Hummer anyone?

I'm not saying there's a panic out there or anything, but...

Ten Hummers were put up for sale on the Craigslist Los Angeles site as of 4 p.m. Monday.

And 11 were put on the block on the same website over the weekend.

So, me being me, I called one of the sellers -- Mike Fortuna, who lives in the San Fernando Valley, who when I called was tooling around town in his (get this!) Smart Car, which gets a little more than 40 miles per gallon.

Fortuna said that the 2003 Hummer, with only 34,000 miles on it, was his wife's car, and it's being sold so that his family can buy a Cadillac XLR. The Hummer was a perfectly fine vehicle, he added, but wasn't being used that much.

I asked him if the sale had anything to do with those pesky gas prices. Fortuna said that he used to work for Arco and politely suggested that the gas price crisis would not be a crisis if there was more drilling for oil in California. 

"If we were allowed to do it, we wouldn't have any problems -- California has more oil than Saudi Arabia," he said. "Reporters shouldn't worry about why people sell Hummers, they should get on the Democrats. Why are they refusing to let us drill and build more refineries?"

He also mentioned that he personally thought the L.A. Times was "one of the worst newspapers in the United States" for several reasons, among them not covering the drilling story more aggressively.

Not the worst newspaper -- so that's something.

I mentioned to him that there probably aren't too many people around who have a Smartcar and Hummer. (I wish I had asked him if the Smart Car could fit inside the Hummer). Fortuna said that he lives just eight miles from work, so the Smart Car makes perfect sense for city driving while the Hummer was just for fun.

He did have one other beef: Prius drivers. "They won't let me on the freeway -- they cut you off," he said. Not a problem he has, say, with Mini owners.

On this we agreed. And this reminds of the classic "South Park" episode in which Stan convinces everyone in town to buy a hybrid and the town is soon enveloped in a dark and stormy cloud. A "smug" alert is soon issued.

--Steve Hymon

photo: GM/Wieck

Comments

[CulverCityGuy]

The guy is full of it too, complaining that it's the democrats fault for not more oil drilling in California.

Well it could be their fault, they were bought by the oil industry for legislating tougher laws to prevent smaller oil companies from doing business in California. It wasn't the environmentalists.

Now the big oil conglomerates can enjoy their nice monopoly.

[CulverCityGuy]

The guy is full of it too, complaining that it's the democrats fault for not more oil drilling in California.

Well it could be their fault, they were bought by the oil industry for legislating tougher laws to prevent smaller oil companies from doing business in California. It wasn't the environmentalists.

Now the big oil conglomerates can enjoy their nice monopoly.

[yaris owner]

I, like the first person who posted on this blog, am baffled by drivers who race to the red light, even when it's just turned red. They'll have to wait with the rest of us who just coasted to a stop.

I'm also amazed by the people who have to be as close as possible to your rear bumper in slow/go traffic. Closing those gaps, as one poster suggested, is not going to eliminate traffic jams. it's just going to cause more fender bender/rear ender accidents.

More often than not the above scenarios involve drivers talking on cell phones. Please hang up and drive, as the saying goes. Also, RELAX. You won't get there any faster. I love cruising past those antsy, lane-changing drivers miles up the 110 after they've "passed" me a half hour earlier.

[Chris]

What I've never been able to comprehend is the people who accelerate towards red lights. When I see the light ahead of me is red-- I let off the accelerator and coast towards the red light. Usually by the time I get to the intersection the light will have turned green. Unfortunately, by that time, the line is packed with people who have sped around me to be the first to stop at the red signal. P.S. I drive a 4 cylinder Honda CRV (neither a Hummer nor a Prius).

[Dean]

This is funny, the original SUVs were customized Chevy Suburbans driven by rich people. Their mega-luxury cars still couldn't make the peons get out of the way. Outfitting the Suburban with high performance and luxury accessories was seen as the best of both worlds. But now that Hummers, etc, are seen as symbols of excess, The blowback returns. "Go ahead, hit me, I need the money".

[Joe Nick]

Fortuna and his Hummer-blowing ilk are what's wrong with America. Deport them to Saudi Arabia.

[smarterthanyou]

I love cutting off Hummers in my Prius.

[Jose]

My problem with the hypermilers coasting their way to fuel efficiency is that a lot of the time they let their MPGs get in the way of keeping "reasonable" (by LA rush hour standards) spacing in traffic.

