SUV madness

I know a lot of people like SUV's. I can see how having all of that room would be appealing. There was a time when I thought owning one would be a good idea. I no longer think that though. I think there should be some more screening before you are allowed to drive one.
This article by Andy Bowers for Slate makes a few excellent points.

Why shouldn't drivers of heavy vehicles (defined as vehicles over 3 tons) be required to have additional tests in order to operate those vehicles. They drive differently and are trickier to maneuver just like a big truck (which is essentially what they are). So why aren't these people required to be tested on their truck driving skills before they are licensed just like commercial truck drivers? Motorcyclists have to have a special license in order to ride a motorcycle because they aren't like driving a car. Neither are these huge behemoths you see barrelling down your street.

Another point; these vehicles are costing money to tax payers because they shred up the street requiring it to be repaired more often. Yet, because these vehicles are over the 6,000 lb. cutoff between light and heavy trucks, they are eligible (at least in CA) for a tax write off. WHA??? So these people, who may or may not be able to drive their huge gas guzzling monster, are blazing down my street and chewing it up, but they don't have to pay taxes to cover the damage that their glutton-mobiles are causing??

For some reason, when I think of SUV's I think of all of the things that are wrong with America. We are overweight, lazy, and we like to throw our weight around (lately anyway). Yesterday I was walking to my car and I heard the noise of a big engine behind me, you know one of those diesel sounds like busses and semi's make. I turned around and was it a bus or a semi? No, it was one of those huge Dodge pickups with the extended cab that is about 8 feet off of the ground. Was it carrying rocks or some other kind of heavy item? No, it was dropping someone off at the Emergency Room. Why do we need such huge vehicles? Isn't gas expensive enough without having to get twice as much of it to make your car go?

Ok, I guess that was a bit of a rant. I just want to understand. heh