Why do people have such a strong dislike for SUVs?

[seycyrus]

An SUV is also perfectly safe to drive, despite the "roll-over theory". 77% of deaths in roll-overs are because the driver didn't have his safety belt on and suffered head/neck injuries or was ejected. Over 85% of injuries were caused by drivers that didn't have seat-belts on. So SUVs are safe in collisions and daily driving if you take the steps to strap up.

This is not logically correct. It only shows that not wearing a seat-belt has a tendency to result in greater injury when an accident does occur. This tendency is true in regards to virtually any type of automotive vehicle.

I'm not sure what conclusion you might be trying to draw in regards to the "accidents caused by people not wearing a seat belt" statistic, but it certainly doesn't support the argument regarding rollover fallacy.

If you want to address the "rollover fallacy", do so directly.

Do SUVs have a greater chance of rollover than other vehicles?

 

[Chi Meson]

I was just about to put in:

"Nice work Dagenais. I haven't seen Chroot that worked up since...since..."*bing*

 

[JasonRox]

This argument of SUV's is equivalent to that of an argument over a crackpot theory.

According to the thread poster, everyone should buy an SUV to be safe on the road and buying a sedan, you're choosing to be less safe. Therefore, if I own an SUV and want to be safer, I should buy something bigger than an SUV hence overthrowing all the other SUV's on the road. Now, SUV drivers are choosing to be unsafe because they didn't buy a vehicle as big as mine. Now, some SUV drivers buy big vehicles like mine. BUT WAIT MINUTE, I want to be safe so I go out and buy something EVEN BIGGER. So, the people who bought a model like my previous vehicle are choosing to be unsafe, same as the SUV and sedan drivers because they bought a smaller vehicle than mine. To be safe I always have to simply buy a BIGGER vehicle.

That has to be the most absurd thing I've ever heard. That's exactly what the OP has been saying for like 6 pages.

A safe road is a road where everyone drives a car of equivalent size.

http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150/

If you want to be safe, don't drive American cars. Research into how BMW and Mercedes designs vehicles that only makes them safe for the drives in the vehicle but also the other drivers on the road. The concepts they implemented into SUV's should be followed by American companies. Of course, American companies won't do that because they lack innovation.

 

[Chi Meson]

That has to be the most absurd thing I've ever heard. That's exactly what the OP has been saying for like 6 pages.

And FOUR YEARS!

 

[BobG]

This argument of SUV's is equivalent to that of an argument over a crackpot theory.

According to the thread poster, everyone should buy an SUV to be safe on the road and buying a sedan, you're choosing to be less safe. Therefore, if I own an SUV and want to be safer, I should buy something bigger than an SUV hence overthrowing all the other SUV's on the road. Now, SUV drivers are choosing to be unsafe because they didn't buy a vehicle as big as mine. Now, some SUV drivers buy big vehicles like mine. BUT WAIT MINUTE, I want to be safe so I go out and buy something EVEN BIGGER. So, the people who bought a model like my previous vehicle are choosing to be unsafe, same as the SUV and sedan drivers because they bought a smaller vehicle than mine. To be safe I always have to simply buy a BIGGER vehicle.

That has to be the most absurd thing I've ever heard. That's exactly what the OP has been saying for like 6 pages.

A safe road is a road where everyone drives a car of equivalent size.

http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150/

If you want to be safe, don't drive American cars. Research into how BMW and Mercedes designs vehicles that only makes them safe for the drives in the vehicle but also the other drivers on the road. The concepts they implemented into SUV's should be followed by American companies. Of course, American companies won't do that because they lack innovation.

Wouldn't that be: If you want to be safe, don't let other drivers drive American cars?

Mercury Mountaineers (and, by extension, Ford Explorers since it's the same basic body) do a pretty good job crumpling up in an accident. But they're not very good to trees, let alone other cars.

(Not me personally - see "Best age to have kids thread")

 

[Andre]

Safety of cars:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/P63955.asp

..."Pickups generally don't do well in these assessments," says Champion. "They usually don't protect the driver in crashes and some of them have poor brakes and sloppy handling." ...


...SUVs that did poorly were the Chevrolet Trail Blazer, the GMC Envoy and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. As for minivans, the Honda Odyssey EX, the Toyota Sienna LE and the Mazda MPV LX all did well. But the Chevrolet Venture LS, the Oldsmobile Silhouette GLS and Pontiac Montana fared poorly.

Zuby says that the Pontiac Montana, a minivan, probably was the worst vehicle the institute has tested that's still being sold. "The crush zone didn't crush as much as it should have done, meaning there's a high likelihood of a serious injury in an accident."

