With gas in the UK costing anywhere between eight to twelve dollars a gallon it’s hard to understand why anyone would choose to drive an SUV, but they do. This British commercial asks a simple question. What does your car say about you?
According to British newspaper, The Independent, one out of every seven cars sold in London is a 4×4 off-road vehicle, and that number looks set to rise as the 4×4 is the most desired vehicle of status-conscious parents who are more likely to use the vehicle for a school run rather than a off-road adventure.
Greenpeace believe that parents who drive 4x4s for the “safety” of their children are contributing to the likelihood that those children will face a dire global emergency while they are in their twenties.
Personally I would like to see SUV’s and other similar gas guzzlers hit particularly hard by taxes and higher rates on roads like the M6 toll. Inner city parking lots could also impose height restrictions making it difficult to park one of these so called ‘Chelsea tractors.’ Clearly the only way to stem the desire for SUV’s is to start making life difficult for people who choose to buy one.
According to some reports the UK government may well be on the verge of introducing a raft of eco-taxes that are sure to be unpopular with a public that are still largely unconverned about the effects of climate change. However the taxes will hit owners of SUV’s with road tax being trebled from the annual figure of £210 ($397.23) to £630 ($1,153.87). As yet similar tactics do not seem to be on the cards for driver of SUV’s in the United States, the worlds biggest market for such vehicles.
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What does your car say about you?
About ‘Gaz Guzzler’
Offroad cars, Onroad menace
Baby on board
SUV’s are spreading
Stop Urban 4×4’s
Print spoof parking tickets (UK)
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2006 at 3:31 am
yeah…
when i was a kid i dreampt of being in greenpeace. thank God i grew out of that and got an suv!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2006 at 3:33 am
oooh, that reminds me of the “smug” southpark episode. where everyone got hybrids and started acting all kinds of self-righteous. it cracked my hybrid-loving self up and it’s now one of my favorite episodes.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Simon,
Keep your hands off my 4×4 truck:
https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/tx_eggman/Truck001.jpg
Without it I can’t get around on the dirt roads at my lease in the Texas Hill country:
https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/tx_eggman/HuntingCabin.jpg
Where I kill things that I bring home and eat
https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/tx_eggman/deer1.jpg
Wrote the following comment on Oct 31, 2006 at 3:46 pm
Tx, you’re a real Texan! :-)
I personally don’t have a problem with someone owning a 4×4 if they use it to actually go somewhere it at least would be used. The thing is most Land Rovers and Hummers are driven by soccer moms and pen pushers who rarely see dirt in any degree that their vehicle was built for. If those people insist on driving a vehicle which is as bad as they are, then that’s absolutely fair enough just as long as they’re willing to pay for it.
Personally I think that we’ll see a sudden leap in the amount of hybrid cars and the such very soon. With tough new laws coming into play across the UK and EU soon, car makers will have to get ahead of what will be a rapid growth market for eco-friendlier vehicles.
I’d like to see Bush and America get behind this, but greed and ignorance will probably see to it that nothing is done there until it actually is a threat people in Ohio can see with their own eyes, at which point I think it may well be too late.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 1, 2006 at 1:18 am
Good one Eggy!
Simon, Missouri is the “show me state.â€
The reasons for conserving petrol are many and varied but we probably won’t get serious enough to spit in someone’s coffee until it hits $8 – $12 a gallon like the UK. Even then, the rich won’t conserve because they have no need. The poor will be required to adjust the family budget or quit driving altogether. Since alternatives have been rather slow springing up, I suspect the US economy will develop them only when it’s monetarily profitable to do so.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 1, 2006 at 3:14 am
Call me a cynic but I wouldn’t be surprised if the big car makers have hybrid engines up their sleeves and ready to go. Further, I rekon that the oil companies are probably already to profit from the emerging renewable energy market. Sure lots of little companies have sprung up, but who could believe that oil companies won’t follow the money?
The rich will still use and abuse because, as you say Reece, they can afford to. But isn’t that the same in all things? Still, if Americas gas was to cost $8 -$12 a gallon I think we might see a dramatic attitude change in its consumption. Most people still guzzle it like it’ll never run out, while laughing at those who are trying to push renewable energy like hydro, wind, or solar as a viable replacement for gas and oil.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 3, 2006 at 2:51 am
i love how it says wanker on the back of his car..lol.i cant believe how exspensive gas is for u peeps across the seas…that sucks.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 3, 2006 at 2:54 am
I think gas should be expensive. We need to break our addiction to buring stuff because if we don’t we’ll all be fucked before too long. Oil is running out and so you can expect gas prices to go through the roof in years to come, even for you yankeedoodlies.
Fortunately for us the sun, waves, and wind are showing no signs of running out any time soon.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 3, 2006 at 7:54 pm
in the next three months i plan to buy a new car… hybrid is #1 on the list.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 3, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Well Beth, let us know how that goes!
Wrote the following comment on Nov 4, 2006 at 9:07 pm
I own a Saturn Ion 3. As a college student, what drove me to it was the affordability and efficiency (32mpg on open road) of the 4-cylinder engine. I would really go for a hybrid if Saturn came out with one…
Wrote the following comment on Nov 5, 2006 at 12:53 am
But only if Saturn came out with one? What about if Mercury, Ford, GM, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, or countless others came out with one. I’m not sure how well the Smart car will sell in America, but I’d love to see that car do well. But despite this car being hugely popular across Europe, I can’t see our American friends seeing the appeal. And really, with gas prices so low over there, why would they see the appeal. Shame, it’s a great car.