[at-l] Turkey, sweet potatoes and red sand: a trip report

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 07:56 AM 12/1/2004 -0800, Paul Magnanti wrote:
>--- Jim Bullard <jbullar1@twcny.rr.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > I've posted before and will repeat the pitfalls of 4
> > wheel drive:
> >     * It can fool you into thinking conditions are
> > better than they are
> >     * It doesn't stop any better than 2 wheel drive
> >     * It will get you farther from help before you
> > get stuck
>
>A 4WD vehicle is quite useful for certain situations.
>But, I personally think the large SUV variations are
>worse for highway driving in bad weather. Unless you
>know how to drive one, the higher center of gravity
>can cause much badness..as evidenced by the many
>overturned Cherokees, Landrovers, Explorers, etc. I am
>not kidding..ALL the overturned vehicles were SUVs.

I wasn't saying 4 wheel drive was bad, just that there are drawbacks to it. 
My wife has a 4WD Subaru and we love it, but too many people put too much 
trust in 4WD and don't think they have to adjust their driving when 
conditions are bad. "Hey, I got 4WD. I don't need to slow down. This baby 
will go through anything." NOT!

Every vehicle has its own handling characteristics and you have to drive 
accordingly, something far too few learn in Driver's Ed class. I'm not at 
all surprised at what you observed. SUVs are safer in a head on crash with 
smaller vehicles but what they don't tell you is that SUVs are involved in 
more accidents, partly because of the higher center of gravity making them 
roll over easier and partly because of people trying to drive them as if 
they were sports cars.