TV 8/2/07: Inside New Zealand - 4WD menace

[Finn]

The segment showing the danger of an SUV t-boning a car, where the car drivers head is impacted by the SUV bull-bar / bonnet - isn't that exactly how Possum Bourne was killed? (IIRC Bournes Subaru was hit by a Jeep Cherokee)

This is what I'm saying. SUV's are safe. The driver basically walked away from the crash. Who cares about all the other morons on the road? They cross our paths - tough shit. Possum was hardly on a Sunday drive either.

[vifferman]

Mostly everyone on this thread is talking shit, so I may as well wade in with my bit.
I meant to watch that "mock-you-mentalry", but forgot it was on. I think we watched summat more important and informative, like "Grey's Anatomy".
I used to own a Pajero. We bought it when we lived in Chch. The company I worked for had an Isuzu Troop(carr)ier, and we took our Subie skiing one day, and the Trooper the next. We thought, "WOw! This is kewl; we can see over the other cars! The kids can sit in the back to put their boots on! We can picnic in the boot!" etc etc.
So, we bought the Pajero, and had it a few years, selling it only when we'd been in D'Auckland a couple of years and it seemed irrelevant. But it was IDEAL for our use. It meant that my mother or the in-laws could come and stay with us, and we could all pile into one car. It meant we could go skiing and not get stuck in deep snow. It meant I could tow big trailers full of firewood for our polluting, wood-burning fireplace. It meant I could volunteer to be a school trip helper and carry heaps of screaming kids and all their crap.
It meant that when some f-tard drove into the back of it when my wife was backing out, it only damaged the rubber overrider on the back bumper, and totally demolished the side of their car.

But we were glad to see the back of it. I thought it was about to expire, so we sold it. Now bugger me if the bastid isn't back again. Somebody up our street has ended up with it, and it's still going.

I like driving big 4WDs. On our recent trip to the Sultantate of Kalifornicatia we hired one. I was hoping it would be a HUGE behemoth, but it turned out to be only a medium-sized beast - a Jeep Laredo or somesuch. I've also driven the Ford Exploder, Prados (great car!), Rnage Rover, and many Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, Land Pillagers, Land Rapists, etc. I even had the good fortune to be present when a near-new HiLux 4WD was totalled. It did the really kewl "sideways roll, bounce up in the air, then go end-over-end for a few hundred metres down the hill." (I felt swizzed though, because unlike TV, it didn't explode into flames.)

But I like driving small cars too. We have three: two Peugeot and a Fiat Punto. On a long trip, I'd rather be in summat huge - it's less fun, but less fatiguing.

So what.

[KLOWN]

WTF ????? did any of you watch the programme???? I didn't but what i was told from my flat mate was...

-4x4 are dangerous to OTHER people
-4x4 shouldn't be used as remuera tractors
-4x4 play an excellent role in farm, off road, towing etc JUST not in the CBD
-REMUERA house wives don't know not to drive it like a car just like MOST people who have them in the CBD

EVEN the HEAD of the 4x4 club said the shouldn't be allowed in the CBD

no one was ragging on 4x4 used properly or sensibly ONLY the fucktards that think they are cars and use them in the CBD

[Wolf]

Stop blaming the vehicles and look at the fucktards driving them it's not the 4WD that kills ya its the nut sack behind the steering wheel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nuf said!!

And some of those nut sacks are not necessarily driving an SUV. Obviously not all accidents involving SUVs are the SUV driver's fault but the SUV is likely to cause more damage to the other vehicle owing to its mass, height, rigidity etc so NZ drivers/riders need to sharpen up their act and learn to treat all vehicles with respect, especially SUVs, trucks, buses etc, and not expect them to brake/handle like cars.

What we need here in NZ is an affordable version of the Defensive Driving course and integrate it into the licensing system - fail that, you fail your licence. Quite simple.

Regrettably, our government is more interested in lucre than road safety so they're happy with the staus quo which involves people acting like cocks in their vehicles and having serious accidents for which they can be fined.

I can see good arguments for a separate licence for SUVs, with some stringent testing, which would mean the likes of OAB, yourself and others would fly through the licensing process (if you haven't already got an HT licence to prove you can handle a lot more than a "little" SUV) and any "soccer mums" who try to drive an SUV like it's a Honda City will simply fail their licence test.

However, I would not like such licensing changes to be made into yet another revenue-gathering exercise.

From what the head of the NZ 4WD association said on the doco, I suspect he'd happily see an additional licence brought in to keep wankers out of 4WDs and thereby limit 4WDs to those who can use them properly - he seemed to see no point in many city folk having them.

My ex-boss has an old bus fitted out as a mobile home for taking his family on touring holidays. Why doesn't everyone have a converted bus or something similar instead of a camper van? Because in order to drive said converted bus, you need an HT licence. In order to have a large and luxurious camping vehicle that suits his needs/wants, he had to take appropriate training and pass a test for that class of vehicle. Most would decide they don't really need a bus-sized campervan enough to warrant going through the licensing process.

Do the same or similar for SUVs and you'd probably find a large number of people would suddenly decide they don't need an SUV that much and those who do need one would mostly pass the test. Bye-bye to "nut sacks" in SUVs...

[Squeak the Rat]

I often let cars into the crawling slug of auckland traffic from side streets. Except 4wd townies. If your going to drive a vehicle that restricts my view just cause u want to take grandma camping then you can go behind..

[Crisis management]

WTF ????? did any of you watch the programme???? I didn't but what i was told from my flat mate was...

