Driving Fail | SUV Special #1 | Impatience and Invincibility

[@TheFlyingBusman]

I hate the current SUV trend. Bloated oversized hatchbacks that take up too much road space, often driven by inattentive people with poor observation skills. I’m finding there is another terrible trend of people that would seemingly rather hit you head on than slow down and share road space.

[@NikNakNaj]

They were invented for the US market to take advantage of US emissions law loopholes then stupid Brits fell for the marketing that wasn't even intended for them. For work, a white van is always better and for families a people mover has way more space and efficiency.

[@goodyeoman4534]

Yep, driven by soft and flabby pre-diabetics with broken bodies. The flashier the car, as a general rule, the lazier the driver.

[@chrisburn7178]

I've formulated a theory that this "keep going, shut your eyes and hope" kind of driving is just as much a human response to the disparity of scale between the driver and vehicle, as a particular trait of those people who buy them. We know that smaller people are attracted to the biggest cars (maybe there's some research somewhere?). It's like if you were plonked on the bridge of a container ship and told to steer. The underlying feeling of the mass, inertia and danger involved, coupled with a complete lack of the skills to control them, means fear and panic, and inappropriate decisions. I can't help feeling this is a factor in the kind of driving we see more and more.

[@j.tann1970]

Even worse is the American pickup trend. Our roads are not made for the large American vehicles.

[@AndyPerry1972]

@@goodyeoman4534 Or by people with disabled children where we need the third row as a protection from attacks to give us time to pull over. Please don't continue this "stereotypical" mindset since we can apply that mindset to lots....typical "BMW" driver.....typical "Audi" driver.....typical "SUV" driver.....typical "woman" driver and so it goes on. Sometimes an SUV is bought for a purpose

[@mat_tamarin]

I like SUV's. They're like big flashing beacons that shout "Warning! I know nothing about cars or driving!".

[@steveGee5787]

Absolutely summed it up there 👌

[@KeyBrosUK]

I probably know a lot more about cars than you considering I have 3 businesses that are car related, race in 2 series, track most weekends, and I also know a lot of people similar to me. I have a g wagon at the minute, and have had loads of SUVs in the past.. I don’t drive them like the people in this video though tbf.

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

​@@KeyBrosUK If ever there was a need for the question "who asked"

[@ae5668]

you get idiots in all size cars.

[@SiCrewe]

TBH, that's what I think whenever I see a Kia. 😛

[@50upss]

I heard this from another commenter a while ago and couldn’t agree more: Just like motorcycles, cars should have different classes of size on a driving license, and you should have to pass extra tests to drive larger cars. Edit: grammar

[@DavidJohns-e8o]

Now that I agree with when you pass your test a car no bigger than 1100 for 2 years and so on and lets get rid of the dumb driving instructors who have no idea of what they are doing just start the engine and off you go folks will get out the way for you

[@ottermanuk]

The fact the a fair portion of cat B licence holders you need higher licencing for anything over 3.5t and some of these SUVs are getting close to 3t.... for "everyday vehicles" it's getting ridiculous. And I suspect a large portion of pre-97 drivers have grandfathered 7.5t tickets too.

[@simonduffy99]

I'd go further, and have people pass a Bikeability course (cycling proficiency) before they could apply for any vehicle licence. I think too many people lack the perspective of more vunerable road users.

[@me5969]

I dunno. I've only ever driven big cars and vans since I passed so I feel kinda strange when I jump in a hatchback or something. I can do it but it just feels weird in that it feels weird when I jump straight out of a van into a saloon. It just feels strange for a bit. Some people just can't drive regardless of what they're in. I'm not sticking up for SUVs btw especially because most seem to be driving these smaller ones which I find offensively ugly. It's ok for them, they're sat in but I'm the one who's got to sit behind them having my eyes assaulted with unshackled ugliness so I'd love to see them off the road just for ruining my day in the same way a pensioner flashing me would but I honestly don't believe it's anything to do with the car, especially if you look at what vehicles are involved in the most accidents in the UK. There's the odd Range Rover but by and large it's biscuit mobiles like a Prius and stuff. The evidence just isn't there, not when you consider the amount on the road

[@TollyBoy666]

Have long thought this having had an unlimited bike licence for many years. It's not just the perceived performance of the Chelsea tractors it's the size and potential to kill or seriously injure those who can actually drive.

[@hebijirik]

Just a week ago a friend insisted I have to try driving his XC90 because he likes his car a lot and wanted me to see how great it is. I normally drive small cars, the smaller the better, but I have owned a VW T4 Caravelle for six years and I occasionally drive a rented van bigger than that XC90. And yet the SUV was making me least comfortable when driving. The blind angles are worse than a big van and the size of the thing is such that you need more precision for staying in a narrow lane while having it more difficult to judge how much space you got in that lane. Why people buy these things to "see better" or "feel safer" I still don't understand. The feeling safer maybe, the tank makes you think nothing can happen to you. But I care about people other than me so it causes me added stress smaller cars don't. But the "seeing better" thing seems like a straight up ilusion (delusion?) to me. Sitting a 20-30cm higher is no help when surrounded by massive pillars and tall bottom edges of all windows that mean road surface is hidden for several meters around me at least. Vans at least have low cut side windows and tall mirrors where you see your rear wheel if you move your head a little. In that XC90 it was all cameras and sensors, no actual "seeing". Test driving the XC90 made me even more certain I never want to have an SUV and even more angry at car makers who seem determined to never make anything that is not an SUV in the future.

[@wirdy1]

Some of the same issues with tesla, they have quite a wide track that is fine in the USA, but not so great on UK narrower roads & tighter parking spaces.

[@hebijirik]

@wirdy1 I haven't driven one but it occurred to me when I saw them first.

[@JurivonStolzenberg14]

I agree - in any rental van, you can see better, and boxy shape ( like old Defender ) distances are much easier to judge.

[@antonycharnock2993]

They actually make it harder on narrow country lanes which is meant to be their natural environment.

[@defragsbin]

To add a bit more: SUVs are also terrible for running over your own kids. Lots of suburban families in the US in particular suffer horrendously because a parent runs over one of their own kids who'd been sitting in the driveway. You literally can't see anything in front of you because of the bonnet height.

[@DaveHines1]

As a motorcyclist, I notice that the majority of vehicles that pull out in front of me with seemingly little or no observation , are SUVs . Go figure 😃

[@JakobusVdL]

@@DaveHines1 it could be confirmation bias, but as a cyclist, my observations are the same - and Range Rovers seem to be particularly prone.

[@JohnDoesSports]

There are studies that suggest SUV drivers are worse drivers on average.

[@garyt123]

Must be all that "extra visibility" the salesman told them they would have I presume. They didn't actually _need_ an SUV in reality, they just need to _open their f'ing eyes!_

[@aleopardstail]

have a Kia Venga here, I'm very away the thing has rubbish visibility out the back (reversing cam helps when reversing.. only) and large A pillar blind spots - how people can drive without being aware of this and moving their head a bit is beyond me

[@antonycharnock2993]

@@JohnDoesSports Sense of invincibility in a big car also means everyone else should get out of my way mindset. I drive a mid size Skoda Karoq and even I notice it with high end SUVs.

[@PedroConejo1939]

If even part of the reason you want to drive an SUV is for perceived safety benefits, not only are you completely mistaken, you probably need to take a close look at your driving.

[@goodyeoman4534]

I think they just cite that as the reason to justify having a car they don't really need.

