4 x 4s hit by Richmond Council with higher parking charges

geo555

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

They are more dangerous both to those in them and other road users.

A 4x4 is twice as likely to be involved in a fatal rollover as an ordinary car

If a pedestrian is hit by a 4x4 they are twice as likely to be killed.

In a side-impact collision with a 4x4, a car driver is around 4 times more likely to be killed than if they were hit by another car.

4 x 4s have larger blind spots and therefore are the drivers are more likely to be involved in running over children when reversing.

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Perhaps if you used UK data instead of select US stats, some from 1998, you wouldn't have such a shock value.

Rollovers - European cars have different suspension setups and better safety equipment (Electronic Stability Programme)

Accidents- 4x4 drivers (contrary to some peoples view) do NOT go driving about looking for pedestrians to run over and smaller cars to drive into!

Blind spots - Most cars have blind spots, using dated US figures again, with more SUVs in America there will be more accidents.

By trying to price out people of having a 4x4 you do not take them off the road, they will simply buy another car of similar value and jeolousy factor.

Perhaps people will be happy when we all have "Government" designed cars like this

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://static.kolesa.ru/uploads/92/92_museum_brands_15b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kolesa.ru/articleimg/92_museum_brands.html%3Fimage_id%3D10542&h=300&w=400&sz=33&hl=en&start=578&tbnid=78XCaVtJYuEXBM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtrabant%26start%3D560%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

To go with our "Government" eating and lifestyle programmes.

iwanttosave_2

Seesaw wrote:

You have crash on the m25 in a Peugeot 205 (when a van hits you at 60 mph when you are in a traffic jam stopped) and then tell me I am wrong to drive the 4x4 !


I now have 2 children - tell me again why I shouldn't drive a 4x4 ?

How about if you hit my 2 children, you will do them more damage than if you were in a 205, or if you hit me in my astra, you will do me a hell of a lot more damage.

I also have a Newfie and a Lab - what should I drive ?

How about any estate car you can think of? The police manage to put their German Shepards in one, I am sure you can.

What do I drive ? a VW transporter - why DO people buy people carriers ??

because they have more than 3 children and its either that or a roof rack?

Did have a 4x4 but petrol prices too prohibitive - don't agree at all with the anti- 4x4 brigade

So you can manage with one now, with your two kids and two dogs, but you had to have one back then?

GordonBritas

4 x 4s have larger blind spots and therefore are the drivers are more likely to be involved in running over children when reversing.

I was amazed when I got my 4x4 that it was the first vehicle I have owned that does NOT have a blind spot on the motorway.

I dont have much time for the "4x4' s are dangerous to small car users", its a free country anybody can buy a large vehicle if they so wish, I have a very big 4x4 because if you hit me in an accident in your small car I want to make sure my family is safe, and i'm not going to worry about much else.

shays_mum

Alot of 4x4 now are coming in diesel engines that give 40mpg & with 7 seats, just the same as many suv's.

As a school run mum who takes 3 kids (2 not mine) to school & another 3 from next year, why should i be penalised for driving a car, with a smaller engine size that accomodates all my needs & is much more fuel efficient than some heavy petrol guzzling saloons with 3/4 ltr engines?!!.

And No! before anyone asks i don't have a 4x4, but i would think of getting one if it suited me!!. I am sick and tired of being told what i can/ can't do because it suits someone else's agenda.

If the amount of energy poured into 4x4's was diverted into something else let's say crime, man! this country would be crime-free!, my point being with the nation as it is today, yob-culture,crime,housing issues,funding wars abroad etc etc, is this all we can as a nation focus on??!!

Dan29

LizEstelle wrote:

Any comments?

Yes, I would like to make the following comment:

"Richmond upon Thames Council in southwest London has drawn up proposals to charge more for residents’ parking permits for those with cars that produce higher CO2 emissions and less for the least polluting cars."

