Hot take: Modern car safety features are making us worse drivers
Modern car safety features definitely save lives, but overreliance on them also makes us more complacent and distracted drivers.
Hot take: Do you actually need a massive ute?
There's a special kind of car owner in Australia – an epidemic I’d say, which is the urban ute driver. You know the type. They cruise through city streets in a lifted, oversized ute with big off-road tyres, a snorkel, and maybe even a bull bar, despite the fact that the closest they've been to the Outback is their local Bunnings car park.
Now, don't get me wrong. Utes are fantastic cars. They're built tough, can haul heavy loads, and are perfect for off-road shenanigans. I myself love a Hilux as much as the next person, but let's be honest – most of these city-dwelling utes aren’t seeing much more than a daily crawl through peak-hour traffic and the occasional shopping centre parking war. So, do you actually need a massive ute? Let's break it down. Full disclosure, this is purely my opinion, but I’m sure there’s many others who would agree with me.
1. You’re not hauling anything (except the occasional grocery run)
Utes are designed for carrying heavy loads – construction materials, farm equipment, and, at the very least, a couple of dirt bikes for weekend fun. If the heaviest thing you've put in the tray is a bag of potting mix, you might not actually need all that payload capacity. A hatchback would do just fine.
2. Your friends will always ask you to help them move
Owning a ute comes with an unspoken responsibility – you’re now the designated removalist among your mates. Need to move a fridge? Call the ute guy. Got a couch to pick up? Call the ute guy. Before you know it, your weekends are filled with lifting heavy furniture into your tray while your friends ‘supervise’ with a cold drink in hand (you were promised the whole six-pack). Is that really the life you want?
3. You rarely go off-road
