper

A gallon of gas makes enough heat to bring 10 pounds of ice at 32 degrees F to 10 pounds of water at 33 degrees F, no matter what it burns in.

DataJunkie

My favorite one said bumper stickers suck. I'm just not a big environmentalist. *shrugs*

oilfreeandhappy

We cyclists shouldn't have to settle for reading lame messages from the gas guzzlers. We should display our own messages.

Miles2go

My 89 Volvo 245 5 speed averaged around 35 mpg here at 5000 ft elevation (I kept a log for a while), and the emissions tests show that it's just slightly less clean burning than our LEV. We had the 245 for 8 years and sold it with 255K on the odo, to a friend. It needed almost no work in 8 years and is still on the road at nearly 300k miles (no engine work, ever). Of course if you see a car blowing black smoke it's either a diesel or has an engine problem. The base 240 engine isn't prone to blowing oil past the seals even at very high mileage. There are more than a few reasons why these cars have a cult like following.

"Gas Prices Suck" on a Ford Explorer... Odd.

M_S

I've seen "my other car is a car"

At least they're honest.

new_dharma

what if it's a 240D running straight veggie-oil? Still not 39mpg, but not as polluting as most SUV's

cooker

Actually it takes a lot of petro oil to make veggie oil.

Traicovn

I have a sticker on the back fender of my recumbent that says 'burn fat not oil'. I also have a one less car sticker on the frame and a pro-recycling sticker.

blickblocks

Fat is oil. I bet someone could make a witty, nerdly pun off that fact.

oilfreeandhappy

Any pictures? Here's a pic of the stickers on my bent. On my Mountain Bike, I had to put the sticker on the water bottle.

seely

I actually worked for a Volvo dealer for a number of years, so I'm quite familiar with them. It wasn't to say they weren't good cars--they are good cars, for sure, but they aren't invincible like many seem to think. They also aren't the answer to the world's fuel crisis or global warming. I hate to say it, but I just can't believe that a 245, no matter how well-kept, produces less emissions than an LEV. I used to help run diagnostics on Volvos with emission issues and even a good 240 was still putting out some pretty high numbers in comparison to say, a V70.

wfin2004

I LOVE my big a$$ SUV. I love my Expedition almost as much as I love driving it and talking on the cell phone at the same. Not really, but I do love it as I bought it for my Wife to drive in heavy traffic in Tampa and feel somewhat safe. That, is why I love my Expedition. What? You would send your wife out in a lesser car day in and day out?

DataJunkie

No way in hell does my wife need something as large and costly as an expedition. Perhaps an explorer but an expedition? Might as well get her one of these:

supercub

There's nothing safe about an Expedition in the midst of an emergency maneuver at 60 MPH. Holy Rollover!

DannoXYZ 

Do the Expeditions have the same suspension problems that made Explorers roll over so easily?

cycleup

Hate to break it to you but it doesn't work that way.

While your wife is definitely threatening lots of other lives (results - thousands of US service folks dead so she can drive a 6000 lb vehicle, thousands of extra dead cyclists, pedestrians and fellow drivers due to crash incompatibility, blah blah blah, not that I'm pretending you care so no links :-)

Here, however, is a link to something you might care about. Actual insurance industry stats on actual dead people in actual cars on the actual roads digested to simple charts:

https://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4003.pdf

Note that the death rate in Expeditions is at least twice that of drivers in well designed minivans (e.g. Honda Odyssey) or three times that of drivers in the best sedans (VW Passat - which is also about 30 times more fun to drive).

Two or three times *more likely to die* because of driving that Expedition. Not as advertised, eh?

But, but, but, everyone knows driving a big a$$ suv is safer. How can this possibly *not* be true?

The answer is you (and you have *lots* of company here) have been $$$cammed, dude. You've been lied to so effectively that it's hard to even imagine the truth. Malcom Gladwell has a good summary of what happened:

https://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

(For a much longer (and in depth) version there is the old NYT Detroit bureau chief's book:

https://www.amazon.com/High-Mighty-Da.../dp/1586482033
)

Since we have lost far more Americans to this scam than Al Queda, there's a good reason why folks are kinda sore about it...

To summarize - no - she is not safer. And yes - lots of folks have good empirically-based reasons to feel that you're a lousy neighbor.

(Ah, I feel better. Time to get back on my bike and thread my way past all those lifted monster trucks. Seattle. Sigh...)

jimmuter

My favorite bumper sticker is on a neighbor's car and seems appropriate for Advent: "Jesus is Coming. Look Busy!" A trip through my neighborhood would have one believe that bumper stickers can save the world. There are more than a few cars with anti-SUV stickers. You know the ones: Save the planet, get rid of your SUV, etc, etc. These are the same people who choose to live 30 miles away from work and sit in traffic on I-40 everyday. I guess it helps them feel better and eases guilt if they blame someone and something else for whatever problems they perceive we are causing to the environment. Buying a bumper sticker is a lot easier than making a life change that will actually have a positive effect.

supercub

The Explorer roll over problem was due to a couple of factors:

1. Tread seperation on badly designed tires
2. Physics

The newer stability control feature helps keep SUVs more stable, and thus upright, but you can't cheat physics. Higher center of gravity = more prone to tip over.

wfin2004

That was before the 2003 major body change. The pre 2003 Explorers were the 'narrow' wheelbase, as opposed to the 'shorter'. The sold a million though.