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> Like putting locks and security on your home, "Now they won't break into MY home, because the guy next door has less security, so they'll go at him instead".
by jorvi 5y ago
> Like putting locks and security on your home, "Now they won't break into MY home, because the guy next door has less security, so they'll go at him instead".
This is not uniquely American. In the EU so many people by SUVs (despite the impracticality in smaller European streets) “because it’ll make sure I have the benefit in a car crash”. It is technically correct but such an extremely cold statement.
- baby 5y agoYou mean in the US so many people drive SUV. I don’t remember seeing many in europe
- acron0 5y agoI've literally never heard this, after having lived in the EU for almost 40 years.
- adriancr 5y agoIt is a thing in Romania with larger cars like BMW X5 and so on. That's mostly because it was fairly easy to get a drivers license with bribes up until a few years after joining EU. (until the anti-corruption agency was set up) Also due to crappy roads and very aggressive drivers in larger cities. Rich people would just buy the larger car to protect children either from their stupidity or other drivers.
- atemerev 5y agoI have heard this attitude in Eastern Europe and Russia. Here in Switzerland, nobody cares about the size of the car — road safety is exemplary.
- Youden 5y agoYou'll have to be more specific than "EU" because I've never seen an American-style SUV in Western Europe. Closest I can get is a crossover SUV like a Mercedes GLA.
- null_object 5y ago> I've never seen an American-style SUV in Western Europe I was actually thinking about these SUVs this morning, as their were two Cadillac Escalades [0] parked on my block in central Stockholm as I walked my kid to school. The town is *full* of these types of vehicles (there are even full-size Hummers driving around). The "EU" can't be characterized in this uniform way - the different countries are totally unlike each other in so many respects. Because Sweden is part of Scandinavia, people often think there's a cycling culture here for instance - but that's also totally untrue. The same is true of our gun-crime - with criminal gangs frequently shooting each other on the streets: such a thing was virtually unknown to me throughout the time I lived in central London. The true picture is way more nuanced than the Europe vs USA binary that people like to imagine. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Escalade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Escalade
- arethuza 5y agoWhat I've noticed in the UK is that large SUVs are far more common in wealthy areas of cities than they are in rural areas.
- vidarh 5y agoIn London at least they're often referred to as "Chelsea tractors" (Chelsea being one of the wealthiest parts of London)., and you're entirely correct according to this article[1]. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/07/stereotype-of-chelsea-tractor-reflects-reality-of-urban-suv-sales-says-report https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/07/stereoty...
- ploek 5y agoI guess it's always a question of perspective. Coming from Germany, there definitely is _more_ of a cycling culture in Sweden than in Germany. The cycling infrastructure is better and better maintained (snow plowing, etc.). Of course that is also a generalization, as the differences can be big within a country as well. (My frame of reference for Sweden is mostly Uppsala) But the noticeable presence of SUV and even Pickup models I usually associate with the US in Sweden also surprised me. Those are rare in Germany.