Damned by association

"Gas-guzzling 4 x 4s" are in the news again, with proposals to penalise them by charging them more for on-road parking. Problem is that when this item appeared on TV, the accompanying pictures were not of 4 x 4s at all, but of people carriers, such as the Ford Galaxy or the Renault Espace, and indeed most people do not differentiate between the two types of vehicle. But whereas there is little or no reason for an urban dweller to run a 4 x 4, the same does not go for a people carrier. I have a friend (yes, I do have friends!) who has three school-age children, and who child-minds two, and at times three toddlers. So do the maths - there's no way she can get them all in a standard car. For her, and others like her, a people carrier is a necessity.