Should Hummers be outlawed for road travel?
Results so far:
| No | 66% | 537 votes | Total: 812 votes | |
| Yes | 34% | 275 votes |
No
by Anthony Megna
Created on: June 06, 2008 Last Updated: September 25, 2011
The last time I checked we still live in a free country. Anyone has the right to drive anything they want as long as it's street-legal. However, if someone wants to drive a Sherman tank that gets five gallons to the mile it is their right. I fully protect the right of anyone to drive what they want. We don't need the powers that be to stop us from fully living our lives.
The marketplace should dictate who drives what. If someone can afford to drive one of these behemoths, so be it. But more and more people don't want to pay the outrageous gas prices we all face. Sooner or later only the rich will be able to act out their war fantasies by driving these tanks. The rest will begin to trade them in for something with a little less guzzle, like a scooter. That is all the money they will have after driving one of these for a while. I just read it cost about 100k to own and maintain one of these for five years.
I live in a part of Vegas called Summerlin. We have a another name here, we call it Hummerlin. There are so many Hummers around here you can't help but notice them. And do you know who most of the drivers of these monster machines are? Women. That's right. Either they don't trust how they drive and need the extra insurance of having a ton of metal around them, or they think they look cool. But I fully protect their right to drive them to the grocery store to pick up milk and bread. It really is ridiculous though, to drive these beasts on suburban streets. Just no need for it. Hummers are great if you are going to drive down to Tierra del Feugo right at the tip of South America. I'm sure they could take the beating of those roads. But going to church down the street? Please. I have nothing against women or men from driving these things and I fully protect their right to do so. But why? Are they that comfortable? Do they need to sit up high? Do they have a crush on the gas station attendant? What the hell is it? But we live in America and we can buy Hummers for now and it is legal, then so be it.
The last thing we need is the government telling us we can or cannot do something. Another rule, another headache. Remember where we came from. Our forefathers left Britain a long time ago because they were being smothered with rules and regulations and wanted to live free. It seems we are going down the same path.
Actually, there is a good reason to drive one of these Hummers. It is to run big brother off the road!
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Yes
by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
Created on: November 08, 2007
"Buy a Hummer? Which one, an H-1? Absolutely not. It's a gas-guzzling tank."
"An H-3? Hmmm...not likely. It's a Yuppie truck."
Is it the reasonable application of logic and economics that will determine the make and model of vehicle anyone tends to purchase? Apparently not.
A Hummer is uneconomical vehicle to operate and maintain. A Hummer is an expensive vehicle. In our society, excluding war zones, a Hummer is, above all, a status vehicle.
Should Hummers be outlawed for road travel?
"Yes, thou shalt not drive a Hummer" sounds like an edict issued by a fanatic dictator that most likely owns and drives one.
We in North America do not like to be told 'what we may do'.
We prefer to apply personal choice and logic. Let's try that.
Why should Hummers be outlawed for road travel? The fact is, many people that own Hummers drive them around merely as a status symbol. After all, being 'rich' is better if that status is displayed while on the road too.
Stopping at a red light, the 'new' driver of a Hummer will look around to see if anyone is 'admiring' it. A Hummer says "We have 'arrived'" financially.
"Look at me, I'm rich". Exhibitionism. Common human behavior.
A Hummer scratches the 'rich itch' but that characteristic hardly justifies the foolishness and economic outrage of driving a 6,000 lb. vehicle getting 5 mpg downtown to the Opera, to the day care center, or to the corner store to pick up a quart of milk.
Should the rich, merely by virtue of their economic status, be allowed to waste limited precious natural resources? That is questionable. Social justice is insulted. Societal mores are questioned.
Perhaps a dusty old prospector that drives off road many miles would appreciate a 4WD vehicle that can climb over logs, rocks, and negotiate reliably through deep ruts, holes, and water with ease.
A Hummer performs that task admirably. So does a suitably equipped Jeep, Ford, or Nissan, -using far less than one-half as much fuel.
To use more efficient fuel-consuming vehicles instead is genuinely logical.
Driving a high-performance 4WD Hummer on perfectly smooth dry pavement, concrete parking lots, to the office, and into high-rise heaven is simply not reasonable or economically sensible, -and it is most certainly not logical. Justification is severely lacking.
In the age of declining resources and changing social ethics -yes, Hummers should be licensed only for specific logical purposes and outlawed for general road travel.
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