[@raymondbenjamins5884]

No kidding. If you feel like you need more safety, you're probably part of the problem.

[@SurgeDashcam]

Small modern cars are very safe. SUVs are way more likely to roll and have less handling ability. I'd feel safer in a hatchback over an SUV any day.

[@smilerbob]

Way back when I first started driving along the leafy lanes if Kent, there were many mums in these things doing the morning school runs. Most sitting happily in traffic on the main road and a few avoiding the traffic along the lanes. The ones along the lanes had the attitude of “I am bigger than you so you move”. None of them would do the same when they met a van coming then other way or tractor and trailer. None of them knew how to drive properly and share the road except for having selfish attitude On one occasion, one of them parked their vehicle in the middle of the road outside the school as there were no close by spaces 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@smilerbob There's usually a reason for behavioural stereotypes. Most of us have met them at one point. Just as a certain attitude in some men draws them towards particular brands, leading to the birth of the cliché, so the same thing happens with some women. My line manager couldn't drive for toffee, but always saw to it she had a big SUV. Jumped a red traffic light outside school one day (denied it vociferously), got side-swiped and ended up on looking at the world sideways. Wa-wa-waaah.

[@bjoe385]

Deliberately choosing a car because it's perceived to have " A better view of the road" and is "Much safer" says a lot about your confidence in your observation and your ability to avoid an accident.

[@JimB-yh3iq]

That lady at the end had a million ways she could've adjusted to not hit that car. It boggles the mind that she kept going. Bit as you said, it's incomparable against all the life threatening choices shown by others earlier in the video. And for what?

[@gordon861]

Yes, that wasn't an SUV problem that was just a bad driver problem. Probably could do with a booster cushion so she could see the front of the car.

[@Species1571]

Not really sure why she was reversing in a turn when there was miles of space behind.

[@andyuk2010]

It's because they don't know how to get out of the situation, so they feel they've got themselves into a mess and their only option is to carry on and hope it's ok. It's especially prevalent when drivers are reversing as they are often confused by which way to turn the wheel. The UK driver training and test should focus more on reversing and how to manoeuvre the car in reverse as it's rarely practised and a lot of drivers rarely do it after the test because they come out of their lessons and test with limited confidence on how to reverse.

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

I think this is something that a lot of driving instructors are falling short on. People are taught whichever four manoeuvres are currently on test based on static reference points and many won't address how to course-correct or adapt the technique to different situations. Some of the stunts I've seen people pull with an examiner in the car are wild.

[@davidjones332]

She had obviously become fixated on the mirror and wasn't watching the clearance on her offside front corner, but in fairness many of these hideously and indefensibly ugly SUVs are designed in such a way that it's impossible to see or judge where the corners of the vehicle are. Add a driver below average height and they're just a recipe for disaster.

[@MementoMori-xx5qo]

I’ve started treating SUVs as warning signs - whenever you see one, slow down, keep an eye on it until you pass and assume the driver is going to do something stupid

[@ibs5080]

I remember in years gone by, telling my Canadian and American friends over there that it's very rare to see an SUV on British roads and certainly no pick up trucks. How times have changed.

[@frenkelh8864]

And i wonder how many of these vehicles are financed or leased ?. Lifestyle inlflation is a big problem in the US, and the rest of the world follows.

[@kenbrown2808]

I think when we were over there, we saw one toyota Hilux size pickup. all the tradesmen were driving what we would consider a minivan. of course, as a general rule of thumb, US car classes, like American food servings are one size larger than the same class of car in the UK.

[@RushfanUK]

That last one is just mindboggling, why on earth didn't she just reverse straight back with all that space behind her, talk about blinkered driving.

[@ianbeale2527]

Not once did she look behind or around her in any direction either. If someone is that incompetent in such a scenario, then they shouldn't be allowed on the open road.

[@melvoid01]

Because she literally cannot, god knows how she passed her test but she does not posses the skill to drive and has little to no situational awareness, I see it all day everyday from the vans and trucks I drive for work, not just /SUV,s women in big Mercs, Audis and Volvos who have no idea how wide their vehicles actually are and sit their beeping because "you have to move I cant fit through that gap" when in reality a bus just passed by(albeit slowly and carefully) They are learning to drive in small sensible cars then immediately jumping into the brand new uber school run tank that hubby has bought them, but they don't get additional training on bigger vehicles. Also none of them use handsfree phones in their cars either.

[@davoo150]

I think the worst part is that she's actually staring intensely at what she's driving into!

[@goodyeoman4534]

My guess is she lacks spatial awareness, couldn't see the white lines, panicked, and instead of getting out to get her bearings, doubled down on her folly and caused a collision. Then pretended she didn't know what she'd done after being confronted.

[@Gazzxy]

as a general rule.. is they look like a total drip. act like a total drip, and clearly have no basic skills. just get ya car away from them

[@phanter344]

Interesting point about additional training, when I was taking my lessons (I was 45 yo at the time) I would talk to my wife about what I'd learnt. She's a great driver but was really interested about the techniques I was learning, especially the parallel parking ones which were different to what she was used to. She booked a set of 3 lessons with my driving instructor, who also does confidence lessons for people who have passed their test but maybe not driven for many years or have moved to a big city (he's based in London) and picked up some new methods. When I posted this on Pistonheads some time ago I got lynched! Comments of "She should hand back her license if she can't drive" etc. It's strange that because someone passed their test years ago they feel that they don't need to learn anything new. I watch your videos and try to take something away from each one.

[@applejuice5272]

PH is heading down a sewer at the minute - quite embarrassing really

[@TestGearJunkie.]

I passed my bike test in 1980 and my car test in 83, then my bus one in 1998. I am still learning new things every day, thanks to Ashley 💖

[@ShaimingLong]

Frankly she should be applauded for taking some lessons to properly learn the new standards. It reminds me of stories of old doctors that grew set in their ways and stopped learning new advancements having the gall to criticise younger doctors for running more tests on patients rather than jumping straight into treatments. It's so easy for people to assume they know all there is to know when they've not had any big problems yet.

[@averageyoutubeuser9483]

We've got Not Just Bikes video on SUVs, and now Ashley Neals to prove how unsafe they are. Very nice

[@ibs5080]

At around 8:01 re "The fight back horn". I'm noticing an increase of this practice recently. Especially in London where it can go on for several rounds. I guess the thinking behind it is that the driver who beeps their horn last is the one that's automatically in the right.

[@327legoman]

It's one of the ultimate tests of an adult with a childish temper tantrum and thus, and adult who should not be on the road. I'd love some alternate reality where some giga chad created some government division to hunt through videos like these, turn up on their doorstep with armed police and be like " O'rite my little manchild! I'll be taking that license from you please! Thank you very much!"

[@dukedragon28]

Excellent work Ash Its not just the fact that people feel safer and more important in their SUVs, its the fact that they can also do so much more damage that makes SUVs so bad. They need legally shrinking asap

[@PedroConejo1939]

Not to diminish from your statement, but at least we don't have to face those monstrous behemoths the Americans consider normal.

