Reply #32: I just love it when I debate this topic amongst the civilian population.

[trogdor]

That is, non-DUers. Without fail, some clown will get on talking about how he NEEDS his Suburban to tow his big-ass boat, haul 50 pound bags of whatever, and take his eight kids to wherever.

I suppose if you have a big-ass boat, or eight kids, or a gigantic dog, or live on top of a mountain in lake-effect country, you might need a Suburban. Heck, I could have moved up there, too. It's nice country. It also snows like nobody's business in the winter, the nearest grocery store is half an hour's drive away, and there's nothing to do apart from looking at the pretty scenery, which is why I choose not to live there.

My one teenager eats me out of house and home already; I can imagine what having a half-dozen of them around would be like. No thanks.

Don't even get me started with large breed dogs and my living room.

Needless to say, the number of people who really need a heavy-duty vehicle on a regular basis is very small. Yes, they exist, but there just aren't that many of them. I would say the best way to regulate them is at the gas pump. Gas at $2.50 a gallon wouldn't affect us Honda Civic drivers all that much, but it would make people think for at least a minute whether they really need something as big as a Suburban, and opt for the Subaru instead.