7th Jul 2010, 22:07
So the people I see careening through traffic in their Escalades while yakking on the phone are NEVER to blame for an accident? Yeah, okay! You live in a much different area than I do. Most people here have huge overpriced lumbering SUV's and drive without a care in the world at 85 mph+, weaving in and out of cars like they are in the Indy 500.
Yeah, there are kids in Civics around here too, but the power a Civic has is nothing compared to the big V-8's in these huge SUV's. In my area SUV's cause WAY more accidents than any small car does. In the winter it is almost always the SUV that is upside down or off into the woods in any major accident, because of the false sense of security and the incorrect belief that they are safer in bad weather.
SUV's are good for very little. If you have a lot of people to move, a boat to tow around, or you are going on a trip and need to take everything you own, then they are useful. As a commuter vehicle for one person to drive to work every day, they are useless. Some day, hopefully, the bigger is better mentality will be a thing of the past, and Americans will wake up and start driving smarter.
9th Jul 2010, 10:26
To comment 22:07.
Boy you said it. I have a 100+ mile daily commute, and I've seen many accidents. Nearly all of those accidents were caused by SUV's. SUV drivers go way too fast, and fly in and out of lanes as if they were driving a sports car.
As for SUV drivers in bad weather, well I live in Massachusetts, so bad weather is something I'm quite used to. Over the course of just one winter, I usually see over a dozen SUV driver's either standing by the side of the road while there vehicle is 30 feet down in a ditch, or stuck spinning all 4-wheels in 4 feet of snow and wondering why they aren't moving.
Not once have I seen an SUV carrying more than 4 people, nor have I seen an SUV towing ANYTHING.
9th Jul 2010, 17:24
"Not once have I seen an SUV carrying more than 4 people, nor have I seen an SUV towing ANYTHING."
Actually, I think this is typical. 99% of SUV buyers buy for safety rather than utility. Our large SUV carries only 1 person 99.99% of the time. We never tow anything, and knew we wouldn't when we bought it. Everyone we know buys SUV's strictly for the safety factor. My brother-in-law is a doctor who sees the horrible results of small car crashes. He insists that each of his teenage children all drive truck-based SUV's. My wife is also a medical professional and that is her primary reason for wanting a larger (and safer) vehicle. Until Civics, Focuses and Corollas make up 90% of the traffic, most folks are going to opt for safety over economy every time.
9th Jul 2010, 18:31
Why commute 100 miles to work? I drive whatever I want and drive 3 miles. I am usually first at work in snow, and AWD is nice in my great SUV.
10th Jul 2010, 11:23
I agree. I used to drive a total of 160 miles a day to my teaching job in another city. That was an extra 3 hours of my day wasted in traveling, not to mention wearing out my car VERY quickly. I drove a 4-cylinder Mustang to save on gas, but the quick depreciation from high mileage offset any gains. I opted to work nearer to home.
10th Jul 2010, 13:54
I love when people think it is so easy to find a job 3 miles from home. Well, my wife and I work 40 miles apart, and one of us has to commute. Most areas have business districts, and then the better places to live are miles away in better areas. This is how America is set up nowadays, as we fell in love with the car and now are fully dependent on it.
If you are really only 3 miles from work, then you should be able to get to work in something more efficient like a Subaru. Short trips are never a reason to drive a gas guzzling SUV as far as I'm concerned. Yep, we'd all be close if it were feasible. Do you think people like driving so far to work everyday?
10th Jul 2010, 14:32
Sorry, but you are the cause and not the solution to the ongoing lack of safety on the roads. SUV's are the unsafe vehicles and cause more accidents than any other type of car. People have a FALSE sense of security and safety in a vehicle that is poor handling, top heavy, slow to stop and weighs too much. All of these factors contribute to a ridiculously high fatality rate on the road.
Too bad people don't take the time to really learn how to drive better. They should put the phone down while driving so they can pay attention to what they are doing. We spend so much time and energy coming up with gadgets that take our attention away from the road, and not nearly enough to properly educate ourselves on the skills of driving. Very frustrating to see people just buying huge lumbering SUV's so they can plow through anyone who gets in their way.
3rd Jul 2010, 12:33
WOW!!! There really ARE intelligent people out there. THANK YOU!! I've tried to make this very point for years. No amount of driving skill can repeal the laws of physics. If you are in a Civic and hit a Hummer head-on, you will most likely die. We have had a huge number of young people in our area die as a result of crashes involving large trucks or SUV's and small Japanese tin can cars. In every single case I know of, the young people in the small cars were at fault. I don't know of a SINGLE ACCIDENT that was caused by the driver of the larger vehicle. I suppose many of these younger drivers had taken a couple of hours of "driver training" and regarded themselves as invincible. I have seen a young girl in her Camry run a red light in front of a Ford Ranger. She lived... BARELY. The Ranger was driven home by its un-injured driver. A car load of kids in an Accord swerved into the path of a GMC Yukon. They all died. The Yukon driver got a sprained wrist. One of our dearest friends, a young girl with her first new car (a small Acura) died when she rear-ended a parked truck at 60mph. The F-150 she hit was driven home.
On the flip side, my wife's SUV was rear-ended by a large truck and knocked 30 feet. She didn't even get a sore neck. Our neighbor's son dodged a dog and rolled his Explorer 5 times at 70mph. He was securely belted and walked away unhurt. A good friend was hit head-on in her small German car by a Chevy Tahoe. Ironically, her small car flipped over while the Tahoe remained upright. Her car was so crumpled that her foot and leg were severely crushed and she required months of painful physical therapy. The Tahoe driver walked away unhurt.
Over-confidence and stupidity are usually the real cause of people getting hurt in larger vehicles. The only serious injuries I've ever seen in larger vehicles was due to the driver and/or passengers not wearing their seatbelts. And as I mentioned earlier, in every single accident involving a large truck or SUV and a smaller car, the driver of the smaller car has been at fault by either running a light, speeding, or texting while driving. Younger drivers in small cars (as evidenced in these comments) seem to regard themselves as invincible, and feel that 2000 pounds of tin-foil can protect them from a two-ton steel monster. Not true. Not now, not EVER.