A few recent comments on OzB got me thinking about what we see on our roads lately.. Even the narrow or single lane roads are usually full of giant SUVs and a handful of hatchbacks and sedans 'hidden' amidst them. This is fast becoming more common as car companies want us to buy bigger, more expensive cars. I am not sure if anyone else feels this but in my eyes, SUVs are inherently uglier (as f***!) than sedans and hatchbacks.. too bulky and heavy for my personal liking, especially considering our roads (case of the American roads could be arguably different). No matter which brand and how expensive really, they just don't look as attractive.
Also, I never understood why small families in our country (even in major cities) opt for less cost-effective, uglier and more expensive SUVs vs much nicer looking, cheaper and more cost-effective sedans or hatchbacks. Parking lots in Australia aren't even made for SUVs at the most places - sedans barely fit there. Not that everyone goes to camping every other weekend or all SUV owners need to fit in prams either. For a couple with no kids or a family with one kid, sedans (if not hatch) are perfect and so much better looking, ay! I was in Europe in last holidays and I didn't notice that many SUVs there. Beautiful hatchbacks and sedans on the roads was quite refreshing, honestly.. compared to our increasingly congested roads where all you see around you is giant SUVs driving past, all looking quite similar. Btw, I have owned SUV in the past for extended family needs and now own a hatch which I love driving around. If I don't have more space requirement, I would prefer hatch any day even for daily commuting or even reasonably long distance driving; so much easier to deal with driving and parking in our busy urban areas.
What do you all think?
Car dependency has been a disaster for urban planning, not to mention the impact of minimum parking requirements, some on-street parking and overall emissions. SUVs have only made it worse - while car safety has improved dramatically over the years, SUVs are still more prone to causing accidents and with much greater severity. Cars are designed to be "compatible" with eachother when they crash too, an SUV running into a smaller car is much more dangerous.
All for what? 80% of SUV owners don't actually need the extra space, in fact, much of the time there is very little "extra space" to be had over a sedan/hatchback - they're usually worse than a traditional safer wagon design! Almost everyone driving around in cars are doing so with only 1-2 people in them. It's a travesty caused by automakers trying to push SUVs and consumers basically just liking their aesthetic value or fooling themselves into thinking they're safer or need extra space. That's not to say SUVs don't have their place in their market, they're a perfectly valid fit for many but they're utterly dominating new car sales!
Everyone feels the increase in congestion over the years, we only have to look overseas to see what happens to every major city or suburban hub over time: congestion. Congestion, congestion, congestion. So many people are losing hours of their workday stuck in their traffic, exasperated by suburban sprawl and housing prices. Every hour in traffic is an hour you're not working, an hour away from family/friends, away from your hobbies, away for sleep, etc. And we're just blindly moving forward with this losing strategy like the rest of the world! SUVs aren't the cause but they're certainly part of the problem.
If you think traffic is bad now wait another 10-20 years, most Australians are still blissfully unaware of how much worse it can get.