Michael McKelvy wrote:

"Pooh Bear" wrote in message
...

Michael McKelvy wrote:

"Paul Dormer" wrote in message
...

"They make an entirely unnecessary contribution to one of the biggest
environmental problems we face - global warming - and there's a huge
and unacknowledged health crisis which results from vehicle
emissions."

"They sell themselves as the vehicle version of a gated community,
intended to make people feel safe, when in fact they're a greater
danger to pedestrians, other road users and the drivers themselves."

" According to a study by the US Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety there are many more deaths from crashes involving SUVs than in
any other vehicles."

"For all crashes between cars and pickups or cars and SUVs, people in
cars are about four times more likely to die than people inside
pickups or SUVs," the report concludes.

Then the answer is obvious, everybody should drive an SUV.

That's just silly.

From the same source....

" The evidence on whether people inside the SUV are better or worse off is
a bit more difficult, though the US National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration has found that SUV drivers have a higher rate of death per
kilometre travelled than drivers of conventional cars.


I seem to recall that part of the problem is that SUV drivers, feeling more
protected tend to drive less safely than they would i a smaller vehicle.

That's quite possible.

You also can't high speed corner in an SUV like you might in a sport car ! The
high cg will be more likely to roll the thing over.


Still, the ida that if you get hit by an SUV and you're in a smaller car
means you are more likely to die makes it seem sorta obvious that being in a
bigger tougher car is good thing.

Only when you're ( especially ) talking about certain kinds of accidents. An SUV
hitting an ordinary car in the side will indeed be pretty devastating to the
car.

In frontal impacts with solid objects - SUVs actually fare far worse typically
than most cars. This is because cars have to meet tougher 'car' safety regs
whereas SUVs are treated a bit like trucks.

It's difficult to dissipate all that energy in a head-on impact too. So much
weight to deal with. A car can crumple better and protect the occupants. I think
most potentially fatal accidents are of the head-on type.


Some SUVs are prone to roll over in a crash, the administration found. "


So are vans but I don't see them being done away with.

In a van - you're aware of it's fragile construction ( at least I am ).

SUVs feel / look like cars to most ppl and as a result they aren't driven
appropriately at all times.


Graham