[@dukedragon28]

@@PedroConejo1939 Exactly, though Ive seen a few F150s lurking about and they need to be banned and destroyed before they kill someone

[@seanmccormack3735]

@@PedroConejo1939but they are definitely creeping towards that direction. Still a ways off no doubt, but the smaller cars and SUV’s car manufacturers were producing for the European market are getting bigger. Just thinking of the Kia Sorento and the Hyundai Santa Fe as examples. A few years back they were a decent size large family SUV, now they’re unnecessarily huge. I’m not sure about mainland Europe but the UK and Ireland’s narrow hedged country roads cannot deal with the size of them, I think new regulations need to be brought in, no one needs a car that big

[@raymondbenjamins5884]

@@PedroConejo1939 I'm not sure about the UK (although I expect it to be similar), but here in the Netherlands, it's unfortunately getting more common to see those massive American monsters. It's still (thankfully) not like they're being driven by a significant amount of people, but the type of people that do drive them, are generally the worst drivers (either because of lack of ability or because they just don't care) and on our smaller roads, it only takes 1 to become a big hindrance and danger to everyone around. How anyone can think they're even remotely suitable for our roads is beyond me. They don't even fit in the parking spots (they are both wider and longer than a single spot).

[@defragsbin]

The insane thing about SUVs is that it started out as a tax dodge and became A Way Of Life for many Americans. It's also a bit of an arms race. If you've got a family you want them to be safe from monster SUVs, so they ... buy a monster SUV. Great. FML

[@ibs5080]

At 9:30, the term "Chelsea Tractor" very much comes to mind.

[@b3108]

In Melbourne, Australia, we call em “Toorak Tractors” after the self-described-upper-class suburb

[@R0ssMM]

I might be wrong, but that looked like Kensington Gore

[@henrym5889]

I hope insurance companies ramp up their premiums on SUV's, might make people think twice about whether or not they need a two ton land yacht to go down to Morrisons.

[@mikeallan7740]

They probably have with Range Rovers because they keep being stolen.

[@Rover200Power]

Most saloons are nearly 2 tonnes . . .

[@henrym5889]

@@Rover200Power Sure if you're using a 5 series as a baseline for most, besides the diminishing offerings of saloons in favour of crossovers & SUV's and the fact that all cars across the board have increased in size & weight a lot in the last two decades might make that statement appear more valid than it is. The fact remains that SUV's typically are heavier, less aerodynamic, consume more fuel & are more visually obstructive to other road users not to mention often bought by people who fundamentally do not require a large four wheel drive vehicle with ground clearance and who haven't the spacial perception to manoeuvre them effectively, case in point.

[@davidvanderklauw]

I hope that insurance companies will come up with some handy hints on what to do with those darned holiday leftovers.

[@richardharvey1732]

Hi Ashley, yet again you find an interesting topic for discussion. My own observations do suggest that many drivers of larger vehicles do demonstrate a generally lower degree of consideration for other road users. What I think we can only speculate on is the reasoning, if any, for this. The primary issue that I seek to avoid is conflation of causation and correlation, it must be considered that some drivers choose larger cars because they lack the confidence and skill to 'feel' safe in a smaller car!. One actual episode I recall from my own experience is one in which I was passenger with my sister driving in an Edinburgh suburban street where she swung out to pass parked cars and totally ignored the oncoming car in spite of the large spaces on the near side, when I protested she just said that she thought that because her car was so large the oncoming driver would give way. Another good friend also claims that for her it is 'safer' to reverse he car out of her yard into a quite busy village street because other drivers will see the back of her car and wait for her!. These two examples suggest to me that people make all sorts of random assumptions about each other that may have little or no legal foundation but do reflect actual behaviour, as you so often tell us it costs us little or nothing to be kind and considerate, if some feel entitled to take 'unfair' advantage does that mean we should with-hold our generosity?. Cheers, Richard.

[@robg521]

I bought my 4x4 SUV to suit my needs, I do an electrical engineers job so need loads of boot space for equipment, [i used to drive an estate car] When I had hip replacement surgery I needed a car higher up so that I could sit in it correctly, [getting into or out of a low car was a problem after surgery]. On the motorway. it is ultra smooth with comfy comfortable seats for long trips, [sitting in an uncomfortable car with hip pain for long duration is a real problem] on the B roads it handles well, is stable and doesn’t lurch [again it’s the smooth ride making it comfortable to drive] And being a 4x4, at the end of the journey it can go off road to get across rough land to the works site. [so I don’t have to walk over rough Terrane and carry equipment] ….. I can honestly say that the car I drive has allowed me to continue in my career.

[@elkippy]

Probably why we didn't see any tradies in the video.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Nothing wrong with that - and since you're here, you haven't traded driving ability for mass.

[@andyuk2010]

8:33 is a classic example of why you should maintain primary in that position when you're approaching a parked car ahead; don't go into the gap as it encourages mental overtakes like this.

[@aaronogden9900]

I nearly got hit by an SUV a few weeks back. We passed in opposite directions on a slight bend in the road and they decided they couldn’t be bothered steering and just drove in a straight line across my lane. It certainly woke me up on my drive to work. What numpties some drivers are.

[@antonycharnock2993]

Happens all too frequently nowadays. Like people who cut road junctions not thinking someone might be approaching.

[@shm5547]

9:10 never wait behind a vehicle like that on a bicycle. Keep further back and position yourself either to the left or the right, so you can escape if they do reverse. But the best option is to keep moving and get past if possible to do so safely.

[@razghost2]

Same applies on motorcycle/scooters, I can't count the number of times in my van that I only realise there's a scooter close behind me because I see their light shining the road behind me.

[@ianmason.]

@@razghost2 A few weeks back I and an Ocardo van met where there were a lot of parked cars. We were calmly and slowly negotiating the way around each other and a scooter who'd been tailgating the van at literally 2 feet away decided that the van was too slow for him and tried to overtake the van without looking first. He got a nasty shock to be confronted by my car about 10 feet away from him.

[@The_Noticer.]

Ok capt. hindsight. Any more sage advice from the future?

[@shm5547]

@@The_Noticer. plenty - but this is not hindsight, it's how I ride.

[@Viken43]

After a recent cycle accident I have lost my nerve, the terrible driving these days is part of it. The get in front and cut attitude of most drivers is getting worse, not too mention blatant phone use...

[@goodyeoman4534]

I haven't cycled in years for the same reason. I got lucky growing up as my home city (Lincoln) has some useful cycling lanes. But there is absolutely no way I would cycle through any urban area these days.

[@AzguardMike]

started cycling again this year after several years off after being forced off the road by cars. And its only got worse in my area. There's cycle lanes on the pavements in the city centre and yet its used by mothers with prams who will scream at you to get out their way, will T pose and refuse to move out your way, instead side stepping and record you while screaming for help. And the roads are just as bad. The other week i cycled up the road to get some bits in. Got to the lights and a car over took me, swerved and stopped with his off side wheel on the curb. Couldnt filter so i stopped behind him. Lights went green and he didnt move. So i went to overtake. Instantly pulled forwards, swerved at me while yelling "oi you C" out the window. I stopped, went behind him and he slammed the brakes on. I went around and carried on ahead. 20 seconds later, he flew passed me, swerved infront and slammed his brakes on again. I went on the pavement in the end, was actually afraid for my life. Going home, was almost rammed off my bike at a staggered junction going down hill. Car emerging saw me using gravity to fly down the hill, i was maybe 3 car lengths away and the car pulled out. I had to swerve onto the other side of the road to avoid being hit. Woman yelled at me to get a car. I actually do drive, its just been lovely weather, 20C all month. But these people are why I stopped ridding in the first place.

[@tin2001]

I've been riding as my primary transport since Coronavirus... I feel like I can't afford to drive these days. Anyway, I bought a motor kit after about 18 months of riding, and it's made things much better. Higher speed means people tend to hold back in places too narrow to pass. And you can get through intersections much quicker, which reduces waiting times, and therefore limits the chances of someone waiting behind being an idiot.

