Death rate of cars VS SUV.

[Epidemic]

I find it amusing that people think just because SUV's roll over that they are more dangerous.

SUV's are touted as being 3 X more likely to roll over than cars. Well Duh!!! they are taller. You should drive them accordingly! This is not a design defect this is a fact of center of gravity. Unless you make the things wider or put weights on the chassis you will have this as a fact.

The question is, what is the number of roll overs and the likelyhood of serious injury to a properly restrained individual. Now one would compare that figure to the number of total deaths in like accidents involving cars then SUVs and their respective mortality/injury figures.

The anti SUV campaign is really reaching by simply stating that SUV's have a higher roll over rate. It is like saying bath tubs are more dangerous than cars because no one has fallen down in a car and hit their head on the faucet.

IMO something stinks but I cant put a finger on it in this article.
None the less it is an interesting article about roll over with a negative bent. http://www.rolloverlawyer.com/why_they_roll/Default.htm

The flip side of that article is pro.
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~surbizo/deathrate.html

My SUV suits my needs perfectly and I'm not about to buy two vehicles to do what I can do with one SUV.

If you think I'm too dangerous to be on the road with... STAY HOME!

You're right, epidemic. But SUV's have other disadvantages:

High insuranse
High gas comsumshun (sp??)
High cost
Parking issues in urban areas

Then don't buy one. But don't try to tell someone else they can't buy one because of safety issues either.

[phenious]

Hey if you need the for what you do thats great, I just hate the people who drive them like tanks cause they have a bigger car or something... where is Arnold and his Hummer when you need him?

-: phenious :-

[Theophylact]

I have no objection to them for people who need them. But 95% of them are bought by urban types who will never take them off the road or even onto dirt or gravel roads.

A front-wheel-drive car will handle quite well except in deep snow, if you know how to drive. In cities, we have things called snowplows to clear the streets. Ask someone who lives in Montreal, where they average nine or so feet of snow each winter, whether he needs an SUV, then tell me why an Angeleno does.

[Toadman]

It IS a safety issue. It's a boon to those who want the security of a large vehicle, and the bane of those who still like smaller more economical or sporty vehicles. They should remain costly to insure. How can insurance companies remain profitable if every accident a large SUV is in results in a totalled vehicle, extensive bodily injury or worse? SUV bumpers sit higher than cars so they puncture the soft unreinforced sections of cars. It's a simple case of inertia and rolling mass and no one can dispute who the winner would be in a collision between a Suburban and a Civic. Don't get me started on avoidance maneuvering, braking distance, or the tailgating factor because they can see over a smaller car and ignore the required space cushion. By definition, there's nothing sporty about a utility vehicle. That's a contradiction in terms.

[Knothead]

Where I live, no self-respecting soccer mom would even THINK of driving anything but an SUV.

They even have Mercedes-Benz SUVS. These are quite popular. Not that the driver has any idea about the engineering involved, but they are EXTREMELY aware that it is a very expensive SUV.

When it comes to accidents, two things come to mind:

SUV bumpers sit higher than cars so they puncture the soft unreinforced sections of cars. It's a simple case of inertia and rolling mass and no one can dispute who the winner would be in a collision between a Suburban and a Civic. ---Toadman

Plus, we (my daughters and I) have decided that the act of driving an SUV cuts the driver's I.Q. by 50%.

This is based on empirical, in-the-field evidence.

We are currently seeking to expand on this evidence, vis-a-vis possible CAUSES for this drop in driving intelligence.

We suspect cell phones, but this is merely a supposition thus far.