The Invincible SUV

At least that is what most SUV owners think. There is only one SUV that I can think of that is invincible and that is Tom's Jeep, because it is trail rated of course.

I use to have an Escort. That car taught me how to drive on snow, slow and easy wins the race. That car was pretty classic with the snow. I even remember driving back to college from Bloomfield where snow is piled up higher than the Escort and feeling rather safe in it. In one of my apartments, I would watch cocky SUV-ers get stuck going up a mild grade of a hill that my Escort handled like a champ. After I acquired my Tracker and the Escort ended up in my parents possesion again, it was still driven on bad snow days.

The Tracker. It had 4-wheel drive. I still drove with some sense in my head but it gave me a little more confidence....especially with Lafayette weather. It had to be put manually in 4-wheel drive and I used it with caution. One day, ice covered the bridges, I didn't put it in 4-wheel drive and ended up with this:Broken window? From my head.
This:
And this:
And a totalled car. It might not look totalled but it's frame was bent. It had to be towed on a flat-bed.

Nothing is worse than car shopping in December on a deadline. Every vehicle I drove made me feel uneasy and unsafe as I did when I rolled the Tracker. I don't know if 4-wheel drive would have ever made the difference in preventing the wreck, cops and others tell me "No." But it still is always going to be a nagging fear in the back of my brain when ice and snow hits. I still hold my breath over overpasses and bridges ( I really do which is NOT safe). I still practice caution, but I find myself no longer having the "I have an SUV so I can do anything." It is more like " I have an SUV, 4-wheel drive does zero good on ice and other people scare the heck out of me." Maybe it is because I am older and wiser, maybe it is because I am a chicken (a chicken with back problems courtesy of said wreck), but either way, you will not find me out galavanting around in this craptastic weather unless it is essential. I look out at this snow and the people who are still out in it and I think "Why?" What reason do you have (unless it is work or an emergency) do you have for going out? People are idiots and it is those idiots in SUVs driving for no reason that scare the heck out of me. Now that I am done with the soapbox, you can have it back Chocolate Bear.