hevs

What? children

MarkMyWords

Nothing fundamentally wrong with a 4WD in itself, just the way some of them get driven.

"How do you drive yours?" (Sorry, a humorous allusion to a fairly recent UK ad campaign that will mean nothing over here!)

Sander

Very true and I agree!

hevs

Yeah, but the same goes for nearly all vehicles surely. Hoons in v8's are pretty leathal. Coked up truck drivers on the nullabor, scary. Bloody motorbikes sneaking up on your inside on the monash on your way to the city :scared: White van drivers and couriers, same the world over surely? P platers showing off to their 18 year old girlfriend etc etc, the list is endless.

Its not the vehicle its the drivers and to say all 4 W drivers are intimidating is crap

Scossie

Bloody hell Brian! Where did you get that picture???:scared:

And BTW..... Happy New Year to you & Tina..

Cheers.... John & Gillian....

walla

em no, we use our other car for that, the 4x4 gets us onto the beach and in the bush at the weekend

Badge

I have never regretted buying a twin cab 4x4 ute - best veh in the world.
Buy a skanky one like mine and noone can acuse you of being a poser. Great for everything.

Badge

bondipom

They are more likely to tip over and cause death in an accident. 4WD owners also have a habit of reversing over their kiddies because they cannot see them playing behind the vehicle. The Bull bars do not absorb the energy of an impact which makes them more dangerous for the driver and the car they collide with. IMO 4WDs should be taxed to the extent of the extra damage they cause and make the owners take lessons. 4WDs are necesary outback which is where most of the drivers wish they were. Problem is they are driving around suburbia. How do we fairly treat those that need 4WDs and hold back the selfish burbanites?

MarkMyWords

The particular problem with bull bars is when the car hits a pedestrian. There's a much higher pedestrian fatality rate in such cases compared to those without bull bars. At least that's what the fuss in the UK was about, as I recall. I don't think anything came of it, though, alas. Easy, differential taxation.

andrew63

Interesting subject

All from http://www.atsb.gov.au/road/mgraph/mgraph11/index.cfm if you are interested

Maybe there should be a different licence for 4WD drivers. If you read the link there are more crashes involving small trucks and bikes than 4WD. I don't think extra taxes will help as 4WD cost more and additional tax will simply add to the status.
IMO (we are all allowed one), I drive several KMs every day and it is more non-4WD cars, utes and vans I see breaking the speed limits and darting in and out of lanes whilst the 4WDs tend to hold steady on the speed limit (ish) and smaller vehicles desperate to see round them do dangerous manoveures to do so until they get stuck behing another car that they are happier to be behind. They tend not to drive so erratically when a truck or coach etc. is in front of them. Why is that? I don't understand. Just observe!

Andrew

MarkMyWords

Oooh lots of lovely statistics to mis-interpret... maybe the lower rate of accidents involving 4WDs is simply because there are fewer of them around. Or maybe not.

Maybe the better all-round vision in a taller vehicle leads to a greater sense of security and thus a calmer driving style? This may depend on the traffic conditions, of course.

walla

peope already pay more tax in general for a 4x4 because they tend to be more expensive than sedans and other models, it's called stamp duty.

Bull bars I disagree with in suburbia but necassary in the country

bondipom

There are punishments for anyone who speeds. Motorcyclists have to take extra tests to ride. Motorcyclists tend to kill themselves whereas 4wds tend to kill others. My observations are that 4wders are just as aggressive as anyonelse. What percentage of them need the 4wd capability?

Hels

Do we also include AWD in the 4WD catagory??

Or is it just the vehicles above a certain height we are concerned about?

MarkMyWords

We do seem to be blurring the boundaries and throwing the term 4WD around rather loosely. Personally I don't see that it matters how many wheels it's got or are connected to the engine, it's the driving and the damaging-innocent-bystanders-capability that are the important things.