FORUM: HUMMER INVASION - AJC

[Klaus]

Post your opinion here:

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/...703hummer.html



FORUM: HUMMER INVASION

Hummers are starting to show up everywhere. (Read story). What do you think of them? Got a story about a Hummer? Have you bought one? Saving up for one? Been in an accident with one?


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Every time I see a Hummer the first thought I have is are we invading Alabama, Florida, or Tennessee. The reality is that the Hummer's are too big for regular traffic lanes and most of the owners don't have any idea how to drive them. If you want one, buy it, but it is still butt-ugly and a stupid waste of YOUR money.

-- John Foster, Newnan


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It looks like a UPS Truck with a plastic grill on the front.

-- Kelli Kirkpatrick , Atlanta


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Certainly there's nothing wrong with a little indulgence -- I like ice cream and good food and expensive wine, and I like treating myself to nice things when I can afford them. But indulgence goes over the line when one person's egotism can be a physical threat to someone else. I think this is where the Hummer vehicles come in. Our roads are full of tractor-trailers and buses, but the drivers for such vehicles are trained -- and have the commercial drivers' licenses to prove it. Same goes for the soldiers who drive the H1s in the Army. Anyone who's driven near a Hummer on a plain old civilian highway knows that they come dangerously close to filling the entire lane. If you've ever driven in a city like Athens, GA, where the lanes are notoriously narrow, I doubt you'd want to see what would happen if a Hummer tried to pass another wide car or SUV. I've never seen an accident involving a Hummer, and I don't think I'd want to.


I don't like the mentality seeping its way across the U.S. these days -- the idea that all one's effort and wealth should be poured into the strengthening of one's ego. It's as though we're a nation of people on the defensive. No other country in the world has its citizens spending exorbitant amounts of money on combat vehicles. We've already been involved in two wars recently. Why make it look like we're at war with ourselves as well?

-- Lauren Hopkins, Sandy Springs


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I suppose they would be tolerable if the drivers were a little less egotistical and maniacal. . . like the guy who nearly ran me into the curb in front of Lenox Mall last Tuesday. They're just another status symbol. . . and ridiculously ugly !

-- Susan Shiver, Lilburn


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Civilian hummers are crap. When you take something such as a military vehicle and rearrange/strip it of it's orignal design to suit regulations and civilian standard it defeats the purpose of what the vehicle was designed for and isn't a true military product anymore. Just because it looks like a hummer doesn't mean it is. It has become just another pile of crap modern automobile which is designed to break down at a faster thain reliable rate in order to create a extra service revanew. Civilian hummers are no different.

-- Tim Burkowitz, Atlanta


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I love the H2 and will get one one day so look out.

-- Tayao Morgan, Atlanta


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Obscene!

-- Peter S. Morgan, Jr., Roswell


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Owning a Hummer is an unnecessary indulgence, but that is the American way. Most Americans are overweight because we eat too much. A typical Atlanta suburban home is larger than a family really needs (unless you consider how fat Americans are therefore in need of more space). We produce more trash per person than individuals in other countries. This is a big country with big people with big tastes. Why should anyone be surprised that Hummers are selling well? Enjoy while you can. If companies continue exporting jobs, the demand for Hummers and other unnecessary indulgences will decrease.

-- Henry Dillon, Atlanta


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This is one of those "Give Me a Break" kind of things. Almost without exception all us at one time or another buy something that is off the wall and that we really, really don't need. The H1 and H2 fall into this category.


I personally like a small 160mph plus sports car (which unlike the Hummers must be practical) like the Dodge Viper, however my wife goes more for the H2.


If you can afford (either one) and have fun with it, that is what really counts. There is way too much PC gloom and doom now and any fun, even at 12 miles to the gallon, is good.


-- Cloyce Lamb, Cumming


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I believe I made the following statement when I first saw an H2 being driven by a rather tiny soccer-mommy in Sandy Springs: "What Arctic tundra or Saharan desert does she have to cross to take little Madison to soccer practice?"


I honestly don't see the need. If you need something that big, buy a minivan - at least they get better gas mileage.

-- Adriene Holland, Powder Springs


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Pretentious, grandiose, utopian, self-centered, vulgar, ignorant, shallow, callous; that is the owner.

