Is an MUV or SUV really easy to drive in the city? What type of car is best for city driving?
This is something many of us mull over, right from the time we buy our first car to (probably) the last car we own. But there seems to be no easy answer. We consider hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs, MUVs, dream of tiny two-seater cars, consider even autorickshaws... and then many of us, finding no definitive answer, resort to motorbikes. Many of us on the other hand, go for cars, preferring the safety and protection against weather & dust that a car offers, choosing to go through the hassle of city driving for that.
Sometimes I have heard it suggested that a bigger vehicle like an MUV or SUV is really easy to drive in the city, citing various reasons like: (Reason 1) "Bikes and autorishaws don't mess with bigger vehicles". (Reason 2) People see a big vehicle and don't expect it to be agile, so they don't force their way in front of it. (Reason 3) People are aware that a small car will have much thinner metal, so a hatchback/sedan owner will hurry to make sure his car doesn't get touched, whereas an owner of a Bolero or Sumo would not take such care. (Reason 4) SUV owners are (perhaps) richer, therefore more influential, so people fear to bump into an SUV. A hatchback owner is almost certainly a small-fry, office-going middle class person who is helpless in case of any incident, so he can be easily scared and bullied to get out of the way. (Reason 5) An MUV is probably a yellow-board (commercial) vehicle being driven by someone who is not its owner, so he will not take much pain to avoid an incident. Or worse, it may belong to a policeman or a politician. So he must be avoided carefully.
In this context, this thread is to get opinions and evaluate what is true and what isn't. Especially, people who drive MUVs / SUVs can provide comments on this. How easy or difficult do you find it to drive an MUV or SUV compared to a city hatchback?
One aspect of this should be considered: What makes the commute so much of a hassle?
- It is not that the roads aren't wide enough. They are (in Chennai at least).
- It is not the amount of traffic that piles up. I can start early and wait when I have to wait. Even in US we have one-hour commutes for a short distance when the traffic is high.
+ What does make it so much of a hassle is: people coming too close! On left, right and behind, they come inches - if not centimeters - close, both when moving and when stopping. They drive in a threatening manner, as if to say "Make way for me, or else I will nick your vehicle". This is what makes the commute such a hassle, and makes people fear driving (true in my case at least). Not that we don't have the skills, but the general fear that some moron will bump into our car, as does often happen. Out of the thousands of vehicles that come centimeters close to our car, what are the chances that one will accidentally hit, bump or scrape? One in a thousand? One in ten thousand? Even that is high, considering the number of vehicles that come so close.
From this perspective, does an MUV or SUV solve any problems? Is it true at all, that people don't mess with bigger vehicles? Or, is it a myth similar to "people make way for the Bullet"? From what I can see, people don't care what type of vehicle the other vehicle is - public buses are an exception. Other than that, whatever the vehicle it is, people will move inches or centimeters close. Am I right?
Request people experienced with MUVs & SUVs to provide their feedback. It will be useful for city drivers to make decisions based on that. Note: I am not covering "parking" as part of this thread. Parking is easier in hatchbacks, for obvious reasons. |