I can park here, you cant hummer!

Since buying my Prius (last Nov) have been able to save myself from spending $ on 268 gallons of diesel fuel.

But last weekend I needed to pull a house that weighs 8,000lbs...good to have the beast on hand.


image by ewxlt, on Flickr

 

Do you feel a Prius commuting in an HOV lane with only one person is what it was "built to do" ?

Or should they be riding a motorcycle instead?

 

Geez look at that mammoth. A good day is that thing going off the cliff with your mother in law inside. LOL

 

Wait!!! I like my mother in law!!

 

As I see, Prius and Hummer have the potential to cause pollution. This is a matter of being organized and to return things where you get them. In the prius case, you can control the pollution the car generates because the battery is solid and you can return its materials where you get them: a mine. In the Hummer case you can't do that, because you take the oil from earth/sea, use it very fast and return it to the air... a place where it is impossible to collect for proper disposal....

And that's why Prius is better than Hummer or any gas car.

 

Or, better yet, recycle the batteries.

What Happens to EV and Hybrid Batteries?

 

Just because somebody cited old information and brought up an ancient debate "Prius vs. Hummer" in a battle of environmental worthiness, this thread totally derailed?

Listen? You want to believe owning and operating a Hummer is better for the environment than owning and operating a Prius? Go right ahead. I think it's total BS, and been proven wrong on many occasions and from many sources but go ahead believe what you will...If you're dumb enough to believe a Hummer is more environmentally sound than a Prius? Then I don't think things like obvious facts will persuade you to think otherwise.

One thing I don't think anyone can debate is the original post. Believe The Hummer is anything in relationship to a Prius but not even the most dense among us could argue that The Hummer is a low emissions vehicle or a compact. Therefore to get back to the original post, which was based on "Rude Parking" not a debate about the environmental worthiness of a Hummer, Yes, that Hummer shouldn't of been parked in that spot. The owner by doing so, demonstrates the I can do whatever I want, attitude that offends so many.

I'm NOT against people owning Hummers. I'm not against people owning large trucks and utility vehicles. They are NOT illegal and as far as I know, if you can afford to own and operate one, you're still allowed to do so. In the USA you don't even have to really justify it's use, if you can afford it? You can use it and own it.

But if a parking spot is designated as being for a compact, low emissions vehicle and you cram your Hummer into that spot? Well, you're being an @$$-Hole at the very least.

 

Your are correct, the Hummer was neither a compact or low emissions vehicle. The person parking there was dis-courteous and should have been ticketed or/and towed for their action depending on the laws governing the property. However we are not the parking police. It's the outward self-righteous hate expressed by some Prius Owners for "gas hogs" that gives the rest of us a bad name.

I've seen just as many Prius (Prii..whatever) parked in Handicapped spots as other type vehicles, AND I"M SURE NO ONE HERE HAS DONE THAT. Relax, get over yourselves and stop crying because someone took "your-special" spot. Here's an idea...everyone with a Prius go out and selflessly help a stranger today, expecting no return or tax right-off.

 

I didn't sense an outward self-righteous hate here. Just an OP sharing a picture and an experience. One inwhich the Hummer owner WAS in the wrong about.

And just for the record, you've inadvertently stumbled upon another pet issue of mine. 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Steady My Soap Box.

My Mother, now deceased, spent the last few years of her life being very handicapped and confined to a wheelchair needing oxygen. I easily obtained a handicapped parking permit because of my need and desire to take her places. Getting out into the world was the greatest escape she had from a very bad reality. Taking her places was not easy, it meant transporting her, with very limited mobility, transporting her wheelchair, transporting her oxygen and physically moving her from vehicle to chair and back and forth. I was happy to do it.

Other times, that handicap parking permit sat in my glove box, and often when I was alone, I was tempted to simply pull into the crowded parking area and take that handicapped spot and use the permit, even though I am perfectly healthy. But guess what? Call me self righteous, but I never did. I never used the permit unless I was transporting my mother. Because it was wrong. And I saw that it was wrong from the other side.

