The PenOpticon

While perusing energy.buzz today, I learned that some SUV owners are so completely fed up with the cost of driving these behomoths they are cutting their losses by setting them on fire to collect hefty insurance settlements. It is shocking and sad to think these owners would commit insurance fraud — especially when it has only been a few months since the PenOpticon launched its widely acclaimed Save the SUVs campaign. Give it a chance people! Ya try to be helpful, but some folks just like to play with fire, I reckon. Anyhow, this was all news to me today, but it seems this story has been plastered across the net for a few weeks. Here is a smattering of stories covering this, um, burning issue:

Don’t set the car on fire yet
Disgruntled SUV owners torch trucks
SUV owners burn their own expensive vehicles

Whether it is better to immolate your SUV’s mortal ignition coil now or suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous gas prices for a few more years is a question that depends on your religious outlook. In other words, the burning question for some is “What would Jesus drive?”. This issue has been debated hotly ever since the Reverend Jim Ball launched the WWJD tour in 2003 and a group of happy-go-lucky (gruntled?) SUV enthusiasts countered by promoting their own personal Jesús Rivera (who drives an SUV). So it’s a complicated issue, I’m sure, but if you dig a little deeper, you may find this very helpful scholarly discussion of the topic. Me? I’ll stick with my million-dollar Viva limo for the foreseeable future.