The Leading Reason Huge Trucks/SUVs are Purchased..... - Page 2 - GreenHybrid

rigger · #11 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta Flyer

I'm happy you did not intend to offend.

SUVs (in numbers at least) did not exist until about twenty years ago, yet so many people seem to act like they are necessary even with $3 gas. I started the poll because I honestly don't understand why so many want them - hence the poll. Yes, my bias showed, but at least I asked.

On an earlier question, I think "Huge SUV" had been qualified to exclude your Element. The Element is a step in the right direction, BTW.

Ironicaly the SUV craze was started by an "Element Size" vehicle. The S-10 Blazer/ S-15 Jimmy is where they really really started getting popular back around 1983, they really got popular when they introduced the 4 door. Of course Ford came out with their Explorer a bit later too. Still they were "smaller" than the full size Blazer/Tahoe/Expedition etc. SUV's of late.

tbaleno · #12 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 09:42 AM

Ahh yest the days of the Geo tracker suv. Those days are long gone.

sweetbeet · #13 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 11:14 AM

I actually think most people feel that they like the versatility - they can carry several passengers, a lot of stuff, or a combination of both (i.e., a family of 4 AND their camping/recreational gear or several large suitcases). One weekend, they can take visitors around to all the local sites in one vehicle, and the next weekend, they can put down the seats and carry the new lawnmower (or a load of laminate flooring, or whatever) home from the store, tow their boat to the lake, or whatever. So that would be a combination of (1) and (2).

But I also think the safety factor is relevant to a lot of people, whether it be "surviving a crash" or being "up high" where they can see better.

lars-ss · #14 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 11:26 AM

You know, that "being safer" thing is more based on emotion than fact. Look at these stats:

Quote:

SUVs are more likely to rollover in an accident - 79 percent of fatalities in a single-SUV crash involve a rollover compared to only 45 percent for passenger vehicles.

The estimated risk of rollover in an SUV is 30 percent compared to only 16-percent risk of rollover in alight vehicle.

Rollover crashes kill more than 10,000 people each year in the United States

SUV rollover accidents accounted for just 3 percent of all U.S. auto accidents in 2001, but caused nearly a third of all vehicle-occupant fatalities.

It is more than three times likely an SUV occupant will die as a result of a rollover than an occupant of a passenger car.

Fatalities in single vehicle rollovers increased 22.3 percent from 2000 to 2001.

62 percent of all SUV deaths occur in rollovers - and only 22 percent of passenger-vehicle deaths occur in rollovers.

A Ford Explorer is 16 times as likely as the typical family car to kill occupants of another vehicle in a crash.

And from the Union of Concerned Scientists:

Quote:

"Families deserve to know that they can get a better SUV," said David Friedman, research director for the UCS Clean Vehicles Program. "The problem is not SUV owners. The problem is that people think SUVs are safer than cars. They're not. In fact SUVs don't even have to meet the same safety and fuel standards as cars, and automakers have fought to keep it that way."

A lot of that "up higher" stuff is just emotional too - I have never had a problem in a small car "seeing" anyting I need to see as a driver.

And from NHTSA:
Some alarming SUV FACTS from the NHTSA include:

Ejections account for 63 percent of all fatalities in rollover crashes and often result in costly and debilitating head injuries.
More than 90 percent of passenger vehicle rollover crashes are single-vehicle crashes, and more than 80 percent of occupant deaths in rollover crashes occurred in single-vehicle crashes.
More than half of the single-vehicle crash deaths resulted from rollovers - compared with 11 percent in multiple-vehicle crashes.
Almost 25% of all highway deaths were due to rollover accidents in 2001;
More than 50 percent of all SUV-related deaths were attributed to SUV rollovers.

There is some relevance to the Physics of "a large car in a headon crash with a smaller car will fair better" but there are just NOT a lot of evidence that in REAL WORLD crashes, SUVs are "safer" than small cars, either in number of crashes or in survivability of those crashes.

Delta Flyer · #15 (**permalink**) 09-08-2005, 01:46 PM

This would probably be too much trouble for Jason, but I'm wondering if setting up a special forum that would allow people to reply as "Guest" would work better? That way, nobody has to reveal their identity and have their say.

I don't think I could make it as a professional pollester.