No need. I remember some mechanics. :-)
My dad has an Expedition. It's big on the outside and surprisingly small on the inside. I don't like it much when I have to ride in it, but there you are. He doesn't do a lot of driving in it. He uses it for long trips and to haul stuff (he's got 14 acres and a big house to care for).
I agree with some of your ranting against UAVs. I think gas guzzler taxes should be imposed on these things to try to make them less popular, and that they should be forced to meet (substantially) the same safety rules as cars (with caveats like that an SUV will always be easier to roll than a Turbo Carerra), and they should meet the same emissions standards as cars, and the tax rules should be examined so that tax breaks aren't given to persons/businesses that purchase > 6000 pound GVW vechicles (as I believe is the case now - something that encourages them in some cases to purchase the bigger vehicle when the smaller one will do). But I also believe that they should be available for purchase by people who are willing to pay the price.
Just recently a young woman was driving her new Explorer home from the dealer, following a friend on the Beltway. It was a very windy day (gusts to 40+ mph). Traffic was heavy and they got separated. She was talking with him on her cell phone, something happened, she crossed the center barrier, the Explorer flipped over onto an oncoming minivan and she and 4 others in the minivan were killed. (I may have misremembered some of the details.) Lots of things combined to cause a terrible accident - distraction, speed, high CG, high wind, ineffective center barrier, inexperience driver in a new vehicle, etc. It might have never happened if even one of those factors was absent. And it might have happened anyway if she'd been in a different car...
Cheers,
Scott.
