10 Annoying Thing Non-Car-People Say

[one...two...tree 2,762]

and if you're stuck in the snow in your front wheel drive hippiemobile, don't look so sad as i go thundering by in my four wheel drive truck.

SUV's (or perhaps more accurately, the numbskulls who drive them) are notorious for getting into accidents in snow. Interstate 17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff has almost daily accidents involving SUV's that have rolled over because the driver though that having 4WD will allow them to drive 75mph when there's snow.

Edited August 23, 2010 by El Buscador

[Heracles 417]

SUV's (or perhaps more accurately, the numbskulls who drive them) are notorious for getting into accidents in snow. Interstate 17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff has almost daily accidents involving SUV's that have rolled over because the driver though that having 4WD will allow them to drive 75mph when there's snow.

Same deal here.

When it snows or there is ice, anyone in a SUV assumes they are driving some tank and can stick to 60. Evidently physics is not their forte, as a SUV simply helps them get out of the snow, rather than stay on the road. When it comes to the road, it has to do with tires, suspension design, center of gravity, height off the road [lower equals better] and so forth. Things SUVS rate poorly in.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Heracles

[Ban Hammer 13,409]

SUV's (or perhaps more accurately, the numbskulls who drive them) are notorious for getting into accidents in snow. Interstate 17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff has almost daily accidents involving SUV's that have rolled over because the driver though that having 4WD will allow them to drive 75mph when there's snow.

it could be they have a false sense of ability just because they have a 4 wheel drive suv.

[RealPi 0]

These things are only annoying if you're crazy about cars. For people that HAVE a car but only see it as a practical means of living daily lives, I doubt they care if people say these things.

Well-said. I suppose "car culture" is bound to "matter" in places where there is no good public transport system; e.g. many rural US areas. Of course, wherever there is good public transport, people tend to care less for cars in that manner, e.g. in New York where it is not uncommon for people not to even have drivers' licenses.

It also depends on how people say things. For example, if I laugh at your old model and sneer at you for still having a car that is old yet reliable, I am just a typical "fashion jerk", probably following every fashion style that the "trendy car fans" follow and enthusiastically speak about how nice my car's latest interior is before I move to "comment on your "inferior" car. On the other hand, if I notice that your old model has wheels rattling and the exhaust fumes surpass a nuclear factory's output, maybe talking out of concern for your safety as well as that of the environment's, in a friendly sort of way of course, and making one or two suggestions is not that annoying after all .

Bragging about what we possess is (in my opinion) even more annoying and ridiculous than bragging about ourselves.

[^_^ 5,021]

it could be they have a false sense of ability just because they have a 4 wheel drive suv.

I firmly believe if you're a new driver learning to drive in an area that gets a lot of snow, you should learn on a light tin can compact. If you don't die, you will learn how to drive on snow. And when you learn how to drive, then you'll be ready for your SUV.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Same deal here.

When it snows or there is ice, anyone in a SUV assumes they are driving some tank and can stick to 60. Evidently physics is not their forte, as a SUV simply helps them get out of the snow, rather than stay on the road. When it comes to the road, it has to do with tires, suspension design, center of gravity, height off the road [lower equals better] and so forth. Things SUVS rate poorly in.

Yep. Although some of the newer crossovers like the Nissan Murano have a much lower center of gravity.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I firmly believe if you're a new driver learning to drive in an area that gets a lot of snow, you should learn on a light tin can compact. If you don't die, you will learn how to drive on snow. And when you learn how to drive, then you'll be ready for your SUV.

Highway patrol should have a Hall of Shame for every SUV driver who rolled their vehicle by driving fast in snow, putting their mug shots in the local paper.

[Ban Hammer 13,409]

I firmly believe if you're a new driver learning to drive in an area that gets a lot of snow, you should learn on a light tin can compact. If you don't die, you will learn how to drive on snow. And when you learn how to drive, then you'll be ready for your SUV.

snow, no snow, light snow, etc - americans can't drive. too busy doing something other than using good judgement and paying attention to the road.

[^_^ 5,021]

Highway patrol should have a Hall of Shame for every SUV driver who rolled their vehicle by driving fast in snow, putting their mug shots in the local paper.

That honor is reserved for 55 year old men in bad marriages who just wanted a happy ending.

[RealPi 0]

Hence the title "10 Annoying Thing Non-Car-People Say".

Personally, my biggest pet peeve is #2. One of our friend's wife boasts that she never learned to drive a manual and thinks she is being cute.

Personally, as there is no well-defined semantics I am aware of attributed to the term "car-people", the first thing that sprang to mind was "people who are interested in and know something about cars on some degree" as opposed to "people who are truly nuts about cars", i.e. "fans", so excuse my misunderstanding.

I agree that thinking one is cute for not knowing how to drive in stick is a bit sad (it's not even a rarity among the US population), but if you also think how many things "car-people" discuss on a daily basis about their car concerns in the presence of "non-car-people" who could not even care less, it becomes rather obvious that the list is easily reversible, like most such stereotypical lists usually are. For example, consider "car-people" who brag about being able to drive in stick; particularly annoying to a "non-car-person" like myself who has learned to drive in stick like everyone does in Europe and yet never even though of mentioning it as anything special...

[^_^ 5,021]

snow, no snow, light snow, etc - americans can't drive. too busy doing something other than using good judgement and paying attention to the road.

That's why I've taken to highway avoidance as much as I can. I'd much rather collide with a texter doing 35 than 75.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Legacy member

[Darnell 8,478]

i like 5 - but - I've been driving volvo wagons since age 22, and never got hit whilst driving one (oh - I did hit someone, once, but it was me).

There's something really brick-ish about driving a volvo wagon, and good lord ! can carry a refrigerator in the back !

[one...two...tree 2,762]

That honor is reserved for 55 year old men in bad marriages who just wanted a happy ending.

[natty bumppo 297]

#11 ...

wow ... you could have had a V8 ...

[Doris_G 4]

true. 4 wheel drive just helps you get going. it does not affect steering or stopping. and in some cases, it just gives someone used to a 2 wheel drive a better way to get stuck going where they shouldn't have to begin with.

Ugh, you should see the unbelievably bad snow driving in the mountains around here (southern California). It's like a friggin' demolition derby.

Though there is a particularly delicious feeling that comes from being passed in the slow chain zone by some entitled ####### in a Cayenne, only to come upon him a mile later, spun out backwards in the snow off the road. I have nothing but love for Porsches (well, except the Cayenne), but that guy was a douche and had it coming.

Another item to add to the original list: I always have a ####### moment when I am passenger, and the driver says: "Oh, we can't park on the street...I don't know how to parallel park."

On the subject of stick: I own one, and my friends and I use it for ridiculously long road trips, and no one else knows how to drive manual! So, I do all the driving, sometimes 10 hours at a stretch. Gotta love them long haul trucker genes.