Conclusion: big is not equal to safe. Moreover the agility of small cars allow for better chance of avoiding/evading trouble.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Shouldn't all vehicles by now have outstanding crash ratings? I can see how the first decade of cars maybe had problems, but by now it shouldn't be hard to make a car that has a good crash rating.

 

[jtbell]

To return to the original title of this thread... after a few $100+ fillups this summer, I bet a lot of SUV owners will start to hate their own SUV's.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/23/gas.prices/index.html

 

[Mech_Engineer]

I still like my SUV just fine.

Sure, I only get about 19mpg on the highway and 16 in the city, but carpooling helps. Offroading and camping are big parts of my summer hobbies, and I'd rather pay a little extra in gas for a vehicle that can drive wherever I like. Toyota 4Runners are very good at keeping low maintinence costs as well.

I wouldn't mind owning a motorcycle, but the drivers on my commute are crazy, and I'd be taking my life into my hands every time I got on it. Still, as gas gets more and more expensive, I'm thinking harder and harder about it...

 

[Moonbear]

I wouldn't mind owning a motorcycle, but the drivers on my commute are crazy, and I'd be taking my life into my hands every time I got on it. Still, as gas gets more and more expensive, I'm thinking harder and harder about it...

I'm starting to reconsider the concept of horse-drawn carriage. Can you imagine the looks on people's faces as I hitched a horse up to the bike rack? It won't be long before the Amish are the only ones who can afford to "drive" anywhere.

 

[lisab]

A bumper sticker I saw on a Prius:

"Osama (heart) Your SUV"

Ouch!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I still like my SUV just fine.

Sure, I only get about 19mpg on the highway and 16 in the city,

I haven't gotten mileage that bad on a primary vehicle since the seventies. We do have an old truck that only gets about 10 mpg, but it only drives about thirty miles a year.

Okay, I did have a something or other with a huge engine, like a 454, for a short time in about 1981.

 

[Moonbear]

I haven't gotten mileage that bad on a primary vehicle since the seventies. We do have an old truck that only gets about 10 mpg, but it only drives about thirty miles a year.

Okay, I did have a something or other with a huge engine, like a 454, for a short time in about 1981.

I can understand having a truck if you need to work on construction sites or a farm. I could also understand having an inexpensive, used one that mostly sits in the driveway except for the occasional hunting or camping trip that requires driving off-road into muddy conditions (why would you buy one brand new just to beat the crap out of it on rough terrain and cover it in mud?) But I'd never want that as a primary vehicle.

 

[Poop-Loops]

To return to the original title of this thread... after a few $100+ fillups this summer, I bet a lot of SUV owners will start to hate their own SUV's.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/23/gas.prices/index.html

Hey, if you know of a better way to compensate for having a small penis, I'd like to hear it, okay?

 

[Andre]

Bought this car last week with a diesel TDi engine. Mileage about 1:55 mpg or 4.8 liter/100 km.

 

[Chi Meson]

I wouldn't mind owning a motorcycle, but the drivers on my commute are crazy, and I'd be taking my life into my hands every time I got on it. Still, as gas gets more and more expensive, I'm thinking harder and harder about it...

I totally want a motorcycle. But my wife, and 3 kids, say no. OK, my wife says no four times.

 

[scorpa]

I drive a small Jeep Liberty and I love it. I have had cars as well and the Jeep has 100x the visibility and even has better maneuverability that my car's did , this thing can turn on a dime and you can see everything (no blind spots). I have hobbies that are much easier with a SUV. It does get crap mileage though, on the highway in the summer I get about 24 mpg :(. The cost of gas is going to start killing me but I can't afford a new vehicle right now but when I graduate and can afford one I will be buying something more economical. It will be a sad day when my Jeep goes though because I really do love this thing.

I wish I lived in a place where it was warm all the time, then I would have a motorcycle as my primary vehicle and just use the jeep for the odd grocery or camping trip and whatnot.

 

[quadraphonics]

One other reason to hate SUVs that I didn't see mentioned: all that extra gas they waste drives up the overall demand for gas, and so raises prices for the rest of us.

 

[Ms Music]

I can understand having a truck (...) But I'd never want that as a primary vehicle.

I would love to NOT have a truck as a primary vehicle (I do need one) but since it costs $100 a month to insure my truck, and another 75 to add a second car, the savings in gas is gone. When I am one person only, I don't understand why having insurance on 2 cars is so high. I can only drive one at a time! So I choose a truck as a primary vehicle instead of paying $175 a month for freaking insurance. Everyone thinks I am nuts, but I can't justify the costly insurance to save a little gas.