Thursday, August 30, 2007

blind spot

Try to guess what irritates me the most about the above view of the front of a large SUV.
  1. The vehicle is obnoxiously larger than any person should rationally need.
  2. The vehicle color is not bold enough.
  3. That SUV cost way too much.
  4. I can't see to turn right at the stop sign because this brilliant person just pulled all the way up to the edge of the intersection rather than providing enough room for me to see oncoming traffic. All I can see to my left is what is captured in this picture.
If you answered number four take a bow. Well, kind of. This is not a picture of an actual vehicle that has done this, but it might as well be. It happens quite a bit.

There are a lot of things I like about living in Kansas. One thing that I don't care for, though, is that the large vehicle (pickup, SUV, etc) to resident ratio is extremely high. This does not really bother me for any reason other than that the people who drive these large vehicles seem to forget that someone in a car can't see over them. Very often, if I am at a busy intersection where one road has a stop sign and the other does not, somebody will pull up far enough in his or her oversized F-150 or Ram or Hummer in the lane to my left that I cannot see oncoming traffic from that direction.

Some people may say that this is not a big deal. Just wait for the truck to pull out or just take a chance and pull out anyway. I have to wonder, though, how hard it is really to stay back a few feet from the intersection when you are in a truck or SUV. That's all I'm asking.

7 comments:

Achtung BB said...

I'd say what annoys me the most about SUVs is parking next to them. A lot of parking isn't made for something as large as a SUV. It's usually a tight squeeze getting out of the car.

f o r r e s t said...

I am one of those people...who say it is not a big deal. And I really can't think of a time where your scenario has happened to me, but I do see how it can be a problem. Edge forward until you can see or go when they go.

A couple of questions:

1. how do you know that the pickup, suv to resident ratio is extremely high. Are there stats for that? How does Kansas compare to other states? Is that ratio affected by metro areas compared to rural or for that matter urban/midtown areas compared to suburban?

2. Would the decrease in trucks and SUV's really help your problem? We have always had city trucks, garbage trucks, delivery trucks, semi's, etc.

GoldenSunrise said...

This happens all the time to us when we want to make a right hand turn. Maybe it's a defect in the way our neighborhood was designed.

f o r r e s t said...

i forgot to mention...when I first saw the photo, my initial reaction was that you got hit by the Hummer.

Thank goodness!

My next thought was...did you really take a picture, but you clarified that.

T said...

I've gotten annoyed at this before, but I've probably caused it before too, so I guess I have to stay neutral on this one!

BTW--there is no such thing as a small car in a rural area! :) It's all pick ups and SUVs and old cars that are much bigger then the new ones!

Portland wawa said...

I hate big cars on the road too. You can't see the stoplight, is it green or still red? You can't see why traffic is backed up, is it an accident, is it construction. And of course, you can't see to turn. So annoying.

roamingwriter said...

Oddly enough there aren't a lot of big cars here but this problem happens to me all the time. I am constantly nosing out to see, but then I'm in danger of losing my front end and me without a proper license. yikes. I think people are just not aware of where their whole car is at and if it is in someones way - big or small.