The constant honking. The urgency to overtake you from the right or the left. The blinding headlight flashing. The wrong-side driving. Regardless of whether you experience them all, the stereotypes portraying
SUV drivers as carefree and reckless behind the wheel are there for a reason. Of course, responsible citizens respect their fellow motorists, adhere to traffic laws, and prioritise road safety. However, a few drivers, infamous for their reckless behaviour on Indian roads with their large, bulky Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), may have developed such traits due to the nature of their vehicles.
Akshat Ajeya, aka the “Mota Bhai”, a popular face of Cars 24’s educational content on YouTube, cited a study published in the US’s National Library of Medicine in a YouTube Shorts to explain the unique “SUV Effect”, a phenomenon that alters the way some folks drive on the roads.
SUV Effect
According to the study, the altered attitude and behavioural changes are mostly seen in those rocking the big size, multi-passenger vehicles on the streets. The shift in the way they drive their vehicle can be seen in the aggressive manner they move, taking unnecessary risks that could put other drivers and pedestrians in danger, and bullying others to show who’s the boss. Ajeya, referring to the study, noted that the drivers in big vehicles broke more traffic rules than those in hatchbacks and sedans. Not caring to wear their seatbelts, talking on their mobile phones, and jumping red lights, to name a few.
The high visibility of an SUV makes the car in front of them appear smaller, which contributes to the SUV Effect. A driver may act recklessly due to the “tough image” of their four-wheeler, which encourages hostile and risky driving behaviour. Status symbol is also one of the reasons why you’d feel that the driver next to you in their chunky vehicles thinks the world around him or her is beneath them. The bigger the car, the bigger the ego.
In a country such as India, where accidental death on the road is a common occurrence, an SUV can also contribute to the psychological assurance of perceived safety. That they are not in the line of danger is assumed.
Mahindra Thar
It’s not the car but the driver behind the wheel of a Thar that gives the car a bad name. When a Reddit user asked the car community why Thars were disliked with so much passion, they spoke in unison.
“Majority of the Thar owners think they are kings of the road and even drive like one,” noted one user.
“Nobody hates Thar. Its the attitude of drivers behind the wheel which is hated. Just like KTMs in bikes. The bikes are awesome but the squids riding it give them a bad name (sic).”
“Nobody hates a car, I guess. The hate is directed at its owner who does stupid things on public roads (sic).”
SUVs In News
While the study mentioned above was conducted in the US, the pattern isn’t unknown here on our Indian roads. We have compiled a list of headlines of SUVs that made news in the past few months or so.
1) Gurugram Woman Sits On Top Of Moving Thar To Film Video, Cops Launch Probe
2) Maharashtra: Robbers Try To Pull ATM Using SUV, Flee After Rope Snaps | Video
3) Mahindra Thar Driver Mows Down Man In Noida As Instagram Comment Triggers Fight | Video
4) Absconding Thar Driver, Who Hit Elderly Man Riding A Scooter, Arrested In Jammu
5) Mahindra Thar Driver Deliberately Hits Elderly In Reverse Gear After Scooty Collision | Video
