Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about SUVs

California SUV Ban Hidden in Plain Sight

By Aaron Donovan | Aug 22, 2006 | 11 Comments

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 […]

Big Car, Small… Ego.

By Aaron Naparstek | Aug 15, 2006 | No Comments

Slate’s Seth Stevenson asks a GM spokesperson to help him understand the new Hummer ad campaign: The spot aims to make the H3 a more "approachable vehicle that will appeal to introverts, extroverts, vegans, and carnivores." She’s right that we wouldn’t expect a tofu eater to buy a Hummer. But at the same time, the […]

A Hummer With Your Happy Meal

By Aaron Naparstek | Aug 11, 2006 | 3 Comments

Autoblog reports: Starting today, one of eight toy Hummers will be packed in McDonald’s "boy’s" Happy Meals. Unlike the real Hummer which get 11 miles per gallon on a good day, these vehicles are "fun-fueled," according to the General Motors press release.

Pseudo-Environmental Hummers

By Aaron Donovan | Jul 24, 2006 | 9 Comments

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 […]

London Mayor Wants $45 Fee From Pollution-Making SUV’s

By Aaron Naparstek | Jul 18, 2006 | 5 Comments

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 […]

Or You Might Call it Attempted Homicide

By Aaron Naparstek | May 18, 2006 | 8 Comments

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 […]