Mood:
chillin'Topic: Cycling
The reason I don't like SUVs isn't the stereotypical "they're unsafe, gas-guzzling environment-destroyers" answer flaunted by some tree-huggers. There are plenty of ol' smokin' clunkers still on the road that waste more fuel and belch out more noxious pollutants than a modern, fuel-efficient SUV. Besides, as an environmental geologist I've often used SUVs to carry my equipment around during field work.
The reason I don't like SUVs - as a cyclist - has everything to do with the wind-blast created when they blow by you less than two-feet from your left brake lever. A big slab-sided SUV can literally blow a cyclist off the road when it passes. Factor in the popularity of big SUVs here in Louisiana and the often narrow, shoulderless parish roads that we cyclists frequent and you have a recipe for trouble. Louisiana recently passed a law that requires motorists to give cyclists three feet of clearence when they pass, but reports of aggressive drivers "buzzing" cyclists persist. Seems most of the reports I've read about involve full-size pick-ups and big SUVs.
So yeah, I don't like SUVs even though I realize the vast majority of SUV drivers probably aren't hostile toward cyclists. Problem is that SUVs are kind of like snakes - I really don't want to let one get close enough to me to find out if its poisonous or not.