What the hell is with SUVs?
 

People in SUVs always seem to be more cyclist hostile (at least in chicago.) Now perhaps it's different in other places, specifically where SUVS are used for their off road capabilities, but it's horrible in chicago. I get cut off more often, yelled at, engine reved at, and they often pull far to the right so I can't pass them.

Perhaps it's because SUV people have security issues. They say that more woman buy SUVs then men because they like to feel more powerful on the road with a higher seating perspective. Perhaps that need for more power translates into cycling hostility.

Or perhaps people who drive SUVs are just in general more ass***ish.... ::shrugs::

There's a book called "High And Mighty" about SUVs and their development and the psychological factors in ppl who have them, it's not very flattering to SUV drivers lol.

And sales psychology is very well developed in the US, if the sales psychs have come up with the profile of the avg. SUV buyer they have, it's for real.

I own 2 SUVs myself, so I'm not trying to make any blanket statements, but there are certainly those out there who buy large vehicles to try and intimidate other people. I'm sure this has a lot to do with attempting to balance their own inadequacies and failures, such as their job sucks, their spouse beats the hell out of them, they have a small penis, etc.

SUVs are big and I think they give people a false sense of security. People dont understand handling an SUV with the higher center of gravity... think of the number of rollovers that you hear everyday.

I think its also becasue a lot of drivers out there are no-talent ass-clowns who need to be educated first on the art of driving, then on rights of riders and smacked in the head everytime they do something stupid..

I dont think its necessary that women are bad drivers.. you see a lot of men drivers in pickups, minivans, sportscars and suv's who are stupid and think they are town jocks...

Does it have anything to do with your riding?

Dude, I lived in Chicago, LA, and NYC for a brief time. Drove in Germany for 3 years too. Here's my observation:

Drivers in the Windy City are by far the rudest, meanest cagers I have encountered! :eek:

I don't care if they are driving SUVS or Ford Pintos, they are brutal and you know what I'm talking about if you haved lived there for any amount of time.

love those SUV's...when i'm feeling really tired i just get behind one and enjoy the free ride. drafting of course...not holding on.

n/a

It makes them feel like they own the road. When I was younger, I was forced to take a class for aggressive motorists.

The class took a survey and one of the questions was, "When you're driving, do you feel like you have ABSOLUTE POWER?" Granted the students were aggressive drivers, but upwards of 90% answered yes. SUVs cater to this debased mindset.

On a positive note, the SUVs days may be numbered. If gas prices keep going up, it's going to become prohibitively expensive to operate them. I work with a woman who's driving a suburban, 11 mpg, and it's now costing her about 400 a month in gas. SUVs gas milage isn't getting any better either. What happens when it starts costing twice that?

I saw a 60 Minutes show where they profiled this French guy who was trained as an anthropologist but now lives in the U.S. as a high-price consultant to help companies develop ad campaigns by analyzing people's perceptions about certain products. One of the interesting things they said in the show was that this guy, through working with a lot of focus groups and such, has reduced the most important feeling Americans have about SUV's: These cars are not about speed, security, roominess, carrying capacity, etc. It's about power, and not just any power, but domination! They were specifically talking about the Hummer, but I think that "primal code" is there behind many people's gut feelings about owning SUV's.

I don't want to generalize about any one group of people, but a lot of what this French guy said struck me as accurate. I've seen a lot of SUV drivers who when going by just have to rev their engines, pass you a little too closely, or simply can't resist letting you know they're faster and more powerful than you are. It's like the car can flip a switch in people so they have to engage in a p*ssing contest with you.

That said, I've been sideswiped and almost run over several times by a*holes driving very tame-looking 4-door sedans, so I think the SUV-theory only goes so far. When people are cyclist-hating a*holes, it doesn't matter what they drive, they can be inching along in a golf cart and still try to run you over.

Be safe, everyone!

-Kevin

My personal evaluation of azzholes in SUVs:
men: small peewee syndrome.
women: pent-up, angry, bitter biotches that hasn't been "touched" in years by their husbands/bfs with small peewees.

However, thanks to these SUV drivers, I've made a bundle investing in big oil/energy companies.

Aren't SUVs (the REALLY big ones) standard accessories for high end cell phones these days? I mean, you hardly see one without the other ;)

Mandatory.

I think I saw that same show, a couple of years ago. The researcher had some pretty fancy cars if I remember correctly. Interesting segment.

it just like that old cartoon when the mild manner guy gets behind a car, he becomes a power hungry mad man! I think that all the new SUVs drive much more like cars...lots of power steering and leather seats, etc that they think they own the road! I've had a woman honk and yell at me to get off the road and race by very close to me on a down hill section...I caught her at the bottom and went up next to her to talk to her. she told me to stay out off her way threatened me...I told her that I was calling the cops and would tell them that she tryied to run me off the road and I pulled out my cell phone...she would now have to explain her expired plates!