I seem to recall one study that if all drivers were capable of keeping close to other vehicles when traffic is heavy and slow, congestion could be reduced enough to eliminate some bottlenecks on freeways. That is the key congestion issue with trucks - they are slow to accelerate and responsible semi drivers (not all of them by any stretch) leave extra stopping space between them and the traffic ahead. Therefore the length of the truck is multiplied by 4 or 5 when they are in rush hour traffic.

When you get a small and efficient car leaving extra spacing so they can calmly coast up to traffic ahead or calmly accelerate to get the maximum efficiency out of their individual vehicle, they have become no better than a semi in the overall scheme of traffic congestion due to the extra space they consume on the roadway. Their "PIOUS"ness is degrading the fuel economy of ALL the vehicles behind them through increasing congestion and impeding the densest reasonable traffic flow, probably leading to an overall net reduction in fuel efficiency on a given stretch of roadway than if they drove a Hummer and kept up with the flow of traffic.

In this respect they are actually anti-societal boors, and are no better in the overall scheme thing than a driver of a Chevy Suburban. Both are equally selfish and uncaring of the impact of their actions on those around them, but the hybrid owners hypermiling their way through life bear the additional stain of being pompous hypocrites.

[It's precisely that attitude that got us here]

The only drilling in California that should happen is a lobotomy for in that Hummer owner's small brain

[Will]

I do not own a Prius or any other hybrid, but I do respect the type of people that are buying them. On the other hand, I would never show any courtesy to anyone driving a Hummer, Escalade, etc. You would not see many of them parked outside of a Mensa meeting.

[Rob McMillin]

I can't tell you the number of times I've been cut off or my presence has been ignored (i.e., the driver couldn't care less that he's making a lane change into my fender) by somebody in a Hummer, regardless of whether I'm driving my Infiniti *or* my wife's Prius. If all the Hummers in the world were melted down for scrap, it wouldn't be a moment too soon.

[DMLady]

i'm with Vic Arpeggio. i don't own a Prius (i own a mid-size sedan) and i've NEVER been cut off by any Prius owners. it's the people who drive the mammoth SUVs and Hummers that cut me off - or better yet, almost run me off of the road. these soccer moms and ego-inflated men who don't even bother to check to see who is beside them when they make their hasty lane changes. they're too busy talking on their cell phones. and if i honk at them to let them know that they are about to crash into me, i get the finger. of course. i wouldn't expect anything else from a either a bored housewife or a man with a penis the size of a peanut. cry me a river, Mr. Fortuna.

[P J Evans]

When those Hummer drivers learn to drive within the speed limit and watch for the (many) smaller vehicles around them, everyone will be better off.
Until then, I won't have much sympathy. I've been cut off a few too many times by oversized gas guzzlers, many doing ten-to-twenty over the posted limit.

[s]

I consider myself a habitually courteous driver and I always yield to the right of way, however, when things are up to discretion, I will never give an SUV driver the right of way. Why? Their choice of car proves the content of their character. What about the poor soccer mom hauling the team? Let her drive all that much more cautiously. SUVs suck... resuorces.

[SUVJerk]

All of you "pious" Prius owners are morons. Look up the place where the garbage that your batteries are made up come from and check out where they grow. You think we have a problem with people throwing away cell phones at land fills, wait until you need to replace yours.

[Michael]

Let's see. Oil is a finite resource which will run out some day and prices will go through the roof long before it runs out. The production and transportation of oil produces major pollution. Burning oil releases carbon dioxide, which is driving global warming. And Fortuna's solution is to...produce and burn more oil. If ignorance is bliss, this guy must be one very happy fellow.

[Proud-Prius-Driver Bob]

COMPLETELY agree with Richard and Dave.

I also own a Prius which I bought two years ago in CARSON CITY, NEVADA because of the premium that the wonderful LA dealers decided to add on to the purchase price. I bought a one-way ticket there, ONE tank of gas (bought 20 miles from home downtown), and a one night stay in a hotel as well as food. I saved over $6000(!) doing that instead of buying it here in LA. Everyone kept telling me I was wasting my money since I'd never make it back with $2/gal. gas...now what do you say to that? Does that make me pious? Perhaps. I'd prefer to call it "intelligence".

Now...on to this person that speaks about Prius owners cutting him off in his Hummer. Bull****! I have HOV stickers and I get constantly harassed when I enter the HOV lane solo by Hummers, pick-ups, Escalades, and other mammoths. They seem to make it their life's work to cut me off and slow to a crawl--all the while laughing...yes, I can see you in your portrait-sized side mirrors.

