On my way home from work I stop at a QuickTrip station for my periodic beer purchase, (18 pack of Miller Light long necks for 12.99). This QT is about 1.5 miles form my house and on the way from I-575, if I take that route. So I pull in as a Sheriff is leaving and notice no one in the parking lot. As I start to get out an employee walks up and tells me they are closed. As I start leaving I see a cleaning crew using pressure washers and wet-vacs on the sidewalk. Then as I start to pull out I notice a film crew at the nearby car wash so I am thinking WTF.

Just then my wife calls to tell me to avoid Towne Lake Parkway. i.e. take back roads from work. I ask why and I got some very disturbing news.

It turns out that a short time before a lady in an Expedition was pulling into a spot near the front of the store and instead of hitting the brakes, she hit the gas. This put here over the curb and pinning a middle aged lady, who just walked out of the store, into the brick wall!!! The pedestrian died at the seen!!

Now I don't know the specifics but I have to assume that she was still moving when she inadvertently hit the gas. An Expedition doesn't just too quickly when stopped but they certainly do not brake well at all, actually their braking performance is pathetic.

Right now I am appalled at this as the driver will not be charged with anything. I am so sick of the LARGE SUVs in my area all piloted by incompetent drivers, about 50% of the vehicles. The response is always that they need the room but it seems most are always alone. Some might say that a car could do the same thing, but most likely the car wouldn't cause death as it sits lower and reacts quicker to braking.

In my current state of disgust and irritation of local SUV drivers and knowing that it would never happen due to the influence GM and Ford have, I feel another class of license should be required for SUVs over 2.5 tons. These vehicles take more attention to drive in traffic due to slower reactions which should require additional testing. This might curb the soccer mom form getting this more dangerous vehicle on the road while she devours her Big-Mac!!!

 

BTW, a link to the story:

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_art...?storyid=20323

 

woman in SUVs... I have to always be carefull when i see a woman in a SUV on the road.. you never know when she wants to make up her mind on changing lanes, or making a turn.

 

If it's an accident, then the driver prob. won't be charged ...
But, the victim's family will very likely sue for wrongful death.

If U don't have full control of your vehicle, DON'T drive a BIG fawking SUV !

 

You know, I have to say; Women have no judgement in SUV's. I can't begin to tell you how many times here in FLA that I have almost been killed by these women driving SUV's. I seems like the smaller the woman, the bigger the SUV. Small women's syndrome or whatever. When I mention this to my wife, she flips me the bird...but it is true.

 

That is so sad and such a needless death and so much sadness for the family.

I'm a woman and I have to agree with all of the above. Whenever I have a close call it is almost always a woman in a SUV. It's really scary how they drive carelessly - I guess they think they won't be hurt in an accident so screw everyone else.

The worst is seeing a woman in a SUV/minivan with kids speeding through a school zone. This happens every day.

 

there is absolutely no need for large SUVs....get rid of them all. MDX, RX300, etc., are acceptable but everything else must go!

 

amen!

VERY VERY VERY few ppl actually NEED suvs like suburbans and expedition. But gotta compete with the johnsons next door for the biggest car in the neighborhood!

 

amen to that too

 

wow, my prayers go out to the victims family

 

The thing that really gets me is the notion that the larger vehicle has the right of way, screw the pedestrian!!! While merging onto I-575 nearly daily I am challenged by males and females and all won't yield when called for.

It was just confirmed, no charges are to be filed against the completely incompetent driver!!!

I am on a mission now to make all incompetent SUV drivers cry at least once and forego their devotion to these land yachts. This will start with friends of ours who I already make comments to and will continue to strangers…

 

Ditto. What he said.

 

Maybe states need to start requiring different drivers licenses for vehicles over a certain weight class, say 5000/6000 lbs and over.

I don't think that it's much of a dispute that these large trucks are more of a hazard on the road because of their large size and weight, so why not make them go through a more rigorous safety training and testing before they can get a license to operate one? Hold them closer to the restrictions and licensing that commericial truck drivers have to use. A Ford Excursion is much more similar to a commercial truck than a Acura CLS.

That might also deter people who really don't *need* a large SUV or truck, but at the same time allow those people the opportunity who truely need them.


Just thinking out loud...

