SUVs are lame! If you drive one, you... hang on?!

We all know that SUVs are gas-guzzling monsters, that can hold three dozen people in theory but in practice are only occupied by the driver. They can be outfitted with a so-called bull bar, which is apparently useful in the USA, where bulls run around freely in the suburbs. In the Netherlands they are useful too: No longer will you have to worry about dents in your car's paint when you scoop up cyclists who won't give way, elderly people who take a zillion years to cross the road and those pesky little compact cars that roam this continent.

It was a proud day for me yesterday, when I got to join the corps of monster truck drivers. My trusty Peugeot 307 was in for service, and the dealer gave me a Nissan X-Trail to transport myself. I was almost sorry I didn't have anywhere to go in it, as I was working about 5 minutes from home that day. That didn't stop me from taking a looooooong detour to get there.



It's fun to drive an SUV; the car's got plenty of power, you have a great view from above and you can take all your friends with you. However, most SUV-owners probably don't have friends. As I was driving along the rather fancy little town of Zeist, which sees a vast number of Jags and Rollses and Mercs driving along it's streets, I noticed from my elevated X-Trail seat more than one angry face looking up at me. Perhaps they had a bad experience with another SUV in the past, or they were simply opposed to guzzling gas. Whatever it was, it felt safe to now that in the event they got violent, I could simply scoop them up.

The fun only lasted for a day... I returned my SUV at around 5 and got back my little 307. It seemed rather happy with its oil change and new clutch spring thingy, and its airco didn't smell anymore. I'll take it to see Britain next week. I hope we won't encounter any SUVs.