Though I’m sympathetic to those who’ve been hit by the latest gas price hikes at an individual level, collectively we are just getting what we deserve. We, the consumers, are responsible for setting up our lives with obligatory 15, 30, 60, 187 mile commutes to work. We’ve completely bought the notion the commuting to and from our dream home is the norm. To have the life we want for ourselves and our families requires “sacrifice” in the form of a little extra driving. And somehow we feel that stable (and artificially low) gasoline prices are our divine right: that since we bought the Escalade, that it’s somebody else’s responsibility to keep its cost of operation down. Wasn’t that part of the deal….the salesman told me….?
As a frequent bicycle commuter, I can vouch for the amount of “air” moved around in a 6 foot high, 16 foot long rig. I used to count the number of SUV’s I’d see on my commute to work, and I’d try to make note of the number of SUV’s that contained only one person, and if possible I’d look to see if the cargo area had anything in it. My commute is only 1/3 on the pave, a total of about 7 minutes sharing the road with cars. I often would get to a dozen single passenger SUV’s per trip: all with (as far as I could see) no kids, no dog, no gear, no bikes, etc… on board.
I stopped counting. I didn’t need any data to re-enforce (not to be confused with reinforce) my opinion, I had more than I’d ever need.
“I feel so much more confident in my …”
“I can fit my kids, my dog, my spouse, and half of what we own in this thing…It’s unfortunate that we don’t spend any time together with our lives being so complex and all….”
In the past I’ve had a number of friends successfully “live” for rather long periods with their entire worldly collection of stuff fit in their SUV. These were field instructors for NOLS and Outward Bound, a hardwood paddle maker, a teacher, a rock climber, a poet. And I assure you that those SUV’s contained more outdoor gear (regularly used and often well-worn) than most SUV owners even own, and yet there was still ample room for a human (to sleep) and in many of those cases, a dog or two as well.
For that application, the SUV serves well. If you consider the savings in rent, the ability to access trailheads, gas equates to “utilities.” I’m all for that use. In fact, when I see an SUV that’s stuffed with parents, kidlets, pets, gear, boats/bikes on top, especially if a bit dirty, it truly warms my heart. It really is pretty cool to get it all there in style.
We are sold on the notion that having “options” is number one. Presumably, we believe that having a sedan or compact car “limits” our options. We can’t drive up the vertical walls of sandstone in Utah without a Jeep. We can’t survive a meteor hit without a Toyota pickup (just what happened to the ATV in the bed by the way?) We can’t continue to play H-O-R-S-E with the sunset unless we can fit our portable basketball hoop in the back of the SUV.
Apropos:
Calculate the fuel $$ savings over a year for say, a Civic vs a Forerunner (moderate size SUV). Assume the commute is 35 miles each way. Then, for the cons, assume that you the Civic owner must “rent” an SUV for two weeks to use for the two family vacations, since the vacation (presumably) requires an SUV. My rough on-the-fly calculations indicate the Civic owner would have enough left over to:
1. Feed a family of 4 for 3 months. And:
2. Buy round-trip ticket to Paris. And:
3. Buy $1,000 worth of anything else you want.
While you analyze you might as well look at the cost of insurance, repairs, tires! Since I am so bike-little-or-no-car centric, please advise me of the other things that can’t be done with a Civic v. Forerunner. Oh, and you might as well look carefully at safety statistics!
My conscience would be eased if someone could just show me the math that makes big cars/trucks/SUV’s work. Please help!
The final element: Isolation.
The evolution towards commuting, SUV’s and personal freedoms can be likened to de-socialization. We live in neighborhoods, yet don’t know our neighbors. Local grocers, coffee shops, diners, hardware stores. These historically were the places where community members would see each other, catch up on the world, sometimes argue-sometimes build consensus. Now you whiz from work to the big box stores, “conveniently” buy stuff from people you don’t know, sending profits up the chain to people who don’t spend money or donate time in your community, and erode the viability of your local grocer. Even though the grocer knows your name (and your kids’ names), went to high school with your dad, and buys insurance from your husband, you don’t shop in her store because you can save by shopping at Walmart. Hell, you have to make the payments, right? Besides, you didn’t like it when she told you she knew your son was hanging out with bad kids and smoking weed. None of her business. Even if she was just looking out for a friend.
FUCK.
We already voted, and if we’re unhappy about the status quo, we should make sure to “vote” with a little more forethought next time.
G
Enuff.
Great Blog, much much truth.