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

[Motu]

JUST not in the CBD
-

When we needed a 6 seater we had a nice yellow XC Falcon wagon - it was bloody huge! We used to look out for ''Falcon'' parking spaces,it was just too long to swing into underground car parks without another stab at it.My 7 seater Pajero is shorter,has a shorter wheelbase and is much easier to park.I've got no problem in the CBD with it,but used to dread the CBD in the Coon.

[Crisis management]

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.

Actually, I've always had this thought in the back of my mind after 10 minutes in the rush hour.

A nice clean kill this time Finn, I think you scored 7.8 for the stalking, 8.5 for ruthlessness and 9.4 for the disembowelment.

[Wolf]

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)

Did she get her licence in Japan? According to a Japanese friend, they have a school that they have to attend and graduate before they're allowed to sit their driving test and they have to pass the driving test to get a licence. They drive on the left, like us, so they're not confused by the whole left-right thing - about the only things they're not used to are a few weird little rules and uncontrolled intersections/roundabouts (apparently there are no such things in Japan) - certainly less of a learning curve than switching from right-hand side to left hand side.

You should hear my Japanese friend on the topic of Chinese drivers...

[Guitana]

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.

Yeah I just got a 50 cal machine gun mounted out the sun roof and rockets in the side panels. But in Madmax it was all those fucken psycho's on modified kawasakis that were causing all the greif!!!!!!

[vifferman]

When we needed a 6 seater we had a nice yellow XC Falcon wagon - it was bloody huge! We used to look out for ''Falcon'' parking spaces,it was just too long to swing into underground car parks without another stab at it.My 7 seater Pajero is shorter,has a shorter wheelbase and is much easier to park.I've got no problem in the CBD with it,but used to dread the CBD in the Coon.

My sympathies, Dude!
I had fun in Murka trying to park the GreatWhiteWhale in the hotel basement - it was strangely only designed for small, manouevrable vehicles. To fit the Whale in, I had to drive down to the bottom-most level, do a 7 or 20 point turn to get it facing the other way, then drive up two levels, then back it in (6 or 13 point turn) into the park.

PuddingPimp (#2 Son, sitting in the shotgun seat) kept saying, "Watch out for that cliff/bank/post, Dad! This thing is wider than you think!"
Eventually I managed to actually bounce it off a kerb on a right-hand corner. A few minutes later, I nearly ripped the right-hand mirror off on a lamp-post because I couldn't see on that side due to his waving-about arms...
Heh... got that last one on video.
Scene: car/truck veers off road, into a huge puddle/pond. Huge cloud of steam goes up (it was deeper'n I thought...)
WifeWoman: "Now you done it! You've broken the engine! Lookitallthatsmoke!!
Vifferman: "It's just steam from the hot exhaust."
[Car/Truck/Whale backs up for photo-op]
Clunk.
PuddingPimp: "Now you've done it. I told you it was wider than it looked!"
WifeWoman: "Now you've done it! You've broken it!"
Vifferman: "Psshaw!! It's just folded up. Get your pharking arm outta the way, then maybe I can see where I'm backing!"

We also got on video the imbecile/stoned/crazed loon veering at speed onto the freeway, across 4-lanes of traffic in front of me, then jerking the steering wheel to the right narrowly avoiding crashing into the barrier, before weaving off into the distance:
Vifferman: "Holy fucking shit!!"

BTW - the "imbecile/stoned/crazed loon veering at speed onto the freeway" was driving some compact sort of car. We were the ones driving the oversized SUV.

BTW(II): we saw many people towing huge SUVs with even huger RVs, on their way to/back from vacation. We even saw one ginormous SUV towing a ginormous RV.

Give me gun-crazed lunamatic Murkns any day. No roundabouts, few traffic lights, yet almost everybody drives as if they might get shot if they drive like an arsehole.
Wonder why...

[onearmedbandit]

Did she get her licence in Japan?

Yes she did. And your friend is correct.

[Wolf]

And your friend is correct.

I had no reason to disbelieve.

[KLOWN]

The only thing that matters is their brood. We all matter! equally!

sorry, i diisagree here, to me I matter most and that is everyones point of view except MAYBE if you have kids then they matter most(to you)

[MD]

I thought that show was a comedy.
How two crap drivers were introduced to SUV driving and became worse drivers.
Especially the 4x4 owners and the Crash test Investigator who said they bought theirs so that their family would be safe when they crash into another vehicle. Selfish idiots. But idiots none the less. Their assumption for this flawed logic is that they will conveniently only crash into a bike/pedestrian or a rusty 1960s Fiat Bambina. Take a look at what's on our roads- not many of any of those small objects. Nope, it's most likely now that they will self-destruct into another heavy, solid 4x4 without crumple zones, inflicting about triple the damage on both sets of occupants.
They wont be so smug when petrol hits $2 a litre.. $2.50.. $3.00. Which is a handy number, since that will be about the selling price of all second hand urban SUV/4x4s

[scumdog]

Give me gun-crazed lunamatic Murkns any day. No roundabouts, few traffic lights, yet almost everybody drives as if they might get shot if they drive like an arsehole.
Wonder why...

True, had less problems in a 4-week 10,000km trip in the US than a cruise through Dorkland....

[Clockwork]

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

.






Yep, this thread ended up pretty much where I thought it would.

See what you've started, Wolf?

[avgas]

This whole thing is being impractical and silly.
Yes SUV's are bad, but a fuck-load else that has been round for more than any of us is still round.
I have no problem for SUV's, because it means that saftey factors will rule them off the road as soon as people protest enough (two stokes anyone). And after a high profile case - it will happen (look at dog laws).
But i still have major issues with bull bars - as these are illegal in my books, as it is an object that could cause harm (acc) on the external of a vehicle (vtnz). There is no impact zone on a bull bar - its there to put more energy into a target, then the vehicle it protects. So as for finns comment earlier - if you drive with a bull bar - you drive with a weapon designed to main and kill.

[Pixie]

But i still have major issues with bull bars - as these are illegal in my books, as it is an object that could cause harm (acc) on the external of a vehicle (vtnz). There is no impact zone on a bull bar - its there to put more energy into a target, then the vehicle it protects. So as for finns comment earlier - if you drive with a bull bar - you drive with a weapon designed to main and kill.

What the morons don't realise is that it defeats any energy absorbtion structures built into the SUV,and makes it more likely to kill the occupants.

....But I don't really care if they die

[Pixie]

pajero means wanker

Yes it is true.
But it is a common misconception that the japanese designers made a mistake when they chose the name.
They knew the meaning exactly

[dnos]

I wouldn't buy one cos i like to drive fast, and they sure as hell aren't very good or safe at that.
The drivers who forget this are the ones that are dangerous, not the vehicles. Common sense and defensive driving skills seem to be seriously lacking on our roads, and I am reminded of this almost every time I venture onto our roads.