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I think the difference is that the actual price is lower in the US, so regular people can buy them for less money, not only business owners that might need one.
Driver stereotypes based on marque (and behaviour?)
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c4sman
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Car tribes and stereotypes are funny things. I don’t take on a completely different personality when I swap cars and have a foot in a couple of conflicting camps with a GT, M3 and a 911. My 911 and M3 are mostly invisible compared to the GT which gets a lot of positive feedback but I’ve been driving 911s for 15 years without getting a lot of the opposite either (although it has happened). Probably important to drive considerately in any higher value and or performance car to minimise the risks!
Andyk
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UlstermanAbroad
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Twenty or thirty years ago, I saw a Cumbria Police Head of Traffic Branch on television discussing defensive driving.
Might've been on Top Gear pre Clarkson. He ended the package by describing his own driving style and said,
"I drive, assuming that every other driver on the road is a homicidal maniac, intent on killing me."
Obviously, I've never forgotten his words. He was absolutely correct. Unless I give it the beans. My Saab 9-5 blends in anonymously and I bimble around obeying speed limits, because I have a traffic unit on my doorstep.
However, daily I witness almost every kind of careless driving that you can imagine. And generally speaking, drivers in N.I. aren't half as aggressive as drivers on the mainland. If everyone slowed down by 10% or 20% and left a few car lengths between them and the car in front, I believe we'd see an immediate drop in accident statistics.
An F1 driver was interviewed many years ago about what he drove, away from race tracks. It was Button or Schumacher or similar. He said, a Volvo estate. Okay, it was something equivalent to a Polestar spec car. But, he said that after a few hours driving on the ragged edge, all he wanted to do was float around, stress free, anonymously. Hence the standard looking Volvo estate.
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midlifecrisis
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That's what every Motorcyclist believes too. Makes you better at anticipating and concentrating on likely murderers or dangerous situations.
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That's what my instructor said at biker school. Assume they're all trying to kill you.
Swedish Paul
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Not sure about this. There are a lot of bikers riding like they have a party to get to in Derbyshire. Overtaking on blind corners and the like. Signs up everywhere ‘Think Bike’.
mowlas
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Totally agree. In addition to these changes and benefits, if people didn’t speed up towards red traffic lights and instead slowed down with a greater chance the lights would turn green by the time they approached them, I believe this would be an extremely low cost way of dramatically reducing CO2 and emissions. When I try to do this, drivers of previously mentioned marques will instead furiously overtake you, only to be at a standstill as you pass them with the light just turned green.
midlifecrisis
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The same is for hills.
There's a particulary steep decline before a roundabout on my route to work. If there's no traffic, you can go through it like a chicane at 40mph, but the steep decline means you have to brake hard.
So on the rise up the hill I try to come off the throttle early and let my speed decrease before the crest of the hill, and the descent keeps the speed at around 40-50, which means less braking and less petrol used. I do similar for the rest of my route and the little Suzuki achieves far higher mpg than advertised.
schell70
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I do find school run mum's the most agressive and dangerous of driver's lately - note I am a school run dad and found that normal relaxed driving equates to being 30 seconds later at the gate.
Recently I had a most irate lady in a BMW 1 Series tailgating me along an A road, and I mean literally glued to my bumper! At a set of lights I actually walked back and pointed out that I couldn't go any faster than the cars in front and would she mind backing off or I may have to brake really hard at some point. Following a tirade of abuse pointing out she was 'late for work' my retort of 'well you should have got up earlier' tipped her over the edge and I proceeded to watch her pull out around my car into oncoming traffic losing control and ending up sat in a bus shelter.
Thankfully no-one was waiting for a bus, but it did cause some amusement to me.
Recently I had a most irate lady in a BMW 1 Series tailgating me along an A road, and I mean literally glued to my bumper! At a set of lights I actually walked back and pointed out that I couldn't go any faster than the cars in front and would she mind backing off or I may have to brake really hard at some point. Following a tirade of abuse pointing out she was 'late for work' my retort of 'well you should have got up earlier' tipped her over the edge and I proceeded to watch her pull out around my car into oncoming traffic losing control and ending up sat in a bus shelter.
Thankfully no-one was waiting for a bus, but it did cause some amusement to me.
Gazcw
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That
That's just you.
midlifecrisis
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Getting to your destination quicker is not about a faster speed,but going less slow.
Try getting Mrs SUV's head around that.
Try getting Mrs SUV's head around that.
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Smart instructor, as it turned out. How he knew my ex-wife had co-opted so many people I'll never know.