[@chrisbwhittle]

I work for a charitable trust as a volunteer on their estate. My first job each day is to go out and check all the stock spread out around the estate. To check some parts of the estate requires driving up a narrow private road (in a John Deere Gator) that goes to a private school. Nearly all the vehicles used to take the children to the school are SUVs, very, very expensive ones. Most are driven by women who are incapable of driving such a large vehicle on such a narrow road. They stop at least a metre away from the hedgerow having just passed a passing point and are unable to reverse back into the space. They then expect me to try to get past them. It’s an even worse experience when in a John Deere tractor.

[@cookiemonster2299]

It should be legal for you to drive over them, or I've got out of the wrong side of the bed today. 😆👍

[@antonycharnock2993]

Only place SUVs and pickups should be allowed. Country estates and large festivals😂 I live near a large country estate which also has a honeypot tourist village tacked on. Absolute nightmare trying to get down the main street.

[@kiljaeden7663]

Whenever I travel abroad I rent a compact hatchback. Last time I got a free "upgrade" to a Volvo XC40. I was alarmed at the lack of visibility and the body roll. Even the front visibility. It's like they made the car higher while at the same time making the windscreen narrower. Whenever you look over towards the passenger side all you could see was the rearview mirror which couldn't see anything out the narrow rear window anyway. Truly awful.

[@capnsparkle]

Wow! She's looking down at the car in the last clip - And still hits it, amazing

[@robg521]

The last clip… some people shouldn’t be driving the car that they are in. Years ago there was an incident on one of my jobs where some of my staff were digging a trench across a road entrance. It was a private road but they still had road barriers out. [they had the right half of the road dug up leaving the left side of the road open for access. An elderly woman in a Z3 BMW tried to turn right into the entrance and drove through the barriers into where the staff were digging the trench, the staff jumped in front of her and waved her to stop, she slowed to a crawl but still kept moving forward, the staff were slapping in the bonnet shouting at her to stop but she still kept on creeping forwards until her front right wheel went down the trench. Only then did she take her foot off of the throttle and hit the brake. They managed to lift the front of the car up and push it back out of the trench, the front wing was crumpled up in front of the tyre when it had gone down the trench but otherwise no serious damage. The Z3 is a car very low down and she was a very small woman, and couldn’t see out of it properly, and she was unable to steer it accurately with any degree of control. When she got out of the car she was crying saying “this my son’s car… I shouldn’t even be driving it”

[@goodyeoman4534]

It's never their fault, though, is it?

[@TestGearJunkie.]

He won't be happy then, as she was likely not insured for it.

[@SiCrewe]

Biggest problem with SUVs is (IMO) that, as they've become more popular, people who've only ever driven small hatchbacks are now driving SUVs and they just can't deal with the size, weight and momentum they have. On a possibly related note, the view out of most traditional 4x4s is usually superb. 4x4s are deliberately designed this way to help the driver negotiate obstacles on muddy or stony tracks. Conversely, the modern trend for vehicles with a high waistline and a swoopy profile, coupled to a low seating position for a more car-like driving experience (see new Range Rovers for examples), means the driver's view is compromised (to the sides, especially) and creates the feeling that you're driving a tank while looking through a letterbox.

[@1988dgs]

Manufacturers are pulling the small to medium size cars as they can’t carry enough batteries for the electrification experiment, expect to see many more in the coming years

[@SiCrewe]

@@1988dgs Interesting point. Hard to believe that manufacturers had the foresight to condition people to want SUVs so they'll accept big, daft, electric cars but it DOES make a lot of sense.

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

​@@1988dgs I don't know if it's an electrification thing more than just a "people aren't buying new small cars" thing

[@davem9204]

@@user-mv5zt8qd9l I think manufacturers saw SUVs increasing in popularity quickly early on in their existence, so decided that's what everyone wants and threw all their eggs in the SUV basket. It's similar in many industries when a new product/concept comes along and picks up popularity early, so companies assume it'll take over everything that's gone before; when often it just reaches it's own level and the old stuff is still in demand.

[@markwright3161]

@@SiCrewe I think they just wanted bigger profit margins and selling people suvs made them think they were getting more car that was worth paying more for, and so higher profits. Why sell hatchbacks when you can stick £100 worth of plastic to it and sell it for 20% more to the same people? Electrification is just the latest way they can 'justify' their greed. Oh dear, looks like we can't fit batteries in our small cars (we did try didn't we, yeah, a 12V lead acid battery does not fit in the glove box, so it's impossible). The smallest we offer now is 2.2 tonnes and starts at £75'000, but don't worry, we have finance so you can give us £100'000 for it over 3-5 years, and don't worry, all that plastic bodywork your bound to rip off will keep or friends in the oil companies busy for decades.

[@FistOfFiori]

I passed my test in January and my first visit from the tyre lads at Kwik Fit came in February (a month later!!) because of an SUV. I was on a country lane but it was a narrow road and despite them having room to their left came round a corner half on my side of the road! I drive a Yaris, so not a big car at all, and even I didn't have much room but managed to avoid them (no time to brake) without mounting the kerb, though did brush along the kerb and ended up with a bulge in the tyre for my troubles. Mostly no issues with SUV drivers or the vehicles (if I ever need a car that big I'll be happy to have one!) but there's a few of them that need to learn to deal with narrower or unmarked country lanes - further evidenced by this video!

[@brantnuttall]

great video. on a different note: have you seen the Waybo carpark fiasco in San Fransisco? All the driverless taxis just honking their horns. Hilarious!

[@TestGearJunkie.]

Ye gods, I know and love SF, but haven't been for many years. Don' t think I'll be going back if they've got those things 😵‍💫

[@jonrellim]

Lots of people have spent time studying the psychological reasons why people buy suv's or pickup trucks. 1. They want to feel safer in a larger vehicle, even though doing that sacrifices safety of others, and isn't necessary safer for the owner either. 2. It's a status thing. 3. They compensate for their inability to drive with a larger vehicle.

[@Rover200Power]

I've seen the photos from a head on collision where and Audi A3 drive on the wrong side of the road and hit a Land Rover Discovery head on with a combined speed of near 120 mph. The Audi was a tangled mess of metal, the Discovery was still a Discovery with a wrecked front and a little bit of damage to the cabin. I know which I'd rather have been in.

[@jonrellim]

​@@Rover200Powerthis is called crash incompatibility, where vehicles massive difference in weight, size, and more importantly bumper height cause unnecessary injury.

[@bexxy629]

​@@Rover200PowerDo you no think that the reason the audi was much worse off because the vehicle that hit it was a 3 ton behemoth of a car? Unless crumpled cars are good, that means the impact has gone into the car not you.

[@mikeallan7740]

@@Rover200Power You must feel personally attacked by this comment section because you purchased a wankpanzer.

[@Rover200Power]

@@mikeallan7740 Not really, I don't consider the opinions of those who lack critical thinking skills relevant.

[@ibs5080]

At around 7:52: "It's ok officer. I wasn't distracted, I was offsiding. You know, that advanced driving technique".

[@_Steven_S]

🤣

[@ibs5080]

The thing with SUV's is that they have a higher centre of gravity and hence greater risk of rollover. All the electronic driver aids in the world can't beat the laws of gravity.

[@Rover200Power]

That comment probably had some merit in 1995.