The vehicle:

Unsightly, excessive, dangerous, silly looking for a personal vehicle and toally, completely, without question unnecessary for anything other than its stated purpose; the military.

-- Paul Francis Coyne, Norcross


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Everyone needs to settle down. If you have the money and want a Hummer, what's the big deal? Do most people have any real, practical purpose for it? No. But who cares? My grandmother is about 5' 5'' and drives a Lincoln Town Car. Does she need that? No way. But that is what she wants, so I am all for it. Do Atlanta soccer moms need Expeditions and 4Runners to pick up the dry cleaning and their one child? No. Get over it, people. Everyone buys things they don't have a practical purpose for. It's fun ... otherwise we would live in a world of Neons and Geos.

-- G.S. Brock, Sandy Springs


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I think they're the most recognizable vehicles on the road. If I ever got a lot of property, or lived where I had to deal with lots of snow, I'd think about getting one. I think they're highly impractical in a metro area like Atlanta, but I certainly won't tell someone else how they should spend their money.

-- Rick Williamson, Lawrenceville


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Personally, I not only love Hummers but the IDEA of Hummers. What is the point of working hard? If the people who posted previous forums are to be believed, no person should be allowed to spend more than they need to or drive anything fancier than a Pinto, if that will get them from point A to point B. From reading previous posts, it is obvious that Atlanta is filled with envious hypocrites who would never DREAM of moving within bicycling distance of their workplaces, but feel comfortable decrying others.


If you want any credibility at all, start by calling for 70s model Detroit machines and Italian pasta rockets to be taken off of the road. Oh, and enjoy the mileage you're getting in your Yugos.

-- Justin Patterson, Lilburn


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JD Power rates the H2 the worst car in initial customer satisfaction. Need I say more.

-- Jay Adamson, Atlanta


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It's in pretentious, up-in-debt-to-their-neck north Fulton where I see the most of them. Usually a man is behind the wheel, a man with some serious size issues. You also have women in tennis dresses driving them, the same women who make you cringe when you see them try to drive a big surburban, now they have these. It's a really, really bad way of showing off new money.

-- Tim Robertson, Atlanta


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Hummers should not be allowed on the streets. They are too big, too dangerous, and if one should get in an accident, it is all too clear which vehicle will "win" the accident. In the desert, off-road, or in special circumstances I am sure they are great vehicles, but it pushes the boundaries of what vehicles are street safe and which are not. It seems we are moving toward whoever has the biggest vehicle gets the most rights on the road.

-- Jeff Brewer, Marietta


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I believe most Hummer drivers have "Arnold" envy, as in Schwarzenegger. They are clueless as to personal style, but fondly recall days of playing with their toys (i.e. G.I. Joe) or watching action movies (like Terminator, ad nauseum). I hope the Hummers suck all of the money out of their drivers' wallets in gasoline and maintenance expenses. Why not invest in a nice dump truck instead?

-- Laura Martin, Clarkston


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I have never seen such a huge car. It is big and unnecessary. I have 2 friends that have them. They drain the entire gas station of gas and then they have to fill up half way down the next block. They spill over into my parking space, because a lot of the people that operate them can't drive them. That's just my opinion though.

-- Danielle Samuels, Atlanta


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It's pretty simple ... if you drive one, you're a self-aggrandizing egomaniac with serious self-esteem and compensation issues. In short, a loser, albeit one with lots of cash.

-- Rob Rushin, Atlanta


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Hummers are obscene. I was in Atlanta last week and it was bad enough trying to drive there with all the SUV ego-mobiles -- they block your view, those who drive them tend to be bullies and I won't even get on the subject of what they do to the environment. I was born in Atlanta and despair of what the city has become -- the place I grew up in had an elegance that showed itself in all kinds of ways, from the design of the buildings to how the people treated each other. The urge to drive bullymobiles is just one example of the me-first, money-grabbing culture I have seen there lately. Very few people need to drive SUVs and nobody needs a Hummer - it's as simple as that.

-- Johnny Turner, London, UK


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Being active duty military and frequently driving the military Hummer, it always cracks me up when I see a civilian driving one, because they really don't have a clue. Most will never leave the pavement and the owners have no idea what the vehicles can really do. Just a status cry for "look at me!"

-- Cherie Graddy, Powder Springs