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Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

Germany was the country of the eatates(Kombi) since they were the cars of the working class family man, economical and practical.

Don't know what changed in the last decade but they're a rare sight these days, everyone seems to only want SUVs of all sizes instead which are less practical and less economical than estates.

Heck, even Volvo's famous practical boxy estates are nearly vanished and replaced with its more expensive SUVs.

What happened to European drivers? Maybe it's the perceived "better safety".

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Large SUVs used to be an upper-middle class distinction factor in Europe, but now everyone of every age seems to want SUVs (which eventually became cheaper). It's not a class thing anymore, you can get SUVs that cost as much as other types of car.

Honestly there are no reasons to buy one other than being part of the trend. I wish there were taxes on the volume of cars here in Europe. We're already cluttered with cars, we really don't need bigger ones.

You sit higher, and you see more - that's why people like driving SUVs. Problem is that lights from SUVs often blind people in sedans - they are often misconfigured or badly fixed.

> You sit higher, and you see more To be honest, that was fulfilled by my smart ForTwo or my mothers Mercedes Benz A class, just as well as my now Hyundai Kona.

You see "more" as in further down the road. But much less up close, as evidenced by new owners running over their own children in their own driveways.

On a bike I've learned to give minivans and SUVs a wide berth, they just seem way less predictable and less likely to see a bicyclist.

A common argument for SUVs by soccer mums that can't drive properly in traffic. No matter that cars are more expensive to run (fuel, tires, brakes etc.), far worse in every measurable driving experience (heavier, much higher center of gravity doesn't lead to much fun), but also more prone to rolling in case of accident (which can be deadly easily).

The fact that they can see more ahead in dense traffic gives them a feeling of more safety on emotional level. I would argue against this and nothing beats good driving skills, no matter what car is driven. Worst thing is, some guys also jump on SUV trend.

> What happened to European drivers?

I don't know. That's crazy. In the last 5 years, the vehicle fleet has changed faster than it ever did before.

In my rural area, it's now SUV everywhere (not yet American-size SUV, but still... and I have no doubt it is coming) for the random people.

As far as farmers are concerned, it got even worse: after 60 years without using a single pick-up truck (despite their long-standing popularity in the USA, it absolutely never took off here), all of a sudden (it started sometime like 3-5 years ago) they all buy pick-up trucks (all double cabs of course). Yep, same farmers who like to whine and claim to barely survive on $400 a month, but agricultural subsidies do marvels apparently: no wonder they can afford $40k-50k useless cars when in my municipality a 1- or 2-people farm will get on average $40k-$60k subsidies each year; my neighbour got $80k subsidies last year, he bought a second pick-up truck.

What is left? Craftsmen/builders: either switched to pick-up too, or still use their big vans, and still drive like maniacs. 'Neo-rurals' (the contemporary version of hippies): they drive old smoking huge vans. Delivery men: vans, of course, but there are more and more of them, and well, they drive like delivery men...

So the large vehicles remained, but the small ones got replaced by larger ones.

And this is happening in a place where secondary roads are 2.5 to 3 meters wide! And it is a hill/mountain area, so those roads are very winding, the visibility rarely exceeds 50 meters. Just picture yourself the situations...

Add to this that with the generalisation of air-conditioning, cars are more and more airtight, and thus more and more soundproof (so drivers are more isolated from the environment); add also that car windows are more and more opaque, so that you cannot see through them what is coming on the other side.

I still ride a bicycle but only because I am fairly suicidal. I don't see families going for a Sunday bike ride with children any more.

Naturally, the officials' discourse are the opposite of what is going on and what they do about it. Same way that they always claim they want more train transportation but in fact shut down railroads, build bypass roads over the former tracks, and launch projects of new speedways.

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