Link to article below:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23329247-2,00.html

Comments welcome. I can think of lots of other reasons why they should not be on the road in urban areas.

People drive them like cars and forget that they need more braking distance. They have more body roll due to higher centre of gravity, but a lot of people do not grasp this concept and roll over on highways killing themselves and others when they stray onto the other side of the road. They kill people in low speed t-bone situations because the bonnet and/or bullbar is at the same height as the head of the driver in the car they t-bone. Their imposing stature gives the driver a feeling of security and entices the drivers of these beasts into risky behaviour they would not otherwise indulge in - like, doing a u-turn in front of car drivers with not much time to spare, or turning illegally in front of car drivers, again with little time to spare, because they feel that nothing can hurt them.

the simple story is this. People figured out years ago that 4WD's were a great way to cart around their family, with the added benefit that they feel "bulletproof" because of their imposing stature. The problem also stems from the fact that 4WD's do not attract as much excise duty as other cars because of long outdated legislation, thereby making them cheaper to buy. The reason why they do not atttract much duty is because originally, 4WD's were needed by farmers and the farmers were doing it tough so the government decided not to hit them with as much as passenger cars.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against 4WD's when used for their intended purpose. But in the city they are a damn hazard, especially in the hands of snobby women who use them to drive the kids to school, most of which cannot reverse park the things into a car spot at the supermarket or reverse park alongside the curb.

They are a nuisance, but what do you do about it? On the other hand, how far do we go with legislating against everything? There are too many rules already, and as much as I hate 4WD's, I suppose people have theb right to drive whatever they want.