Did they need to do a study to find this out?

Study: SUV Drivers Likely To Hate Gays
by Peter Hacker 365Gay.com Sydney, Australia Bureau

Posted: September 27, 2005 12:01 am ET

(Sydney, Australia) The ad shows a ruggedly handsome man behind the wheel of a four-wheel-drive all terrain vehicle, portaging a river, climbing a rocky hill. He's hip, urbane, and a trendsetter. But a new study shows the guy in the ad bears little resemblance to the men who buy SUVs.

The study, by the Australia Institute, indicates the average 4WD driver is a male city dweller in his late 40s or 50s, and far from cool.

The institute based its study on a Roy Morgan Research survey of 24,718 people aged 14 and over.

It found that the drivers were more likely to be homophobic than other drivers. It also discovered they were not community minded and less likely than drivers of other vehicles to give to a charity.

The study additionally found they were more likely to suffer road rage. According to the institute four-wheel-drive vehicles also had a higher rate of being involved in accidents that kill or maim people in other vehicles.

"These drivers tend to see themselves as rugged individualists who like physical activity. the report's authors, Clive Hamilton and Claire Barbato, said.

"Perhaps with implications for how they drive, they are more inclined to say they sometimes use force to get their way."

Although most SUV drivers are men, the study also looked at women who drive four-wheel-vehicles. Unlike their male counterparts they are cool. They tended to be in their 30s or early 40s, were materialistic and "love to shop".