 

I'm sure the victims family will file in civil suit<sp> and well i'm happy to say that beeeotch will lose the SUV

 

Wierd how my Mom had enough room for the family (6 kids) in a Mercury Marquis, or at the largest a Pontiac StationWagon. (1972 model - Green, awesomemobile)

 

Same thing happened here a few years ago. Some kid in a Suburban hit the gas instead of the brake in a McDonalds parking lot and ran into the outdoor eating area. Killed a guy and his fiance who were visiting from a foreign country (can't remember the exact one) Sad situation for sure.

 

Atlanta is so full of stupid bastards in SUVs, that have absolutely no clue how to drive. Then, put them onto a five lane highway and you have a moving recking ball. I hate this city's drivers. In NY they were aholes, but at least knew how to drive. Here, most of them are just plain idiots.

 

Well, most in the metro Atlanta area are from the Northeast. I guess they forgot how to drive as they headed south...

 

A similar accident happened at my local recycling center last year.
Some old woman in a Lincoln Navigator backed over and killed TWO workers.
They were both retired guys in their 70’s working there part time.
She backed over one and pinned the other against a dumpster.
If that wasn’t bad enough, she then drove forward OVER the first guy again while pulling out because she didn’t even realize what she did.
Several people there had to alert her to stop because she was headed for the exit like nothing happened.

No charges were ever filed even though there were TWO fatalities.

Shawn S

 

Oh get off it! It's NOT a SUV problem. Stop bashing SUV's. It's a DRIVER problem. Some people can't drive! Doesn't matter what they drive, SUV, or car, or truck. I have seen people do the same thing in a car. "opps I hit the gas instead of the break" They tell the owner of the house, or store they just crashed into.

 

It is not an SUV problem but it is a combination of the SUV and driver. The reason the SUV comes into play is because it is more capable of causing harm, or rather greater harm. The weight combined with slower responses cause it to be more dangerous on the road.

Now mix in with that an incompetent driver and you have an extremely dangerous combination. Yes, there are many SUV drivers which are very capable of handling the vehicle and there are many terrible drivers in cars. But the combination of a bad driver and a hard to control vehicle makes the roads more dangerous for others.

As mentioned, I do feel another class license should be in order for vehicles over a certain weight/size. You need to have a greater level of concentration and capability due to the lack of response from these behemoths.

 

I bet you anything if my foot slipped and I pressed the gas, my Cl would not have hopped a curb and crushed a woman because normal cars are not designed to hop over curbs and don't weight 5000lbs.

 

True, but it’s more likely to happen if the bad driver is in a behemoth with tons of blind spots and a 300HP engine sitting 6FT up in the air.

Shawn S

 

I think most of us were saying that it was a driver problem. I agree, people will be stupid no matter what they are driving. Unfortuntely, you have large SUVs and trucks that pose a much greater risk to other people if operated improperly. The increased mass alone (some over 3 times that of a normal passenger car) is enough of a hazard that these people just are not aware of.

 

Of course its not the SUVs fault, but with great power comes great responsibility - and these numbskull suv drivers dont get that. They dont get how powerful and dangerous suvs can be while all they care about is sitting up high in their comfort zone.

Comes under the same principle of reasoning or logic as 'guns dont kill ppl, ppl kill ppl'

 

I like "guns don't kill people, I do" quote better

But yeah I can aggree that SUV's pose more of a danger in the hands of stupid drivers, but to deam SUV's unsafe, or death mobiles is what I was saying was not right.

 

Be it a driver problem combined with an SUV problem, there should be a special class license for larger vehicles.

There is so much of a problem with bad drivers. When renewing a driver's license, how difficult is it to retest the driver? I guarantee there would be people who don't pass who shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

 

I agree with the special license class for the large SUV's. They are, after all, large trucks and in many states separate licensure is already required for things like panel trucks.

Licensure should be preceeded by passing a driving test that includes parking on a typical city street, and taking up maybe just ONE lane when driving on a city street.

There should also be legislation to keep these things from parking within 100 feet from ANY driveway. Violation of this would result in immediate towing and destruction of said vehicle (on my happy planet). I can't stand pulling out of a driveway and having my view of oncoming traffic blocked by a stupid truck.

 

Down with big SUVs!