Often times even with a permit, when transporting my mother I'd be forced to park in a small or crowded spot far from the convenience of the handicap spots because the handicap spots were all full. Often after struggling to get her chair unloaded, the oxygen set, her in the chair and push her much farther into the venue (Zoo, Store, Museum, Movie Theater) I'd often witness the "Handicapped" returning to their vehicles. Not "always" but often I'd watch as the seemingly perfectly healthy person literally ran back to their vehicle and jumped up into their elevated Pick-Up or SUV without so much as a hitch or wince of pain. Handicapped? I often doubted it strongly. I vowed I would never do it.

Does that make me self-righteous? No. It makes me someone following the rules because he knows there is a legitimate reason for them existing.

Sorry for the rant. But even today, after my mothers passing I get a tinge of anger when I see what appears to be perfectly healthy people using handicapped spots. I've seen people allow their children to use the stores provided electric wheelchairs to zoom around the stores like they were toys to play with.

And just like the Hummer crammed into the spot in which is was not suppose to park, it's the same disease. People who think they are above the rules, and simply doing what is most convenient for them at the moment is okay, because "everyone" does it.

No that doesn't make it right.
And No, not everyone does it.

 

While there is a plausible need and explanation for the allocation of parking spots to "handicap" persons, it is unclear to me what the need to allocate parking spaces for "compact" or "eco" vehicles at the exclusion of others. I also have a bit of disdain for allocating HOV lanes and then allowing single passenger "eco" vehicles into them, particularly when the allocation of HOV lanes results in more traffic congestion in the remaining lanes.

 

Since conceivably once a vehicle is parked, it's shut off, making every vehicle while parked a Zero Emissions entity, I think the application of parking for low emissions vehicles strays into the very questionable area of simply being a somewhat self-righteous "reward" for doing the "right thing".

However in most parking garage scenarios I've been involved in the designation of Compact Only parking spots exists for a very real utilitarian reason. Usually those spots are smaller and tighter. It does bother me, when I park my "Honda Fit" into a spot and area clearly designated as for "Compacts Only" to return to my vehicle and see it pinned in between to full sized SUV's parking in a spot labeled compact.

Then when I have to suddenly shoe horn my way back into my vehicle because there is very little space between my vehicle and the adjacent ones? Well I always look for the door dings that I imagine the offending vehicles drivers and passengers probably left while trying to exit their miss parked vehicles. My speculation is that if you are insensitive as to cram your Ford Expedition into a space marked "Compact" you probably aren't real careful about how you are opening your door when you exit your vehicle either.

Yeah, the world isn't a perfect place, and these aren't the worst crimes in the universe. But these are things that bug me to various degrees.

 

@ Electric Me...I commend you actions regarding handicapped spaces and my condolences on your Mother.

I edited my post with paragraph separation for clarity, but I think everyone still gets the point. Now everyone get in your Prius, go help someone and .

 

I blame the city government that kowtows to special interest, adopting development codes that shrink parking spaces. When I drove a full size sedan I found that I was constantly having to search for non-compact spots. After awhile you just give up and park. What is the most annoying is when you enter a fee based facility and the only spots available are "compact" and half the full size spots are occupied by compacts. It seems no one likes to park in the "compact" spots.

 

People get butthurt too easily these days. Like it's a right or something.

 

Well that's what I thought.

Like I said, I didn't sense any "Self Righteous Hate".....

The whole thing kinda spun out of control when it became the "ancient" fallacy debate over Prius vs. Hummer.

Then I perhaps took it further off course as some of my "personal" pet peves appeared.

But I always felt the original post was not meant to be inflammatory, or really have anything to do with the environmental viability of a Hummer vs. A Prius.

However, I would say, after posting on the internet for years, in various venues, threads often take on a life of their own. Often times that is the interesting thing about internet discussion. You can't necessarily expect a thread to remain on track or even on original intended tone. Release it and let it fly free! I didn't mean to hurt anyones feelings, it was just discussion.

To quote a great man...."Park Well My Friends...Park Well".