Madam, - As the proud and unrepentant owner of an SUV, I can no longer idly sit by and read the letters that you insist on publishing on the topic.
Perhaps the tree-hugger brigade might research their material before burdening us with their piffle. Many of the SUVs sold in Ireland are the smaller types, thanks to Mr McCreevy's tax punishments. As a result, my SUV achieves the same or better mileage than every BMW above and including the popular 320 model and every Mercedes model above the E200. I will not even mention the Mercs and Audis favoured by the ministerial fleet! In fact, the list of cars whose fuel consumption exceeds that of my vehicle would fill this entire page.
Perhaps Anthony Burke (August 12th) should demand a complete ban on any car with a larger engine than his. Also, I have yet to discover a car park where I cannot comfortably park my car without using two spaces; the same cannot be said for many other drivers.
Of course, Mr Burke's comments on the dangers to road-users and pedestrians are founded on foreign studies which are based on far larger vehicles than are prevalent here. With one exception, I cannot remember seeing a photograph of an SUV involved in a fatal accident in your paper. Perhaps the NRA could produce real data on this rather than forcing us to rely on the speculation of a few disgruntled Micra drivers.
SUVs are here to stay, so just get used to them. - Yours, etc.,
NIALL LUCAS,
Roebuck Castle,
Clonskeagh,
Dublin 14.