'Uninformed' sneering at SUVs

Madam, - Colette Sheehan's letter (January 29th) about seeing 17 SUVs outside a Blackrock school and her "witty" comment - "…

Madam, - Colette Sheehan's letter (January 29th) about seeing 17 SUVs outside a Blackrock school and her "witty" comment - "going green or into the red?" - is typical of the uninformed anti-SUV bias in this country.

This bandwagon started in the United States where the great majority of these types of vehicles are huge, three-, four- or five-litre petrol engine behemoths.

Ireland's SUV market is dominated by two-litre vehicles and the majority produce emissions not greatly above the level of large family cars. The Government's new vehicle registration tax bands, rating cars on their emissions, will at least kill off many of these uninformed comments. What will all the holier-then-thou types rage against then?.

In the meanwhile I will continue to drive my seven-seat family carrier (whisper it: SUV), safe in the knowledge that I am emitting less CO2 per head than the people sneering at me from down below. - Yours, etc,

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STEPHEN GLEESON,

Brehonfield Road,

Dublin 16.