Hate SUVs?
Blame Arnold Schwarzenegger. He liked the look of Hummers and wanted a tough-looking vehicle for himself. "At his prodding, AM General... began making civilian Hummers in 1992, with the first vehicle off the assembly line going to Schwarzenegger himself."* Apparently the whole idea of 'aggressive' cars was as a result of Americans' fears of violence and crime - SUVs were 'weapons - armoured cars for the battlefield'. So Americans could feel big and strong behind the wheel of these monsters. "Grill guards (or bumper bars) have no application under normal driving conditions", but they make SUVs look "angrier". These monstrosities were deliberately marketed as 'urban assault luxury vehicles' and were supposed to make people feel safer. SUVs are, as we know, anything but 'safe' - for anyone, driver included.
Well, I'm not sure of the motivation behind NZers driving these things. Nothing to do with fear - but more likely to make drivers feel 'tougher' - the NZ man is supposed to be a 'hard' outdoors character able to turn his hand to anything and to 'rough it' naturally he needs a tough vehicle. The Toyota ute wasn't good enough any more. It still sickens me to see these monsters on the road, despite the cost of petrol
*"Weapons of mass deception"
