Au Revoir, SUVS!
Paris has passed a resolution to get the rue-hogging smogmobiles off the streets:
"Our idea is to limit the circulation of the most polluting vehicles," he said. "That means SUVs and lots of other vehicles that don't meet European pollution standards."Plane include banning 4x4s from Paris city centre during peak pollution periods, and denying their owners residents' parking permits. Off-roaders could also be banned from protected areas like the Bois de Boulogne and the banks of the river Seine.
The proposal, certain to be opposed by motoring groups, follows similar remarks by the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who in May month described SUVs as "bad for London -- completely unnecessary" and called their owners "complete idiots."
Britain's Guardian newspaper reported a survey showing that just one in eight 4x4 drivers had driven their car off-road, and six in 10 never take it out of town.
The Guardian added that France caught on late to the vogue for SUVs, mainly because Renault, Peugeot and Citroen have not so far offered them.
But with luxury carmakers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche selling plush leather-upholstered 4x4s, the vehicles are an increasingly common sight in Paris's wealthier quarters. Sales surged by 11 percent in France last year.
If it gets any harder to breathe there in July, I'll have to grow a nozzle and carry around an oxygen tank. I just wish New York would do the same, and maybe even make a street (like Madison Avenue) bikes only.
Bikes only! HEAVEN!
Lena at June 10, 2004 11:07 AM
Amy,
I've been wanting to weigh in for awhile on your "I hate SUV's" stance. Up here in Michigan we NEED SUV's just to get around in the winter. All the enviros talk about how only a tiny percent of SUV's are ever driven off-road, but always seem to fail to mention how frequently they are driven on snow covered roads in the northern US. Front wheel drive cars don't hold a candle to the ground clearance and traction of 4-wheel drive SUV's in the snow.
That said, I not infrequently travel south, and I have to admit all those monster SUV's look ridiculous in the sun-belt. But, even then, I understand how folks want the space and people-hauling capabilities.
So, what about the pollution and gas-hogging? I'm afraid to be the one to mention this to you if no one else has before, but your pink Rambler, with it's older engine, is vastly more polluting than even the most gargantuan late-model SUV.
And then there's the gas-millage thing. In this I share your sentiments and frustrations. However, it's not the SUV's per-se that are the problem. Automakers have driven SUV's through a Hummer-size loophole in the governmental national fuel standards (CAFE) that excluded trucks back in the day when no one knew what an SUV was. They have successfully lobbied congress to keep those standards lax until now.
This really frustrates me, because the technology already exists to have MUCH more fuel efficient SUV's on the road by now. Only when the American auto companies are "forced" by regulation (and foreign competition - the hybrids are coming, the hybrids are coming) will SUV gas milage increase to the levels now seen in cars.
Jeff R at June 10, 2004 11:06 PM
My point isn't that nobody should drive an SUV; it's that anybody who doesn't need one should drive something that doesn't endanger everyone else on the road and pollute unnecessarily. PS I no longer drive a Rambler, and I'm getting an Insight in August.
Amy Alkon at June 10, 2004 11:15 PM
I'm afraid I don't quite understand why non-rural folk up north "NEED" SUVs now -- has something changed drastically climate-wise or road-wise in the towns and cities over the last 20-30 years?
When I was a kid, my family lived in a midwestern town, and my parents drove a car to work year-round. They never talked about "needing" to get something bigger, or something with 4WD. My brother and his wife live on 5 acres in a tiny hamlet in Vermont, and they drive an AWD Subaru most of the time. They have a small 4WD pickup truck to use for hauling things.
This is an honest question, not a rhetorical point-maker -- what is different now? What makes SUVs a necessity rather than a luxury?
Accipter at June 11, 2004 12:55 AM
A very good question. In fact, I'm from Michigan, and when we were visiting my parents, my sister hired a professional driver to take us back to the airport so my parents wouldn't have to drive us in the snow. He'd previously been a trucker, driving big rigs, and explained to us that we'd see lots of SUVs off the road on the way to the airport, due to people misusing their 4WD...which, if I remember right, he said shouldn't be used in snowy or slippery conditions.
Amy Alkon at June 11, 2004 1:05 AM
Right you are Amy; there tend to be more 4WD's off the roads in Michigan than cars on any given snowy day. However, the reason is that they are so much better in the snow, people (idiots?) eschew the laws of physics and get themselves in hot water by forgetting that 2 tons of metal is a lot harder to corner or stop on a slippery road than to get going.
Also, Accipter, funny you should mention Subaru. They recently renamed their famous "sport utility wagon" an "SUV" SPECIFICALLY because of the more lax fuel standards for trucks/SUV's. They were, in effect, being "punished" by government fuel standards for having a smaller, lighter 4WD vehicle, but not calling it an "SUV".
Also, Audi makes excellent AWD vehicles that many do drive in the snow. I look forward to more AWD non-SUV vehicles in the future. However, you still can't beat the ground-clearance of an SUV in the deep snow. Sure, "NEED" is a relative word in our society, but I for one am much more secure knowing my significant-other is driving an SUV and is much less likely to get stuck, if driven properly, when the snow flies.
(Amy, if it wont blow your cover, what part of Michigan were you from?)
Jeff R at June 11, 2004 2:44 PM
Day-twoi...the buckle of the rust belt. I would have left three weeks before I was born, except it was physically impossible.
Amy Alkon at June 11, 2004 3:06 PM
Thing 'bout SUV's is, y'know, people WANT 'em.
Not me of course, I'm a coupe-boy. I'm just saying.
There's something irredemably SNOOTY about all this SUV-hating.
They're obviously not priced or taxed (or even insurance-pegged) according to their costs to the public, and they fucking well oughta be.
But still, it's really irritating to see people whining about what this or that person "needs" in the realm of personal consumption.
Crid at June 11, 2004 9:51 PM
And since the most pollution on the rood comes from older vehicles, driven by the less monied
(who so often seem to come here from a place where leaded gas is the norm), perhaps some form of border control would be a good idea. Or maybe no licenses for some or maybe a means test for public transportation.....
Luis Ochoa at June 12, 2004 10:12 PM
"But still, it's really irritating to see people whining about what this or that person "needs" in the realm of personal consumption."
It's those negative externalities, baby. Smog, car wrecks, and the whining of bleeding heart liberal environmentalists: All of it is a byproduct of the SUV.
Lena at June 15, 2004 8:47 AM
SUVs are also great for hauling crap to and from college. gotta say...
*tami* at June 16, 2004 1:15 PM
When I was in college, girls knew how to shove it all into their little hatchbacks with no problem. What's become of our young? Have they no packing skills?
Lena at June 16, 2004 9:22 PM