[@wrightwoodwork]

When it goes you ain't saving it

[@paulsengupta971]

@@Rover200Power It still does. It's not as bad as it once was but it's still a thing. Look for them upside down in motorway accidents.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Was looking for this comment my man! It's as if the roof rails are for supporting them when they're upside down.

[@Wehra96]

not a universal truth nowadays with the modern premium EV ones with a heavy battery in the floor as well air ride that squat down at speed. Though weighing close to 3 tonnes does other things to handling characteristics obviously.

[@broshmosh]

"I have a 4x4 for best all round observation. Not that I use it, but it's good to have it."

[@speciesmg7537]

I can always tell when it's tourist season where I live in Cornwall. Not only are there more badly parked SUVs in the supermarket car parks, but I have at least one near miss like this every week, as well as a near miss crawling out of a parking space because one of these tanks is in the middle of the road doing 25mph. And that's ONLY supermarket incidents. Many of the rest of the examples are commonplace between about mid-July and early September.

[@ben_9134]

2:00 This happens all the time on our narrow Norfolk roads... People driving their massive ‘off road’ suv in the middle of the road because they’re scared of scratching the paint on the hedges.

[@unsafevelocities5687]

6:17 Here in Australia, that's the standard overtake when cycling on narrow(er) roads unfortunately. Standard size of the vehicle overtaking too.

[@trueriver1950]

5:41 the land rover with the trailer demonstrates the futility of this degree of impatience. Had they waited a second or two the car in front would have been out of their way anyway.

[@Cuppabeansman]

The worst bit is the 4x4 had only been following the learner for about 10-15 seconds prior to the clip's beginning. Not like he really even had the time to build up that level of annoyance to be so impatient. Suggests they're probably just like that everywhere they go.

[@MrGBH]

This is why the concept of American SUVs being on our roads terrifies me. Imagine people driving this badly in those things.

[@peterhearnden7634]

Let me start by saying I like Ashley's videos.. I watch them in the hope that I am made a more attentive driver & cyclist, and that watching helps me improve my hazard perception. But, I worry that perhaps the drivers who we might argue are most in the need of the driver education, that these videos provide, are not the people who watch them. The title of the video says it all '..impatience and invincibility' as I feel this applies to some drivers of all types of vehicles, not just SUV drivers. I must declare a vested interest here, as I have recently (this year) started driving an SUV, and I hope that the standard of my driving has not deteriorated as a result. Keep up the good work, Ashley.

[@JonnyUnforeseen]

I have become a master at skipping the Carvertical ads.

[@InBodWeTrust]

🤣🤣

[@ChrisBrown-px1oy]

"Make it a non-event."

[@observer4916]

I've got sponsorblock, saves me tones of time and faff

[@Chilli_Tea]

why are they like 5 hours long lmao

[@goodyeoman4534]

I press "L" twice.

[@edwardlamb]

Just at the point when we need to have a concerted effort to reduce the levels of injury/risk on our roads AND drastically reduce emissions from transport... along comes the SUV to make things extra hard. A truly horrendous fad, both on an individual and collective level. Good video

[@BadgerBoy59]

That clip where the person cuts in front at the traffic lights just to sit there in front is exactly the same as I had recently driving in Glasgow, although this time it was actually a private hire car. They didn't even speed off into the distance, so no idea why they felt the need to do this!

[@towaii]

ok the canned "like this video" animation but with the like/dislike going from -1070 to -1069 is pretty funny actually, first time i've seen that you're the closest thing to a "dashcam channel" i watch -- i know some people who watch a lot of dashcam videos and i feel like it sometimes can kind of feed into the "everyone else is idiots and i'm the good driver so i don't have to be mindful" attitude that we see in some of your footage. i know i used to be so confident of my competence that of course i didn't need to really think about what was going on around me -- and i was working as a delivery driver then. i have some really mortifying memories of my driving from that time. (and you already know you're right -- the pressures of the job, especially on the gig apps, factor in SIGNIFICANTLY to the kind of driving you often see from these types of vehicles.) the only annoying part of having found this channel is youtube going "oh you like this genre of Content™ huh?" and recommending me a lot of IDIOTS ON THE ROAD COMPILATION 167! SHOCKING! and WOMEN DRIVERS COMPILATION 56!! for a while there

[@groundcontrolto]

I've mentioned this on another video but I regularly encounter a Range Rover on my commute driving at speed with a wheel over the central line/cats-eyes on a road that is not particularly wide. Very much a "I'm bigger than you so you have to accommodate me."

[@fredsmith1970]

Sounds like the parking sensors going from an intermittent beep to a continuous tone mean carry on as you were. 😂

[@kenbrown2808]

problem with that in that clip is it's HIS sensor going off, not hers.

[@jamesthompson2065]

Impatience is one of my biggest pet peeves about driving at the moment. If getting stuck behind something like a lorry or a cyclist will make you late or otherwise wind you up to the point where you forget or ignore BASIC safety when driving, leave the house earlier.

[@alopexlagopus1488]

Yay, my first included clip - only possible because I used Ashley's link to get my Viofo.

[@nickp3702]

In my opinion and experience, inexpensive SUV drivers are often driven by people who aren’t confident nor comfortable on the roads. It gives them a false sense of security in regard to safety but at the same time disregards the safety of others. Expensive SUV’s are often driven by narcissistic drivers who have the I’m better, larger and faster than you thought process, Or business owners with little or no knowledge about driving larger cars. People don’t match their driving ability with their confidence or experience when purchasing cars!

[@MepsiPaxBerri]

"People don’t match their driving ability with their confidence or experience when purchasing cars!" - That last bit it spot-on mate!

[@clivewilliams3661]

Talk to any newly qualified driver about the car they want to buy and it will inevitably be a small one, then take that same person and put them behind the wheel of an SUV that invariably is a different and more intimidating beast and the result is obvious. You wouldn't train an HGV driver in a van. Maybe driving schools ought to have a range of vehicles apart from the Fiesta to train drivers.

[@goodyeoman4534]

They also never indicate. I reported one to South Yorkshire police for kerbing their tank rather than wait an extra second at the lights. They got sent on a "diversionary course."

[@clivewilliams3661]

@@goodyeoman4534 You should know that direction indicators are optional equipment on certain vehicles like BMWs, Audis and Range Rovers (apart from mine!). I was following a new bus yesterday and it stopped in front of me, I eventually saw a slight glimmer of a LH indicator that was simply not immediately visible. It was a modern LED unit that had such a directional light output I can see it causing problems for other road users. If this is a problem with a PSV then how many other vehicles have the same problem?

[@goodyeoman4534]

@@clivewilliams3661 I don't know. But I never let BMWs or Ranges out of junctions since they never indicate. Any other driver I will help out though.

[@damienfenton3880]

Nearly got knocked down today by a SUV that didn't stop at a pedestrian crossing in a car park even though I was literally in the middle of it. This video is good timing.

[@paul756uk2]

No. You nearly got knocked down by someone driving an SUV. Like guns, it's the people behind them. Maybe this person also drives another car. Would that make him/her a better driver. This is the absurdity of this kind of nonsense.

[@marcussmith6523]

Ideally you need to look after yourself and not walk out in front of moving vehicles. Highway code rule 19 is for pedestrians.

[@damienfenton3880]

​@marcussmith6523 the suv overtook a car that was already stopped at the crossing.

[@paul756uk2]

@@damienfenton3880 The SUV happened to be the car he was driving. Would or would he have not done it if he was driving another car?

