The SUV pulls up to our right and eases into the crosswalk, inconveniencing a pedestrian who has to go around the hulking thing.

I shout something along the lines of “No right turn on red in New York City”. The SUV’s wheels aren’t turned, though, I realize; I knock on the left passenger door to get the driver’s attention. He rolls down the window:

Me: “Why are you in the crosswalk?”
Him: “Well, why are you out in the middle of the road. Bikes are supposed to be ON THE RIGHT.”
Me: “I’m preparing to make the left turn up ahead.”
Him: “Well, the law is to ride TO THE RIGHT, near the curb. That’s the law, you know.” [giving the vague impression that he was current or former law enforcement]

I gently shook my head and let him roll the window back up. Maybe he was inspired to look up the law later. (I was right, of course.)

My wife hates it when I do things like this. On the balance, she’s right; I don’t know quite what good it’ll do.

Matt

On the other hand, I don’t think that parents who put their children in strollers should be characterized as lazy, evil people who want their children to be stupid and have poor motor skills. We usually go out with both a stroller and a carrier, since our baby often likes the change of scenery that comes with switching from one to the other. And sometimes they need a place to rest or sleep (If I’m on the subway, I’d rather have a quiet baby in a stroller than a screaming baby in a carrier). That said, the SUV stroller thing is a little out of control, and there are plenty of small strollers that can handle NYC sidewalks.

Can’t wait until they start putting air bags on strollers…

NYC has a powerful potential disincentive for these cars-in-trucks-clothing and that is its regulatory power over who can use its parkways. If the worst models were banned from using these roads because we classify them as trucks, they would disappear over night (especially with congestion pricing coming making the FDR, Harlem River Drive and 9A the free bypass!)

By the way, there’s one other reason for why people buy these behemoths – remember that $10,000 tax deduction? So here’s a chance for NYC to assert rare leverage over state and federal ninkompoopism (sp?). Why not?

The thing about SUVs is that they have incredibly powerful motors that give the driver a sense of infallibility. They tend to drive faster as a result and are less careful of other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. That’s why you hear about accidents involving SUVs so often.

And oh yeah – I see a lot of SUV drivers talking on their cellphones too — much more so than in regular cars.

So, in short: fuck SUVs in NYC! This isn’t the wilderness, and most people do NOT use the “utility” aspect of these machines. As Alex said, it’s a status thing – but I’m hoping more and more people will be struck with “SUV shame” as they realize what tools they are for owning one.

Ouch!

More about the study can be found at: http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/02/autos/whiplash/index.htm?postversion=2007070305

Angus is dead on with his stroller/SUV analogy. Parents opt for the big stroller based on hype about safety and a desire to use it as a pushcart for objects, but they forget that their kid is not an object. “Stroller babies” are cut off from their environment (and their parents) compared to those in slings or walking, often to their developmental disadvantage. My impression is that kids who are carried and then allowed to walk at 1+ y/o develop earlier and superior gross motor, perceptual and social skills, compared to the limp-necked, zoned-out “stroller babies” of 2 and even 3 years of age that abound in some parts of Manhattan. Some parents don’t have the time to get where they are going at a 2-3 year old’s pace, but there are plenty of parents who do (or who pay nannies who do), and yet still rely on the stroller because it’s easier and quicker. This ignores the benefits of a slower and more contextual form of transport, just like driving an SUV in the city.

http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

You’re more likely to get in an accident in the first place with an SUV as they don’t handle or brake well — I know that in a Prius I can drive circles around almost any SUV, I can brake faster, I can swerve better and I can avoid more accidents. You’re more likely to get into a one-car accident with an SUV, and when you do you’re more likely to roll over and die. You’re more likely to roll over if you lose control and skid out. Those barriers that are supposed to keep you from flying off the road? Well, all they do is trip up a sliding SUV and send it tumbling. And the sightlines that you’re blocking make it more likely that the person behind you will rearend you.

The problem is that people perceive that they’re safer in an SUV even when they’re not, because people only think about car-on-car collisions and not the accidents that occur most often in real life. My friend with the new Lexus SUV has two kids and enough money to buy pretty much anything. His family would be safer in a nice Lexus sedan, but he doesn’t see it that way.

Plus, he’s kind of short.

the problem is, there is truth in this. when almost everyone else is driving a massive hulk of a vehicle, it DOES become unsafe to drive a smaller one. and even if high gas prices create a future trend toward americans buying smaller cars (which sadly does not seem to be happening on any tangible basis in NYC), it will take a LONG time to reverse the current SUV-heavy mix.

1. Besides the gigantic ones (Tahoe and up) they’re often shorter than an equivalent car. Look at taxis, the Escape is way shorter than a Crown Vic, makes them easier to squeeze into parking spots. Think Rav4, etc.

2. The offroad capability. While they don’t go off road NYC has some of the worst roads in any developed country that I’ve ever seen, I even saw a BUS get swallowed by a pothole on Madison once.

Just playing devil’s advocate.

When my wife was pregnant, we specifically looked for the lightest, most foldable stroller. The salespeople at Buy Buy Baby told us that “umbrella strollers” are not recommended for babies under six months, because they don’t have enough head and neck support. So we bought the Graco Citilite, which seems to have been superseded by the Metrolite.

I always found the stroller awkward and difficult to maneuver, and carried my son in a sling whenever I could. My wife used a Baby Bjorn. As soon as our son was six months old, we bought an umbrella stroller, and we used that whenever we could. The Citilite was useful in the cold and the rain and for long trips, and my wife used it to bring our son along when she went shopping. After he outgrew the sling and the Bjorn, I gave him the opportunity to walk whenever I could, and carried him on my shoulders, using the stroller as a last resort.

Why did we do this? In part because I’ve just never enjoyed pushing the stroller around, and in part because I wanted my son to be closer to me and to eye level when he was younger, and on his feet interacting with the world when he was a toddler. But also because I’ve had the same experience of being stuck behind a stroller on a sidewalk or on subway stairs, and I didn’t want to be one of those parents.

We noticed that a lot of other parents never fold the strollers or carry them, in part because they’ve got so much stuff in them. That’s a side of car ownership, as well, that isn’t much talked about in these circles: if you have a car, you tend to keep a lot of stuff in it, and if you’re separated from the car you lose access to the stuff. Conversely, if you want to bring that stuff along without a car, you have to carry it, and keep an eye on it. Big strollers are similar: people throw all their stuff in there, and are reluctant to carry it in a diaper bag.

I’m really not saying this to be “holier than thou,” only to point out the fact that, just like an SUV, stroller type is largely a matter of choice, not necessity. Of course, our society tends to guide parents towards the ownership of big, unwieldy strollers in the same way that it guides them towards the ownership of SUVs.