Some Gloat as SUVs Get Hit By Gas Costs

April 25, 2005 — -- Donna Bijas of Middletown, N.J., hates SUV owners and the way their vehicles obstruct her view as she tries to back her Nissan Altima out of parking spaces: "I hope gas prices send them to the poor house," she said.

In level-headed reflection, people on both sides of the SUV debate tend to agree soaring gas prices are nothing to cheer.

But among some SUV haters, there's the road-rage factor: Perhaps prone to seething in traffic over what they see as an egomaniacal, menacing and gas-guzzling group, some see high gas prices as payback.

"I laugh as I fill my economy car for a fraction of what they do, watching them wallow like the pigs they are," said Andy Bliss of Los Angeles.

Several people told ABC News via e-mail -- in response to an online query -- that they gloat as SUV owners appear to suffer at the pumps. And as the national average price for regular gas approaches $2.25 per gallon, some SUV owners may be paying nearly $100 per tankful.

"I hope gas goes to $5/gallon just to teach these selfish, spoiled yuppies a lesson they'll NEVER forget," wrote John Marranca Jr. of Buffalo, N.Y. (See first related story, left, for more reader opinions).

But despite their big gas tanks and generally poor gas mileage, are SUV drivers really suffering more than everyone else? Though sales of the largest SUVs have dipped, a recent ABC News poll suggested SUV drivers are not yet feeling more pain from gas prices than car drivers are, finding no difference in reported hardship (see second related story).

Several ABC News e-mailers speculated that the owners of the most expensive SUVs may not be especially impaired because they can afford expensive fuel, and may have taken it for granted that they'd pay more than car drivers.

Nevertheless, some large vehicle owners said they feel the price pinch.

"Yes, I'm suffering," wrote Johnny Norman of Littleton, Colo., who drives a full-sized 4-wheel-drive GMC pickup truck to and from work at a mining company 56 miles away. "[I] spent 70 bucks last week for four days of driving to work. … If prices go over $3 a gal[lon] this summer, I'll be looking for a Honda."

Other SUV fans proved it's not only SUV haters who are prone to gloating.

"I will keep paying these prices and driving my SUV, and the idiots can keep hating me," wrote Daren Frederickson of Vancouver, Wash. "But, if you cross the center line and crash into me, you will wish your Ford Escort was an Excursion!"

"The small car drivers can gloat at the pumps," added Jim Downey, a Chevy S-10 Blazer driver from Dunbar, W.Va., "but they cringe in envy when the SUVs pass them in the snow."