2nd Aug 2010, 19:11
Guess you don't see or hear of many accidents then. I get cut off by people driving SUV's everyday. I've had many SUV drivers throw themselves into my lane without even using a turn signal. Most of them are on the phone.
So far I've avoided every stupid SUV driver thrown at me. I pay attention when I'm driving, and I don't put all my confidence into my smaller, better handling car, but into my own driving ability (which I can put to use without fear of rolling over). Then again, I also don't believe I'd be any safer by driving a 6,000 LB, gas-guzzling, useless behemoth. You are GUARANTEED to be in an accident if you're driving an SUV, because you'll either plow straight through something or roll over trying to avoid it.
2nd Aug 2010, 16:33
I am really interested as you keep saying this. Did you stop at EVERY accident and interview the people involved and read the police reports to find out who is at fault? How could you possibly know who caused any specific accident by driving by? How do you know the SUV wasn't going 20 or 30 mph over the speed limit, like I see them doing all the time around here, and therefore hit the car because they were going way too fast?
I have seen so many SUV's in the woods upside down or crashed into the trees in accidents BY THEMSELVES with no other cars around, because drivers have some false sense that they handle as good as a car and go too fast with them. I didn't need to stop and see who's fault it was, as they were the only vehicle crashed!!
I also saw a guy whip into the passing lane at over 75 mph in a Grand Cherokee, trying to miss a slower driver in is lane, and end up on two wheels at about a 30 degree angle from the ground. I am not quite sure how he saved it from cartwheeling down the highway, but he should have gone to play the lottery that day as it surely was his luckiest ever. Luck aside, had he been in a car, the right wheels never would have left the ground in that kind of maneuver.
I also was right behind an SUV, again on the highway, and he rear ended the truck in front of him at about 40 mph. I was the same distance behind him as he was to the truck he hit and I stopped in time to avoid hitting him. I was close enough to have to back up and drive around him, but I stopped. Had I too been in an SUV, I would have been calling my insurance company... NO QUESTION!
I am not really sure why you think heavier, poorer handling, longer stopping vehicles are the safest choice on the road, but from my experience in witnessing first hand accidents, SUV's cause quite a few of them.