Look, it's simple, we're here for the arguement not to debate the truth....

If it helps, this usually only lasts a day or two then the feral mob and safety nazis will find something else.

Wait till after the Westpac ride...."people shouldn't travel so close together....he didn't indicate etc. etc."

I've already taken the Isuzu for a lap past the school so now its off for a bike ride now.... in jandals.

[mstriumph]

my grandmother wasn't camp ----- but i get your drift

[Citroenjunkie]

Come on Finn, you know as well as I do there are people all throughout the world with nothing better to do then bitch about pointless issues. Threads like this just tend to bring them out of the woodwork.

The issue is far from pointless! I makes me furious that those selfish bastards can endanger the lives of my children and millions of others "to keep their inbred, webtoed offspring from harm"! They don't give a shit that their vehicle of choice is massively more likely to maim, harm and kill! The only thing that matters is their brood. We all matter! equally!

I think all of the superior, inconsiderate bastards should be made to use bicycles with sidecars to shuffle their offspring from ballet to Judo to art classes. Or even better a 50cc scooter, and a motorway! Let them get barreled by a few trucks and busses and then perhaps they will get to understand how we feel as they cruise past oblivious...... mutter, mutter, mutter

[Finn]

WTF ????? did any of you watch the programme???? I didn't but what i was told from my flat mate was...

It's only a documentary and a NZ one at that. You little islanders have really got your tits in a tangle over big cars eh? What a bunch narrow minded poofs.

I think the most dangerous thing on NZ roads are kiwi's. Can't drive for shit no matter what wheel they're behind.

[Guitana]

The issue is far from pointless! I makes me furious that those selfish bastards can endanger the lives of my children and millions of others "to keep their inbred, webtoed offspring from harm"! They don't give a shit that their vehicle of choice is massively more likely to maim, harm and kill! The only thing that matters is their brood. We all matter! equally!

I think all of the superior, inconsiderate bastards should be made to use bicycles with sidecars to shuffle their offspring from ballet to Judo to art classes. Or even better a 50cc scooter, and a motorway! Let them get barreled by a few trucks and busses and then perhaps they will get to understand how we feel as they cruise past oblivious...... mutter, mutter, mutter

What about all the heavy trucks that are on the roads now they seem to drive them like sports cars too but you don't see propaganda programmes about them now do we??

[onearmedbandit]

Yup, as I said it's a pointless issue. There is no law to restrict me from buying and driving my 4x4 in town (how about this one too, my Japanese wife drives it during the day when I'm at work, oh yeah, an 'asian' driving a 2.5 tonne 4x4!! - btw, she's a better driver than 90% of the idiots that populate our roads in their friendly little sedans) so I'll carry on as I am.

[Marmoot]

Seems the phrase "I'd rather be hit by a 4WD than a truck" is appropriate for the discussion?

[vifferman]

"There should be a law against it."

That's what's wrong with the country - too many fucking bureaucrats, and too many laws and regulations. They haven't made the country safer - just cuntier.

Never mind; one day, when I'm God ("All hail Vifferman the Mental!") I'll abolish most of the laws, rules and regulations. Commonsense and responsibility will rule.
The bureaucrats will be first up against the wall. Then the politicians, real-estate agents and other parasites, whingers, busy-bodies and SafetyNazis, people who say "There should be a law against it", queue-jumpers, arseholes who dump their junk in other people's laps, the intolerant, people who don't drink beer ...

All Hail Vifferman the Merciless!!

[Edbear]

What we need here in NZ is an affordable version of the Defensive Driving course and integrate it into the licensing system - fail that, you fail your licence. Quite simple...

I completely agree! Maybe it could be integrated into the school curriculum?
Perhaps we could try writing to the Minister....?

Unfortunately it's also the long term fix as most of the incompetents on our roads are full grown adults! I can't believe the number of white males in their 20's and 30's I see who are absolutely dangerous in their incompetence! Believe me speeding is not the problem up here as they are inevitably travelling about 20km/h or more under the limit! ie: 70-80km/h. I'm on Rodney roads every day and it is almost inevitably this age group both male and female who simply cannot drive!

Don't want to be biased either, but I rarely see an Asian driver who doesn't seem absolutely petrified and drives as though they are about to die! Corners seem to scare them silly! Every time I pass them they're leaning forward and holding on to the steering wheel like grim death! Again, at no more than 70-80km/h!

Most older drivers on the open road are slow but not incompetent. (Except in town where the elderly are both slow and dangerous!)

[Finn]

The issue is far from pointless! I makes me furious that those selfish bastards can endanger the lives of my children and millions of others "to keep their inbred, webtoed offspring from harm"! They don't give a shit that their vehicle of choice is massively more likely to maim, harm and kill! The only thing that matters is their brood. We all matter! equally!

I think all of the superior, inconsiderate bastards should be made to use bicycles with sidecars to shuffle their offspring from ballet to Judo to art classes. Or even better a 50cc scooter, and a motorway! Let them get barreled by a few trucks and busses and then perhaps they will get to understand how we feel as they cruise past oblivious...... mutter, mutter, mutter

You're an idiot. You talk as if there's a bunch of us driving around in Mad Max style vehicles with anti aircraft guns mounted on the back, driving around shooting and raping innocent people. I've been driving SUV's for over 14 years now and I've never had an accident although I've tried to cause a few though.

Stop being bitter about people that have the money to drive nice big cars. Get off your lazy arse and try to do something with your life so your kids don't end up like you.