[@jo3ld0wn]

@marcussmith6523 the original comment states that it was in a car park, where pedestrians have right of way at all times

[@londonglide]

Our road has been closed in the middle for emergency water works. Sign erected at end of road, but no one cares. I have spent the last week watching all types of cars speed towards the closed part, then try to turn round/reverse etc. It was an eye opener at how many drivers cannot manage a simple turn, have any idea at the size of the vehicle they drive, or even think ahead so they don't, as many did, panic, and then try badly to turn between parked cars, when they could easily move a few yards further to a large space. Lack of spacial awareness, or even any awareness was noticeable...

[@pauldavies6037]

I like the fact that Ashley never hides the car number plate numbers on his clips

[@ibs5080]

I understand that some folks / families need a vehicle with lots of space. In which case, why not consider an estate car rather than an SUV? Something that's often overlooked these days. An estate car will often have more space than an SUV, will handle just like a regular car, give a more comfortable ride, can be quite stylish and good looking without the cumbersome looks of a bulky SUV.

[@Rover200Power]

Good luck fitting 6 people and the associated luggage for a 2 week holiday in an estate for at least a 6 hour drive. Land Rover Discovery FTW.

[@nickp3702]

A lot of the time it’s status too, an SUV looks more expensive than a generic car. Why would Joe and Jane Bloggs buy a basic car when they can have an SUV on PCP which looks more expensive?

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

I almost feel like there's a self-defence aspect to it, too. People are buying increasingly larger vehicles which are more imposing, so it simply becomes uncomfortable to drive a smaller car. Just this week I had a lady I'm teaching express this feeling of being exposed and unsafe when driving her city car.

[@ZachAsaD]

The state of the UK roads these days makes me consider one of these just so I can have a nicer ride. Plus I’m thinking of getting a trailer and need the extra space. Also, better visibility sitting higher up

[@gingernutpreacher]

I don't mean to be rude but that's stupid thing to say say suvs are taller that means people sit up right and are often no longer than a estate

[@Blametom]

I currently drive an SUV... the reason being that I needed a car with a big boot and a search for leasing deals at the time brought up the Toyota RAV4 at a good price. After looking at some reviews, I thought I'd give it a try. I like it. As a Hybrid, it's much more efficient than my previous Seat Leon (I'm currently getting between 55-60mpg on average in summer). It doesn't feel particularly big to drive and it's no more difficult to manage than any previous vehicle that I've driven. It certainly doesn't give me any more feeling of 'invicibility' than any other vehicle I've driven. I remain just as risk averse in this car as in any other. I would imagine that incompetance is pretty vehicle agnostic and that a bad driver is a bad driver, SUV or Mini alike!

[@shm5547]

4:00 I think it's worth pointing out that information on failed MOTs is available for anyone to check for free on the UK government site.

[@TestGearJunkie.]

True, but I'd want to know if a car I was looking at had sustained that level of damage.

[@JurivonStolzenberg14]

My truck has nice big mirrors. My view is that any vehicle standing a bit higher off the ground needs much better , bigger mirrors or some kind of adjustment. Notmal mirrora are fien for normal car at bormal height, but SUV need much better adjustment of mirrors for height, blind spots and their different geometry. And of course some adjustment in intracranial cavity..😅

[@andrewgilbertson5356]

Thank you Ashley.

[@tomatzu]

"Impatience and Invincibility" sums up not just every SUV driver on the road, but also delivery drivers in their vans. Perhaps the DVSA needs to rethink the classification of some of these vehicles so that only those with the correct licence grade and skill can drive them, a bit like how they need to address the CBT for motorcyclists to stop local liability squads from getting themselves killed or killing others through reckless riding.

[@goodyeoman4534]

I'd add, callous disregard for others and arrogance to the list of traits. And stupidity, apprarently, based on the last clip.

[@antonycharnock2993]

Weirdly I've just had to stop for an Ocado van coming flying down the middle of a narrow busy country lane near where I live. And I drive a Skoda Karoq.

[@ibs5080]

Those two dreadful overtakes at around 2:45 and 2:52 over the blind brow of a hill...and yet seconds later there was a nice long clear level stretch of straight road. "But those drivers may not be familiar with this road". True but still doesn't excuse such a risky overtake.

[@MRDNRA]

About car parks - I am so glad that these days most newer cars have at very least got reversing sensors. In the case of my dad's car his has got both forward and reverse parking sensors, which proved very useful 2 days ago when leaving a very tight car park - when you have to do a multi point turn to get out of a parking space you know it's a tight one, and that was using all available space with the parking sensors going to the final level of sustained sound (almost certainly within a few inches of the car in front/to the left and a fence behind!)

[@davem9204]

There was a car bodywork repair man I saw recently on TV/YT who said he repairs far more cars that have reversing sensors than those without them these days. He said the drivers are over-reliant on the technology and don't use their eyes or spatial awareness to manouvre their cars, so end up hitting things that aren't picked up by the sensors (or just ignore them).

[@lostcarpark]

So many SUVs have appalling visibility. I also hate how many of them have their headlights designed with the assumption everyone drives SUVs, so the dipped lights are at the perfect angle to dazzle someone in a lower car. But the icing on the cake is how many of them have less boot space than my compact car.

[@TestGearJunkie.]

The problem with car parks is that the spaces haven't got any larger since people were driving cars like the Ford Anglia. When I use one, I always park where there is at least one vacant space on each side of me, even if it means walking a little bit further. I think my car is classed as a 'compact' SUV, it's a Buick Encore, which is the North American version of the Vauxhall Mokka. There's a reason it ended up in the UK, but I won't go into it here..!

[@_Steven_S]

You could paint parking bays 3 meters wide and you'd still see SUVs taking up two spaces!

[@TestGearJunkie.]

@@_Steven_S Heh. I saw a Transit van taking up no less than 4 spaces in our local Asda car park the other day 🙄

[@tubularcandy812]

Last week I was stressed out because I have to kittens at home and was not sure If I had closed the window. I tried to get home as fast as possible and went for a terrible overtake due to the stress. Damaged my wheel rim and got lucky I did not get a puncture or damaged the suspension of my car. But my tyre was losing air quickly and I got lucky I made it home. After that it really makes you ask the question if that one overtake is really worth the 5 seconds you save. It could have been a very nasty crash.

[@Cuppabeansman]

Very good point raised. If everybody did more maths behind the wheel it would change a lot of how people act. Any time I'm considering an overtake I will assess the likely time benefit to it, if it will be risky or won't gain at least a minute of road ahead it's worth just dropping back. Stress and overtaking is a doubly bad combination, I've been there before and still look back at how lucky I've been. All part of the learning curve though!

[@frogsplorer]

My worst driving is always when I’m in a rush or I’m tired

[@nathantilly3539]

As a learner, Honestly it's incomprehensible how some people have a licence. We all have places to be, not worth dying over though.

[@Madmark50484]

That last clip is mad!! So many spaces that she could have just used another empty and no one would have said anything.

[@Timmzy27]

What I dislike about SUVs, because of how taller they are, it makes it difficult to see through them to get a glimpse of the car in front of them if at all. While I don't rely on this ability in itself, it does makes planning and anticipation much harder.

[@jammyjammingtonjam]

One thing I feel in general is people seem to drive more dangerously in wet weather... precisely when you don't want driving to get worse. My grandmother used to say it's because drivers are afraid of their car getting wet 😆.

[@TheCaptScarlett]

6:00 Standard behaviour for Northwood Plus it's 20mph zone so there's no way they didn't have time to react if they were driving within the limit 😊

[@brantnuttall]

5:40 I know this road! It's London road going into King's Lynn town centre. I lived close to hear for over a decade.

