Is it time to ban 4x4s? Post Reply

[ellsbells]

I’m completely in favour of punitive measures to make 4x4s less acceptable in our area. BTC the vast majority of roads are narrow Victorian streets, yet the majority of cars on my road are 4x4s (mine is one of the worst streets for this). I drive a hatchback and really struggle to see round the 4x4s when I’m pulling out because they’re so wide. At school pick up times the road gets clogged and I see these cars cutting kerbs, horns honking, arguments about passing because there just isn’t enough room for them - it’s so dangerous when there are lots of small kids around.

My neighbour has a Defender and calls it ‘the beast’ - purely an ego thing, he has a small family so I can’t see the need for it. It takes up loads of space and makes parking harder for others. Honestly, some people need a reality check - we’re in zone 2 London!

The arguments about buses upthread don’t make sense to me - they’re often for people who can’t afford cars or can’t drive for whatever reason, so don’t have a choice. Making a conscious choice to purchase and drive a more dangerous car in a family area is another matter

[mountaingirl1977]

What nonsense. My VW Touran has no where near the power of a Landrover, not to mention the fact that our bonnet would crumple on impact whereas a Landrover is built to batter things, in this case, a wall with children behind it.

These have no place in London, and a previous comment that mentions snow and mountains?! Come off it. These are used to cart little darlings to piano lessons and pick up the shopping from Waitrose, and are completely unnecessary.

[dimelda]

Astonishing that people on this thread can say ...  we can't afford two cars, but we definitely need one.  No - you don't.  The only people who need to own, repeat to OWN, a vehicle in London are those who need it for their work, and those who are disabled, or who regularly drive a disabled person.  Otherwise there's a plethora of public transport out there.  Instead of moaning about the fact you can't afford a second car, get rid of the one you have, & instead use public transport.

[Loti123456]

This is an absurd and illogical post.

The girls died in the tragic accident at The Study School due to the driver having a seizure. Her car would have driven into the school whatever car she was driving and children have no chance against a car driving directly into them, whether it is a Mini or a Range Rower. It was a tragedy, the type of car would not have stopped it from happening. In awful situations people want to point a finger and blame someone or something, 4X4 cars are being used as the scape goat in this post and it's astounding how many people are jumping on the band waggon. The issue was that a woman had a seizure, which nothing could have stopped, and tragically the children happened to be in the line of her car- nothing can change this and nothing could have caused this to be avoided.

Rang Rovers and other 4 X 4 cars are no more or less likely to crash or veer off the road.

There is no comparison between guns and a car. No one used the car as a weapon to harm, it was a tragic accident that couldn't be avoided.

[Bookymummy]

I’m equivocal about the cars, but just wanted to pick up on the comment about cycling in Amsterdam as an example of a ‘pro-cycling’ environment.
It might well feel ‘super safe’ for cyclists, sadly I don’t think the same could be said for pedestrians. I’ve just come back from Amsterdam too and, as a diehard pedestrian, I didn’t feel very safe at all! Many of the pavements have been removed and replaced by cycle lanes and, if you are on foot, everywhere you are surrounded by e-bikes, pushbikes, motorbikes, e-scooters, coming at you, at speed, from all directions. Crossing roads you literally take your life in your hands not to be knocked over!! As usual, many cyclists think the traffic rules don’t apply to them so they ignore things like traffic lights too. Tbh, in a ‘cycle town’ like Amsterdam cars are the least of your problems if you’re a pedestrian!

[dimelda]

To:  Loti 123456:  How do you know that the woman driving the 4x4 which careered into the school killing two children had a seizure?  Has that been reported by the police?