Start of a Trend Maybe?

[dopefiend]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/06/10/france.suvs/index.html

Paris bid to ban designer jeeps

"We have no interest in having SUVs in the city. They're dangerous to others and take up too much space, "

Deputy Mayor Baupin said Wednesday that the resolution could lead to a ban on the increasingly popular vehicles in about 18 months if it is included in an overall project to improve traffic flow in the city.


What do you all think? Will it happen? If so, think it will continue around Europe?

[Savage Henry]

A scheme that is too intelligent and too good for the city will never find it's way into London. :(

So I'd push for an outright ban of the bleedin' things.
:D

[Laslo Panaflex]

I think this is a great idea! I am sick of stupid soccer moms driving Ford Excursions and the like, and have no idea how to drive them. They take turns to wide, and they try to parallel park, and just park in spaces that are way to small for their vehicle.

But, it is america, and you have the right to drive whatever you want, just like I have the right to rant about stupid soccer moms.

[takao]

i would say yes...seems reasonable
most cities already have too much traffic problems or the problem of lacking parking lots (which are smaller here) ...

[virividox]

frenchies!@!! but then again the metro in paris rocks plus id rather be driving around in a sports car

[mactastic]

It's already common practice to ban vehicles exceeding a certain size and/or weight from certain city streets, so I guess this would just be an extension of that practice. I still think going after the users of SUVs is the wrong tactic though.

[iGav]

This will help... :rolleyes: like Paris is full of considerate drivers who actually consider the safety of pedestrians and cyclists already. :rolleyes:

As for London... (and most major cities in the UK), they should never have killed the tram. :rolleyes:

[Thomas Veil]

Lemme play devil's advocate for a moment.

I'm almost 48, and I just hurt my back this week getting into my low-slung little rice-burner of a sedan. I actually ended up in a hospital emergency room. The problem with smaller cars is that the entry position is often awkward, and the seats terrible.

At my age, I much prefer my wife's minivan. Getting in and out is a joy, in addition to the other obvious advantage of having great sight lines.

We had similar problems with my elderly father-in-law. He needed frequent visits to the doctor. And while we could get him into and out of the minivan easily, trying to get his weak, stiff body into a car was terrible. He couldn't bend enough to keep from bumping his head on the door frame, and we actually had to lift his legs for him to swing them into place.

So obviously, I think a ban on SUVs is a half-baked idea. It could very easily spread to trucks and minivans, and then you end up with the aforementioned problems.

I do agree we need to make taller vehicles, such as SUVs and minivans, more fuel efficient. And I'm all in favor of cars that ride taller, although there are precious few of those. I've heard the PT Cruiser is pretty good in this regard, but so help me, the last "tall" car I remember is the old AMC Eagle!

[Chip NoVaMac]

I think this is a great idea! I am sick of stupid soccer moms driving Ford Excursions and the like, and have no idea how to drive them. They take turns to wide, and they try to parallel park, and just park in spaces that are way to small for their vehicle.

But, it is america, and you have the right to drive whatever you want, just like I have the right to rant about stupid soccer moms.

I love when they park in a spot marked for "Compact Cars Only"....

[takao]

i completly understand that argument about mini vans
those are nice to drive,lot of space inside, and comfortable

but parking with them is a pain sometimes (even when it's my mothers renault espace)

but fuel consumption shouldn't be a problem with todays diesel engines,weight reduction technics...

aren't there in japan such minivans with only 5 seats with the same height but shorter ? you know thsoe who look so blocky ;)

[Chip NoVaMac]

Lemme play devil's advocate for a moment.

I'm almost 48, and I just hurt my back this week getting into my low-slung little rice-burner of a sedan. I actually ended up in a hospital emergency room. The problem with smaller cars is that the entry position is often awkward, and the seats terrible.

At my age, I much prefer my wife's minivan. Getting in and out is a joy, in addition to the other obvious advantage of having great sight lines.

We had similar problems with my elderly father-in-law. He needed frequent visits to the doctor. And while we could get him into and out of the minivan easily, trying to get his weak, stiff body into a car was terrible. He couldn't bend enough to keep from bumping his head on the door frame, and we actually had to lift his legs for him to swing them into place.

So obviously, I think a ban on SUVs is a half-baked idea. It could very easily spread to trucks and minivans, and then you end up with the aforementioned problems.

I do agree we need to make taller vehicles, such as SUVs and minivans, more fuel efficient. And I'm all in favor of cars that ride taller, although there are precious few of those. I've heard the PT Cruiser is pretty good in this regard, but so help me, the last "tall" car I remember is the old AMC Eagle!

Actually the manufactures are doing that now. Cars like the Toyota Matrix, Scion Xb, and others are designed for a more upright entry and exit.

[dopefiend]

Actually the manufactures are doing that now. Cars like the Toyota Matrix, Scion Xb, and others are designed for a more upright entry and exit.