[@gazwj]

In my opinion 95% of people who drive an SUV dont need one, and its making our roads worse, these cars have gotten bigger but everything else has stayed the same The vast majority of the public could comfortably use a normal hatchback or saloon or hey if you need a little more space then an estate, but for some reason people see big SUV and think its better. Just drive something smaller, more efficient and for a lot of cases will be safer too 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@iwalker3809]

Agricultural vehicles especially tractors have certainly got larger in the last few years, much larger.

[@Wehra96]

Crash ratings are based on collisions with similarly sized vehicles, a 5 star 2-3 tonne SUV will be safer for the *occupants* than a small 1 tonne hatch, on a population level its probably a net negative given how many small cars are on the roads.

[@davem9204]

@@Wehra96 I think crash ratings are also based on what happens in a crash, not on how easy it makes it for the driver to avoid the crash in the first place. Do they also judge it on what happens to the other vehicle it crashes into? If I drove a WW1 tank I'm sure I'd be very safe in it, but would probably crash many times just getting the thing down the road - but it'll get good crash ratings!

[@Wehra96]

@@davem9204 for one tanks are not very safe to inside when they hit stuff, it’s full of hard edges and there are no seatbelts the only thing helping you is mass and that only goes so far, second it does actually go into the crash rating how it performs at avoiding crashes with the crash avoidance systems and such. Though it is at the end of the day mainly about occupant and pedestrian safety during crashes and not handling testing, that would be handled separately in the form of something like the Moose test and similar. Good quality tires as well as driving skill comes into play with that unlike the Euro NCAP testing.

[@markfiddy395]

I think ALL drivers would benefit from extra lessons at regular intervals, if there were enough driving instructors. I once took a 1 day advanced driving instruction and was blown away with how much I learned. I followed up with RoSPA instruction and found that it took so much surprise and stress out of driving.

[@Hitperson]

ahh yes the "wankpanzer"

[@cookiemonster2299]

Yay a new new word for me to utter while I'm driving 🤣😂👍

[@Hitperson]

@@cookiemonster2299 it's best applied when in urban centres...

[@stephenhowe568]

🤣 excellent terminology

[@cookiemonster2299]

@@Hitperson 😆👍 fuktards has been my favourite for a while so thanks for the new one 🤣❤️👍

[@lukewindymill8640]

Don't forget the good old "emotional support vehicle." in polite company.

[@scottcameron8936]

The type of car doesn't make you a bad driver. Its the driver😊

[@HEKVT]

SUVs are a mixed bag for me, what I am not a fan of however is how popular the US style large pickup trucks are getting. I understand it's a whole thing in the US, but their roads can handle it. The UK roads, and parking spaces are too small to handle so many of these oversized gas guzzlers.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Time to plug Not Just Bikes and his excellent video "These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us".

[@goodyeoman4534]

I like SUVs but I'd never drive one in the UK. Why? Roads are too narrow, parked cars everywhere, tiny little car parks that guarantee you will be pranged at some point. ST Focus for me: small and agile and can get me out of trouble really fast.

[@RikAindow]

​@@PedroConejo1939I love that channel.

[@RikAindow]

​@goodyeoman4534 what we also get here aren't exactly very utilitarian either. A Juke, for example, all body and no interior space, they're tiny inside and due to the large sides and relatively low driving position inside, visibility isn't great, even for someone my size (6ft 3).

[@goodyeoman4534]

@@RikAindow I had more leg room in my ST than I did in the Insignia. I think the latter puts all it's bulk in the rear lol. I have come to the opinion that I prefer small, fast cars with leg room.

[@robertparkinson2102]

Back when SUVs were called 4 x 4s an ambulance driver told me they were being called out to a disproportionate number of them as they flipped over too readily. Years later The Simpsons had an episode featuring a 'Canyonero' that Marge flipped over, leaping clear before it burst into flame. More recently there was a study on the effect feeling safe has on risk taking. One of the weirdest discovery was that putting a physical helmet on a video game player made them take more risks in the game! 6 foot of steel in front of you and enough airbags to hide half a dozen cyclists will tend to make you feel safe. Before, most Land Rovers were owned by farmers and had pillers so thin they could count every sheep, manure ate holes through the floor so they did not feel safe and they had no aerodynamics curves so you knew exactly where the vehicle ended.

[@highdownmartin]

I drive an old 109 Landy. No seat belts. No airbags,most of the interior is steel or metal. It’ll fold up like a fckn tin can if it rolls and it’s on drum brakes and cart springs. But I ride motorcycles and they’re just as lethal in a collision. So I do my level best to make allowances for all the w⚓️s out there and avoid having any contact with anything else on the road. And drive within its limitations and never ever feel safe in side it. A12” spike in the middle of the steering wheel would probably do wonders for road safety.

[@ExplodingCabbage]

5:00 "My viewer had to stop to make that a non-event" - I humbly suggest that if you have to quickly stop to avoid a head-on collision with an overtaking car, that is in fact an "event"!

[@grahamnutt8958]

Some people shouldn't even be let loose in a Citroën 2CV let alone anything bigger. The mind boggles at the lack of skill and patience 😮

[@matt_pritchard_]

The overtake is way too common around where I live. Instead of slowing down and letting cars turn into a rather tight turn for a housing estate, SUV’s just boot it past over hatch markings and the wrong side of the road. Quite a brave manoeuvre in an area where unmarked squad seem to patrol quite often

[@jftechdrones]

I'm late to the party here, but thanks for featuring my clip!

[@highdownmartin]

As the late Jeremy Hardy described them. The Mitsubishi Wifebeater 4.8.

[@laceandwhisky]

Yep i drive a volvo xc90 and meet other suv drivers who cant drive mainly women getting kids from schools, lots of bloke old pensioners who cant judge width or park even with bleepers or those camera things. Yet motorcycles have cbt test then part one and two after training tests to get on the road. Yep 😢

[@izzard]

7:45 The cammer had to practically come to a complete halt and pray the oncoming driver woke up!

[@ibs5080]

At around 2:12, this is exactly why I fold my drivers door mirror in when on a narrow road such as this.

[@michaelmiller641]

A good idea!

[@zoeywyllie1411]

SUVs are one of those vehicles I just don't understand why so many people have them. Unless you off road e.g. for doing farm work etc the massive size is just a waste in petrol, People rarely need anything greater than a hatchback or saloon/sedan car. If you don't feel comfortable driving one of those types of cars because they don't give enough 'sense of security' then you need to take more lessons! A bigger vehicle to compensate for lack of skill doesn't fix the problem, it just means when you do mess up you're a bigger danger

[@Andy_ATB]

Yeah, I've been saying this for ages. Spending all that money on an SUV to feel safe, when it would likely be cheaper to get extra training - and become a better driver. But the majority of people think they're already good drivers.......

[@paulsengupta971]

@@Andy_ATB Yep, they think it's everyone else who's the bad driver.

[@Rover200Power]

Some people enjoy spending money on petrol. Otherwise the supercharged V8 wouldn't be a thing.

[@goodyeoman4534]

Marketing, status symbol, bandwagon effect etc. It's not rocket science.

[@ChrisBrown-px1oy]

I'm sure the "safety" argument can take on its own momentum. "I want to give my family the best protection" may be self-important guff, but on impressionable social climbers, it can probably work as a kind of guilt trip.