Nowhere are four-wheel-drive vehicles mentioned in that press release, so your thread seems to be based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the subject.

GordonBritas

Al_Mac wrote:

Every car has a blind spot of some kind:D

I mean an overtaking blind spot, the type that old men buy those sticky little mirrors to go on their small car wing mirror (I expect you have one )

Seesaw_2

You can only live your life as you see fit, if it is of major concern to you that I am driving a 4x4 or a people carrier then maybe you need more to worry about, I live in a rural area, drive few miles but still have a need for a large car, we dont ever drive to school or make unneccessary journeys. The whole 4x4 debate is fairly pathetic, we did, up until recently own two, the second is owned and driven by my husband as a builders vehicle and is more often than not towing 2.5 tonnes on a trailer in and out of quarries, what suggestion do you have for a replacement for this?

You cannot generalise on any type of vehicle, large saloons are often more polluting, why own a sports car? you can't use it as it is designed. The volkswagen transporter we now have is bigger than a people carrier (8 seat minibus type) and weighs 2 tonne, the same as our 4x4 and is the same size within an inch, so are we now a safer bet having one less driven axle?? Granted we are less polluting but a modern 4x4 is far less polluting than any aged car badly serviced.

On the subject of the environment we travelled precisely 0 miles by air in the last 4 years, I would like to think that the green brigade all holiday in this country but I somehow doubt it, its a long drive to Tuscany.

The argument for pedestrian safety is often used but surely this is more dependant on where and when you drive than type of vehicle, as I said we never drive to school, and we rarely drive in the early evening when childen are mainly at risk, this argument usually comes from mums, and they generally have it whilst parked outside the school with two wheels on the pavement and two on the zig-zags!

(WANTY - SEE PREV) you ask if we are happy having our two children in a 4x4 or our large minibus instead of a smaller car, surely a no brainer. God forbid that you in your huge Astra estate hit a family of four in a Kia Pride, how can you sleep at night? How about if someone hits a pushchair or a toddler at full speed on a bicycle? where does it end?

We wish no one any harm but if you survive any accident because of the car you are travelling in then what can you say. Its interesting to note how many parents in their loving way allow their children to wander around the car unrestrained, maybe if people were to worry about their own driving, restraining their children and how and when they use their car then the roads would be much safer.

Tipping over a 4x4 is easy, we tipped an old one of ours over 17 times in off road competitions, so I would suggest we have more experience in this field than most, but you drive the car within its capabilities, you wouldn't drive a Transit in the same way as a Porsche.

The main reason I have found recently for owning a 4x4 is that it really !!!!es of sanctimonious anal retentive pillocks who have got nothing better to do. Iraq war, Afghanistan, North Korean missile tests, yea but what about those people with two extra driven wheels on their cars???????


Think wrongly if you must - but at all times think for yourself !

Drive safely - and remember Nanny (state) is not always right !!

bootman

If the parking is marked out surely its irrelevant what size car is parked there. I drive a smart car but I would still take up the same space as a 4x4 - Pants, is what I say!

Tax Tax Tax!!

livinginhope

prudryden,air should be FREE for everyone! it is vital for road safety,just because your car is smaller doesn't mean you should get cheaper air.
Shame on ANY garage charging for air,it should be part of the service when you get petrol,wonder what the percentage is of accidents caused by wrongly inflated tyres,quite high I would think.

rdwarr

prudryden wrote:

There was a recent thread today about ESSO charging .50pence for air at their stations for all cars. That is unfair. Should be £1 for larger ones and my Nissan Micro should be free. Richmond council is going to charge for air whether you breathe it or not. I don't think that is right. But I guess that is the only way to protect our natural resources.

Sentence one - no there wasn't.
Sentence two - no it shouldn't.
Sentence three - no they're not.
Sentence four - see sentence three.
Sentence five - Aargh! Are you really suggesting we shouldn't pump up our tyres to save natural resources? (Sorry - I was doing so well up until then).