That Scion looks like a short bus. :p

http://hometown.aol.com/chuck858/images/my%20scion%20xb0006.jpg

[takao]

Actually the manufactures are doing that now. Cars like the Toyota Matrix, Scion Xb, and others are designed for a more upright entry and exit.

yeah i remember the ford fusion (don't know if available in the US) and the MB A-Klasse were designed as well for that....

dohh how could i forgot those

[zimv20]

I love when they park in a spot marked for "Compact Cars Only"....
yeah, no kidding. and more like 1 1/3 spots, too.

another effect -- over the past 10 years, the metered parking spots on chicago streets are getting longer (so they can fit 4-door pickup trucks, i guess). my bug takes up just a little more than half of these spots. it's a huge waste of a valuable resource.

[mactastic]

That Scion looks like a short bus. :p

And we all know who rides the short bus....

:D

[Chip NoVaMac]

yeah i remember the ford fusion (don't know if available in the US) and the MB A-Klasse were designed as well for that....

dohh how could i forgot those

The A Class is supposed to be in the states in 2005-06.

I think that these SUV drivers are just looking to justify things. Minivans on the other hand are the fault of us allowing politicians to have their pockets filled by Big Business.

[Desertrat]

Banning SUVs from Paris? Makes sense to me. Most of them are too darned big for Paris' narrow streets. However, banning them as a class isn't as practical as establishing a maximum-length parameter. Don't need the older, full-size American Behemoths, nor the grosser Mercedes...

I spent two lovely years driving around Paris. In retrospect, the old 2CV Citroen was the ideal size. The "Deux Cheval" was known among us GIs as the "douchebowl", of course. :) Motorcycles were a lot more fun.

Where's the Renault Quatre Cheval when you really need one?

:D, 'Rat

[skunk]

I spent two lovely years driving around Paris. In retrospect, the old 2CV Citroen was the ideal size. The "Deux Cheval" was known among us GIs as the "douchebowl", of course. :)
That's "Deux Chevaux"... :rolleyes:

Where's the Renault Quatre Cheval when you really need one?

:D, 'Rat
That's "Quatre L" ... :rolleyes:

[Desertrat]

Well, like they say, "Use it or lose it," and I had to leave Paris in 1957. Not much call to speak French in the States. Memory has it that the word for horsepower was cheval, though, but I surely won't argue. (The French had some calculation for "taxable horsepower", which had zilch to do with actual, dynamometer horsepower.)

The Renault I was remembering was a little bubble-like contraption; 4CV.

I guess my two favorite cars of that era were the 4-door Riley saloon and the "Gangster Car", the 6-15 Citroen. I wanted to bring back the Citroen, but the transmissions were a real weak point and parts here were hard come by...

'Rat

[skunk]

Well, like they say, "Use it or lose it," and I had to leave Paris in 1957. Not much call to speak French in the States. Memory has it that the word for horsepower was cheval, though, but I surely won't argue.
Singular: cheval
Plural: chevaux
(FYI :D )

I guess my two favorite cars of that era were the 4-door Riley saloon and the "Gangster Car", the 6-15 Citroen. I wanted to bring back the Citroen, but the transmissions were a real weak point and parts here were hard come by...

'Rat
Ahhh, the Light 15. Beautiful. :)

(As seen to great effect in the movie "Diva": see it if you can)

[Desertrat]

Merci beaucoup. Vous etre tres gentil. :)

All that was back in the daze when I'd walk down the Champs d'Elysees and the Sweet Young Things would comment, "Here comes old couche avec, again."

Paris, before DeGaulle, was a wonderful place. Everybody thought I was German, so no "Yanqui" onus ensued. ("Hell, I ain't no Yankee; I'm from Texas!"--which brought a lot of free wine in exchange for cowboys and Indians tall-tale-telling.)

Do they still have the little kiosks along le Rive Gauche? And that giant flea market?

From what I've read of the changes, I'm not sure I want to go back. You know how it is with the glow of old memories...

:), 'Rat

[srobert]

Singular: cheval
Plural: chevaux
(FYI :D )


Form some reason it is now OK in Canada to write the plural form of cheval etiher "Chevaux" or "Chevals". Why educate! It's far more easier to correct the dictionary so it conforms with common mistakes ;-)

Tranche de vie

[Thomas Veil]

aren't there in japan such minivans with only 5 seats with the same height but shorter ? you know thsoe who look so blocky ;)
Years ago Chrysler had a concept car that was a really wild idea. It was similar to a Dodge Caravan, but -- and you're not going to believe this -- the front end of the vehicle, containing the engine and the front seats, could be disconnected from the back end (middle & rear seats).

I don't remember how either end of the van was supported. Each end had to've had more than one axle -- you can't support a car on two wheels! I just remember looking at a picture of the thing in the newspaper, front end sitting separate from the back end, and thinking this is the damnedest vehicle I've ever seen.

OTOH, I'd love the fuel economy I'd gain by being able to leave the back end of my wife's minivan at home. :D