Re: Renewed SUV Bashing

["Matt Rooke" <mrooke@fcpa.fujitsu.com>]

My co-worker just bought a new MB ML320.  He is absolutely.. beaming.  He used the insurance premiums
from when he rolled his Mitsu Montero.  Now this is a great guy, and an excellent drinking partner on our
business trips to Tokyo (not a bad Karaoke singer either) but his driving is _scary_.  He thinks he and his
family are safer in an SUV.  I'd invite him to a QC driving school, but wouldn't want to endanger my
Audi friends.
And my boss recently got a top-of-the-line Lexus SUV.  What a waste of money, the thing lowers 4" when
you turn it off, to make exit and entry easier.  He just likes being big and tall on the road.  He uses his
1hr. commute to go through his voice mail and make a few business calls.  Scary, but how can I tell
my boss this?
Another co-worker got a Range Rover Discovery.  Now he is 3-sigma, he actually uses it off-road.  On a recent
trip to the White Mountains in the Nevada desert, 2 tires blew "while crawling over a boulder".  His first choice
was a HumVee, after performing a very serious and detailed analysis of ground clearance, hill climb angles,
roll over immunity etc. but just couldn't afford it.

But the idiot that helped me test my ABS commuting to work this morning was driving a Honda Civic.  Why do
people insist on merging into traffic 30 feet before the on-ramp actually joins the freeway- even though there
is a 1/4 mile merge lane ahead?

Audi content:  Janet spent a great deal of time at Monterey checking out the new S4.  After considering
how frequently I'm out of town, she proclaimed full support if I choose to buy one.

Matt Rooke
'91cq