Interesting article on msnbc.com this morning about Paris may have a ban on SUV’s this time next year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5173494/?GT1=3584

 

Those ungrateful frogs! Let's nuke 'em!

 

hahahah..........just wait till they are in mid summer when the tempertures gets up to like 90 + degrees and they will start droping dead..........hahah frogs...................

 

I'll let you guys in on a little secret. Jaques Chirac is considering the ban on SUVs because he knows that inside every Gaelic Froggie is a cowboy yearning to breathe free. Go to any small to moderately sized city in France on a Saturday evening. Look around the restaurant lot where all the cars are parked. Chez Simone's? Hell no! they are all parked around the local steak house, where you can get 100% American style fare, right on down to the baked potato (or potatoe if you're the Vice-President). No Chirac is afraid that our food, our culture and our vehicles would obliterate the celebrated Franco-centric one in a fortnight. Hence the protective barriers, and snobbish, heavy handed approach. But remember, it is the elitists in the French government and not the French people who would consider these measures. The typical Frenchman would be dreaming of eating his 10 oz. New York Strip, renting a Bruce Willis action film, and driving an appropriately Franco-American named car like a Chevrolet Corvette, or Cadillac CTS-V.


La Vie C'est Bon

 

I'm not sure the culture clash is the most crucial reason. Think of it this way: SUV's are huge, even by American standards. But most of the streets in Paris were built to accommodate horse-drawn carts and riders on horseback, not big galumphing sport utes. European cars tended to stay small not only because of the cost of gas, but because of the logistics of driving in cities with tight streets. Big, sloppy SUV's with mushy steering and wide turning circles could cause traffic problems.

Also: Please note they're only being banned from the city of Paris, not France as a whole. Like most major cities, Paris has a terrible traffic problem and lousy parking. Great big hulking cars exacerbate both problems, especially when French drivers use them "American-style" (i.e., one driver zipping down the road in a massive Chevy Suburban, rather than carpooling to take advantage of the extra space). I assume the suburbs are generally more modern (larger streets/more lanes, etc.), and might be able to accommodate the trend towards big vehicles. But Paris was never built to handle them.

 

The largest SUV´s in France would be considered sub compacts here........used to have a Vauxhall Frontera (Isuzu Trooper here) in the UK....and got used to being King of the Road.....then I moved to Houston....oooops....them little ole IIIsuzuuuzus.....them's lak littl itty bitty s....boxes at the Galleria mall.......
Biggest SUV over there is the Jeep Grand Wagoneer....and you do see a few.....