SUVs
Streetsblog Basics
London Calling. Are New York’s Leaders Really Listening?
London officials closed the northern side of Trafalgar Square to traffic creating a vibrant new public space.
November 2, 2006
Brooklyn Bridge’s SUV Ban Hidden in Plain Sight
It isn't just in California where SUV's are secretly banned from certain roadways. Right here in New York City, many SUVs are banned from the Brooklyn Bridge, but nobody seems to know it.
August 25, 2006
California SUV Ban Hidden in Plain Sight
Two years ago, Slate had a piece noting that California weight restrictions against vehicles over 6,000 lbs prohibited SUVs from many streets, but nobody realized it because people thought the signs were for delivery trucks. (A Hummer H2 weighs 8,600 lbs.) It seems most of the ordinances were written with trucks in mind, not SUV's, and so the secret SUV-ban went unenforced.
August 22, 2006
Pseudo-Environmental Hummers
A lone Hummer driver with a conscience? At first glance, it seems so. But this is actually becoming something of a trend: Everyone who is pitching an alternative fuel these days is using a Hummer to make his or her point. And the reason is obvious. Everyone knows that Hummers are the most gas guzzing private vehicles on the road, and are much despised by people who are concerned about the environment or America's addiction to foreign oil.
July 24, 2006
London Mayor Wants $45 Fee From Pollution-Making SUV’s
Here is a little something to think about as the fine particulate matter settles deep into your lungs on this lovely Ozone Alert Day. While New York City politely suggests via electronic highway billboard and half-assed p.r. campaigns, that motorists switch to mass transit on days like today, the BBC reports that the Mayor of London wants to reprogram the city's three-year-old congestion charging system to hit the owners of the most heavily polluting personal vehicles with a whopping £25 fee to drive into the city center (that's $45!).
July 18, 2006
Or You Might Call it Attempted Homicide
Apparently, we have come to accept the destructiveness and sociopathy of American car culture as so thoroughly normal and mundane that even when a guy intentionally uses his SUV to try to kill five people after a fight, we still call it an "accident." This little gem was found by Starts & Fits in today's New York Times:
May 18, 2006