So perhaps that was me that cut you off sir...my apologies. One can only take so much abuse for doing the right thing.

Speaking of the right thing...drilling in California and turning the Pacific into the East River is not the right thing to do. One of the milestones of world history that I'd like to witness before I die is to see OPEC fade away. I'd like to see all of that money that buys sultans all gold plated toilets go to the people that need it the most. We need to break our addiction to oil ASAP and learn to save our planet rather than ecologically rape ourselves into oblivion.

[Benny Gunns]

I think we should look to the past, before George W., back when there was a government mandate for manufacturers to produce electric vehicles, when we almost got to the future, right before George W. sent us back to the 70's.

I don't want gas, don't want hydrogen, I just want to plug in my car, like I do my laptop and cell-phone, and have it be ready in the morning. I tested electric vehicles from 2000-2002; they are faster, quieter, and the best thing is they don't smell like gas and oil.

[alan posner]

As a self-righteous Prius owner, I once gave a thumbs down to the driver of a Hummer. He gave me the finger. I replied: what's that? Your miles per gallon?

[James in SB]

What a hard life to be riding in a Hummer and constantly stuck behind or cut off by a those Prius road bullies. Armies of them, right? Poor Hummer guy. Course, those armies of gas-sucking V8 powered trucks that tower over everythign on the road and rumble along at 75 are just fine though.

If you can't be pious about protecting the environment and caring for the planet that sustains us, what can you be pious about? BTW, the first two definitions of "pious" in Web relate to a "dutiful spirit of reverence." It's only at the third definition that hypocritical "shows" of reverence pop up, which is what I s'pose Jose's tweaked about.

[Jen]

Prius drivers not letting Hummer drivers merge into the freeway??? First, the more likely characterization of this scenario is that the Hummer driver has tried to bully his way onto the freeway and regards the smaller cars as mere obstacles, that is, that the Hummer driver is the one who tried to merge into traffic too aggressively, expecting all others to make way for his monstrosity. Second, even if the smaller car was trying to keep the Hummer from getting in ahead of him, who can blame him: if you're in a small car, you can hardly see anything ahead of you if you are behind a Hummer. In addition, drivers of big SUVs are often oblivious to others on the road; as such, in my Honda Civic hybrid, I try to keep clear of them to the extent I can.

[dave]

"being behind one of those pious idiots who is hypermiling and ignoring the flow of traffic"

These hypermile idiots get anywhere from 50-100% better gas mileage by driving slower around 55mph and keeping a steady speed and giving space between other cars and not driving like racing maniacs.

Unfortunately many idiots feel that driving agressively and fast will get them to their appointments faster.What it actually does is cost that driver 50% more in gas costs,cost him and other innocent people serious injury or their lives.This dangerous and inefficient driving helps deplete the oil supply which has helped oil go from 20$ to 140$ and gas from 1$ to 4$ in the last 8yrs.
And who is the pious idiot?

Please go to cleanmpg.com or ecomodder.com to learn how to improve your mpg from 50-100% without costing you a penny...Just by driving less agressively you should get a minimum of 60-70 mpg in the city with your prius and many people get 100+mpg in their prius.

[Richard]

Sean wrote, "They don't see it as cutting you off...they are merely navigating traffic with limited power....and when it takes you some time to get up to speed...they don't like to slow down."

Not sure what you're talking about. As a self-admitted pious Prius driver with a sense of humor about ourselves (I loved that South Park episode), I'll have you know I've given absolutely nothing up in my vehicle choice. I have just as much acceleration as many other mid-sedans. When I need to floor it; it goes, baby. What may keep us in an apparent "cruising" mode is the ability to monitor and maximize our fuel consumption. We can be driving along at 75 miles per hour and using little to no fuel; the same as if we're driving under, say, 30 miles per hour and on all electric. It's what make the car so much fun and a pleasure to drive.

[Brian]

Saudi Arabia has about 100 times the oil reserves of California. You should know better than to trust a Hummer driver. It took about a minute to find this information. Where's the fact-checking?

[Dan]

He is right. The California coast does have a lot of oil. As a state, we have made a decision that protecting the environment and our coastline is the most important thing. That is not to say that the decision will never change. Everyone has a price and even a prius doesn't run on self-righteousness alone.