24th Jun 2008, 15:06

So, you'd rather get plowed into by a 6000+ pound vehicle doing 80 than a 700 pound motorcycle doing 100? Good luck! I'd take my chances with the motorcycle any day...

25th Jun 2008, 17:58

Hopefully gas prices will spell the end of the mobs of gas-guzzling and unnecessary SUV's. I hope gas prices DO stay high for a while, or go higher, so people in the U.S. will be forced to drive more sensible vehicles.

You don't need a 6000 pound, 8 mile per gallon vehicle to take the kids to soccer and pick up the groceries, and that is all that 99.99% of all SUV's are ever used for.

29th Jun 2008, 19:34

Here, here to that... Too bad we all have to pay for that change to occur but I'll be glad when there are less SUV's around to clog up the roadways!!

11th Jul 2008, 11:45

I was happy to read that GM is dropping the Hummer. The high cost of fuel is making it no longer a viable means of transportation. What government regulation couldn't do to curb the rampant waste of our natural resources, it appears high fuel costs will accomplish.

12th Jul 2008, 06:04

The H3 is small whats the big issue? It makes sense I guess to buy 2 very small vehicles and follow one another instead as a family... maybe sell a H3 and buy a sensible V8 Land Cruiser or a Range Rover, Expedition, Suburban.

13th Jul 2008, 18:59

Who said anything about driving a really small car? There are plenty of choices like the Impala, Accord, Camry, Fusion... that can take the average family of four anywhere they need to go AND get at least 30 mpg doing it.

I know the argument can be made for all the extra stuff you need to take with you, but that issue needs to be rectified as well, as it is more of a lifestyle thing than a necessity.

I know when I was a kid we had the five of us all in the car with luggage and everything we needed, and we fit comfortably with no car-top carriers or extra storage space outside of the car. We also didn't take every last thing we owned on every trip with us. Vacations are to get away from it all, not to bring it all with you!! Ha Ha Ha.

15th Jul 2008, 17:23

I got a kick out of comment 18:59 (which is 100% CORRECT!!) It reminded me of a couple of friends of ours who recently went "camping" out west. They drove their 4-mile-per-gallon $250,000 motor home (complete with jacuzzi and big screen TV) and towed their Mercedes behind it. ON TOP OF THAT, the wife drove their 7-mile-per-gallon GMC Suburban towing a 20 foot enclosed trailer with their "luggage"!! (and they didn't even have kids with them!!) Don't you just love some people's idea of "roughing it"?? Whatever happened to carrying your tent and gear in the back of a Ranger?? That's how I went "camping" the last time!!

16th Jul 2008, 15:53

It's funny that the Republicans are always shooting down environmental legislation and talking about "letting the market forces decide", and now for once, the market (high gas prices) really is causing people to stop driving less fuel efficient cars. I bet the oil lobby is madder than hell! Demand drops, and yet prices rise, so once again, where is this magical "free market" that is supposed to work so well?

18th Jul 2008, 19:27

As sad as it is, Americans are generally not remotely concerned with pollution or the environment. If gas were still $2 a gallon, folks would still be lining up to buy 8-mile-per gallon SUV's to impress the other soccer moms.

I'm hoping the high cost of gas hangs around long enough to spell the end of the SUV mania once and for all. Our roads would be much safer, and you could actually see to back out of parking spaces in a normal vehicle once more.

Why a gloried panel truck with windows added, rear seats and $10,000 tacked on the price tag ever became so wildly popular is beyond me. I assume it was due to the $10,000 added to the price, as that made it an "expensive" car.

20th Jul 2008, 17:41

One word to the above...MARKETING!! The car companies made people think SUV's were stylish, safe and the "thing" to be seen in... The safety thing gets me every time... it is so far from truth it is ridiculous. If people would do a little simple research, BEFORE purchasing, they'd see how unsafe their oversized vehicles really are and how easily they flip over..etc. etc. They'd run from their SUV's screaming... It is too bad the rest of us have to pay more to end this reign of the SUV...

25th Jul 2008, 21:49

Again... safety as relative to whom? Most of the accidents in SUV's could be avoided in smaller better handling cars.

Yes, you are safer in your three ton steel box, but if you only care about YOUR safety then I guess you can live with that. I guess it is typical human nature... sad...

I, on the other hand, would like us all to be safer and drive reasonably sized cars that don't crush Civics and Corolla's.

Oh, and GM and FORD just got totally ripped AGAIN for their unsafe trucks. You get t-boned in anything truck like and you'll likely be hurt badly or killed... so much for your safety. They score extremely low on side impact crashes... among other things.

26th Jul 2008, 22:10

GM and Ford trucks may suffer damage if T-boned by another LARGE vehicle. Getting T-boned by a Civic or Corolla would be about like a fly hitting the windshield.

The point isn't that the world wouldn't be safer without large trucks and SUV's. It WOULD be MUCH SAFER. The point I tried to make in comment 22:57 is that UNTIL that glorious day when the last SUV is rusting in a junkyard, smaller vehicles are FAR more vulnerable than the larger ones.

I myself drive a small compact and I would NEVER put forth the argument that "large vehicles are more dangerous than small ones". That defies the laws of physics, sanity and common sense. I KNOW that my small car would crumple like an egg if I were hit by a giant 4-mile per gallon Hummer and I drive very defensively to avoid that.

I LOVE the new Honda commercial where a giant Ford F-250 Monster truck has run out of gas and the driver and his family is given a lift in a new Honda van. The Honda driver comments that he gets 23 mpg and the monster truck driver counters with "Yes, but can it CRUSH CARS". There is a world of TRUTH In that statement, and I frankly can't believe Honda would put such an OBVIOUSLY TRUE statement (that big trucks crush little cars) in a COMMERCIAL for HONDA!!!