I think it's just a bit rediculous to come to this stereotype. If you go to France, there are almost no SUVs. Does this mean most are submissive there? No, it just means the roads are narrow and gas is prohibitively expensive.

From my own experience, one of the most aggressive drivers towards cyclists is a fat guy in a Lexus (Lexus or other luxury sedans). My own working theory is the fat guy in a Lexus is mad and frustrated because:
1) He is perceived as fat and lazy (which is true) and thus has reached a dead end in his career.
2) His wife perceives him as fat and lazy (which is true) and won't have sex with him.
3) He's pissed at seeing guys in better shape getting promoted before him because they are perceived as hard workers (which is true).
If you see a fat guy in a Lexus, watch out mon frere. They will smash you flatter than day old beer if they get the chance.

I truly belive that a lot of SUV drivers have absolutely no concept of how very much space their car/truck monsters take up.

Most SUV drivers only drove regular cars up until they had an SUV. They never had to drive a pickup for towing or a minivan for kid hauling. They never drove a real Jeep offroad. Very likely they never even had to drive a 1970s sedan, from when advertising copy touted how much larger the current year's model was from the previous. Suddenly, they're 35 with three kids and feel that they are not nearly dorky enough to pop for that Volvo, so they get the Ford Explorer instead. Then they have to learn a brand new style of driving, because their new, huge vehicle is taller, longer, and wider than what they're used to, and is an entirely different beast from the sedan or station wagon they really ought to be driving.

A lot of people seriously mis-judge their placement when they drive a tall vehicle, many people don't understand how much more space a big, heavy vehicle needs for stopping, and most people don't have any clue as to how clumsily SUVs handle, especially at speed.

I agree that there are a lot of "Raaaar, I own the road" jerks out there, but I think there are probably a lot more SUV drivers who are just not very good drivers anyhow, who think it is cool to drive a BIGA$$ TRUCK, when it really is way too much vehicle for them.

When I was finishing up at college, I was in the midst of moving from my first apartment, and my dad let me drive his 1979 International Scout for a weekend, because I could pack way more into it than I could my 1959 VW Beetle. It just about scared me to death driving that behemoth of a Scout (which was a precurser to today's SUVS). I had a crazy difficult time telling how much of a lane of highway I was taking up--it felt like the truck filled up the whole road. Left front corner looked like it was hanging over the center lane, right front looked like it was about to drop off the road. I drove that thing like a timorous granny because I could hardly judge where I was with it, and I really didn't want to end up having or causing a wreck.

I think maybe a lot of novice SUV drivers experience this, but instead of being freaked out by it, like I was, they think it feels pretty tough and hardcore, like being a tank driver or something. It still boils down to driving something they can't really handle, and probably being more enthusiastic about it than they really ought to be.

I travel over 40,000 miles per year for business. My area consists of seven states in the midwest. Chicago drivers are the worst, rudest, most aggressive drivers I have to deal with.

But, Chicago is not the only place you will get poor treatment from drivers while you are cycling. I live in a small town in SW Michigan and see my share of rude drivers. There are just too many people that lack the common courtesy of giving a cyclist some room on the road. Last summer I was even run off the road by a county cop.

I think they're just bitter about having spent gobs of money on their new Hummer only to realize it's now costing them almost $70 to fill it up at the gas station every 4 days :eek:

I would lump drivers of big pick-ups into the same category or perhaps even worse ... not only are they agressive, they are sometimes downright hostile to bike riders. All of the "near misses" that I can recall were from these pick-ups driving way to close to me.

I am sad to say that there are more and more SUVs in France despite the rising gas prices and small roads. I even saw a hummer for the first time in my life the other day in a rural area. I was shocked at the size of that thing and I almost went into a ditch to let the guy pass. :mad:

*shrugs*. Down here in texas most of the people revving their engines as they pass me are in pickups that have tires as big as me and are raised suchthat I could probably slide under them.

I've not really had a problem with rude drivers except when I was doing something wrong, such as taking the road, (even if it was because there was constructiond debris in the shoulder or a lack of a shoulder).

It's also my opinion that people probably should not commute in town. It really adds a large amount of unpredictability, even when they are 2 cute girls sitting about 7 feet from you :p

All this BS about SUVs is just that. Many years ago, cyclists were crying about mini-vans and before that it was white-haired old ladies in Caddys. Geez, why don't you guys take up bowling?

:D

side's isnt it always the fast car or the granny taking off at an intersection that one always hears causing the demise or downfall of a rider, aside from the few trucks

Massive girth + excessive horsepower = Aggressive driving habits