[@byEckyThump]

I’m not sure about equating driving standards with any specific type of vehicle, as this may lead to false presumptions and prejudice. (Eg lorries, taxis, vans, cyclists . . . ) These may be ‘good examples of bad driving’ in SUVs but the individual driver’s aptitude, attitude and competence are more important. As for preconceived expectations, the clip of the lady who reversed into a cyclist provided an (unexpected) example of behaviour in response to an event, particularly the cyclist’s! Thanks for your posts: I find them helpful. Never stop learning.

[@paul756uk2]

As I commented earlier, it just provides people with confirmation bias because once you tell them something, it focuses the mind on that and ignores everything else.

[@bowaazm9608]

You probably wont have many people on here admit but i currently drive an SUV 😂. I appreciate its added height for getting my kids in and out of their car seats but honestly thats the only benefit i can think of over an estate or hatchback. The visibility out of the back when reversing is quite poor so i have to go really slow and have had to become fairly reliant on the rear cameras to compensate at times. I will likely not buy another one when it comes time to trade in

[@ashley_neal]

I've had a number of them also as it was the only way to transport four kids and everything we needed

[@PeakBanana08]

Safest thing to assume with SUV drivers is that they are either a) incapable, b) arrogant and 'important' c) reckless, or d) a combination. The scary thing is every other car seems to be an SUV nowadays.

[@JustOneQuestion]

That last clip is diabolical...

[@gunnern1]

I haven't driven any SUVs, but I have driven large vans and a minibus (17 seater Ford Transit). I learned to drive in a VW Caravelle ('92). The forward visibility is great, as is the sideways visibility on the drivers side. But driving these cars safely means being aware and conscious of the much bigger blind spots at the passenger side and towards the rear. Situational awareness is key while driving these. Visibility vise, I suspect the situation in an SUV is similar to a van. And it seems the performance offered by many SUVs make their drivers forget one of the same things sport car drivers seem to occasionally forget: other cars may not have the brakes required to deal with the situations they are sometimes creating.

[@xninjaxassasin]

There are so many people that cannot judge how wide there cars are at all. Especially when they get larger vehicles.

[@clivewilliams3661]

This is very much compounded by the shape of modern cars, including SUVs. Having edges that can't be accurately determined is completely contrary to some of the inbuilt abilities.

[@ChrisBrown-px1oy]

First, better park my resentment. As the owner of a succession of mostly small cars, the growth of SUV popularity occurs mainly as a lot more view-blockers in traffic queues and more prominent clutter in townscape. Grrr. I don't know if it's proven anywhere that SUVs are driven worse than lower-chassis cars, but they do seem to feature in dashcam clips of entitled driving disproportionately. I am convinced that the growth has been among drivers who have no need of them and that many probably never get the off-road adventures they were designed for. As for the last clip - failing extra lessons specially to drive a SUV, I just wish more people would honestly assess whether they really need them. If they're choosing them for the sense of invincibility and calling that "safety reasons", perhaps what they really need is a few lessons to regain the confidence to drive something smaller and more flexible - especially if most of their driving is on urban roads.

[@JakobusVdL]

My views on people wanting to own a large SUV, or in NZ a huge 'Ute', are the same as my views on people wanting to own a gun. The desire to own either should instantly, and permanantly, exclude them from ownership.

[@goodyeoman4534]

I think that's a rubbish comparison. If you don't like guns, fine. But many people do, safely and responsibly, no matter how much you want to generalise them all.

[@Kieran.Robertson]

Firearms ownership in the UK is well regulated, it’s not like you can walk down the street with one like you can in some US states

[@JakobusVdL]

@goodyeoman4534 both guns and SUV's cause actual harm to society. Just because some people 'like' them shouldn't override the overall need to reduce harm to society.

[@JakobusVdL]

@Kieran.Rob53 so, why not similar controls over SUV's?

[@goodyeoman4534]

@@JakobusVdL You really do have no idea how to compose a logical argument. Is all you have straw men?

[@robgraham9234]

People claim that they buy SUVs as their higher position gives a better view, except that may be true at a distance, but like other lorries they have massive blind spots close up.

[@andrewgilbertson5356]

I found similar damage on my rear bumper , almost certainly caused in car park.

[@Robinbamv]

The most dangerous place I know is The Carpark of the John Lewis superstore in High Wycombe, The chance of getting mow down by an upper middle class women driving an SUV that she has little ability to control is very high, put two small children in the car and the chances of her giving any consideration to other road users drops to almost zero.

[@Junbav]

5:45 My friend described something exactly like that happening to him on test a few months ago, resulting in him failing (for insufficient observation before switching lanes)

[@Jonc25]

2:00 80% of drivers are stupid on country lanes.

[@PaulFisher-uj9vb]

I live in rural Cornwall and travel through narrow lanes daily and rarely encounter any problems except for the occasional emmit, mainly we just accept a bit of hedge trimming with the mirrors.

[@Jonc25]

​@@PaulFisher-uj9vbThat is because you probably rarely encounter anybody.😅

[@antonycharnock2993]

Tell me about it. I live on the edge of Sheffield and the narrow country lane just by where I live leads down to an industrial area but you've also got horse riding stables and sometimes free roaming cows on that road. I've just had to pull up sharp for an Ocado van coming flying round a blind bend in the middle of the road this morning.

[@Jonc25]

​@antonycharnock2993 I sent in a clip of Oughtibridge to Mr Neal not too long ago. Rural areas around Sheffield can get rather tight and busy.

[@SamOwenI]

​@@PaulFisher-uj9vb I just wanted to further support the above comment. The country lane driving we see in this video is what I see the majority of the time when I drive on nearby country lanes, ie. commuter times. I would also say the dangerous overtaking of cyclists is also what I see very often. It is so concerning how low the standard of driving is, and it particularly bothers, especially because I passed my driving test after several failed attempts. I felt the test standards were quite high. But it doesn't matter, people will still drive dangerously and far below the standard that got them their license.

[@wrightwoodwork]

The problem is a lack of visibility out of some of these suv type vehicles and people rely too much on technology instead of simply turning thier heads and looking out of the window. The other week I hired a Vauxhall grandland and I thought visibility was worse than in the van fiat doblo. Side windows at your neck compared to below the shoulders. Rear window you might as well looked at the the sky. Mirrors far too small.

[@ae5668]

adjust the seat shorty.

[@wrightwoodwork]

@@ae5668 no the seat is correct with eyes set to middle of windscreen fot good forward vision ..it's just a shit car

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

​@@ae5668 Some vehicles simply have better visibility. Moving your seat doesn't shrink the A-pillar.

[@nigelcox1451]

The last one puzzles me. If you're sat in your car, and someone else is getting close, use the horn to warn them, or get out and direct them, or just sit and wait for the bump. Life is about choices.

[@DoomGuy9001-MK4]

I did wonder after the guy got out of the car on why he did not use the horn or got out and said, "Do you need a hand in parking?" Would have avoided the damage.

[@iwalker3809]

The last time I used my horn to warn someone he was getting stupidly close to reversing into me in his big van, he got out and threatened to smash my face in. Apparently I should have noticed he had a tiny camera mounted up high on the back of his van.

[@loftyintentions1985]

Or, and this is a good one...learn to drive. If your vehicle is too big for you, you probably shouldn't be driving it. What happens when no one's in the car? Would she have stuck around? I bet not.

[@DKKatano]

So many clips that makes me say "Oh dear god!", but the last clip kinda takes the price, I mean hoooow. Even my 9 years old niece was yelling, "That is not gonna end well" even before she hit the car.