SUV drivers need to give it up

Posted by Bruce Westbrook

June 20, 2008

Some gun owners ascribe to the fierce philosophy that you can “take my guns when you pry them from my cold dead fingers.” Some SUV owners feel the same way about the keys to their bulky gas guzzlers – despite skyrocketing fuel prices which make them an economic dry well, not to mention ecological and safety issues, such as SUV rollovers, which deserve more than a drive-by glance.

CNN reports that, while SUV sales are down 33 per cent in this Year Of The $4-Plus Gallon, many SUV owners defiantly cling to their vehicles, hooked on the “sport” or the “utility” in their SUV name. Or maybe they just don’t like change.

Yes, SUVs get poor mileage compared to smaller, more streamlined cars. And yes, they can cost close to $100 for a fill-up. Andy yes, they can be unsafe, with often fatal SUV accidents. But no, those in “suv-love” say, they won’t give up having more space in their car while heading to the store than Apollo astronauts had on weeklong trips to the Moon.

To them, this makes perfect sense. After all, no one has ever gone without gi-normous vehicles since the early automotive days of the Model T, have they? Oh, that’s right – they have. Cars weren’t always huge, or hugely self-indulgent. Rather, many drivers for many years have done quite well by leaving a few things, people or pets at home, rather than piling everything into what amounts to a space-tastic small bus.

SUV drivers, by contrast, figure their beloved wheels’ gas-gulping and high fuel bills are worth the tradeoff. They need the space, right? Right – just like all pickup trucks need those large beds in the back. Yet almost each time I peer into a truck bed in a parking lot, it’s empty, save for the discarded wrappers and paper cups which will blow out and litter the road as soon as they hit cruise speed.

So go figure — or go for smaller cars, which are far more fuel-efficient and can be more safe. No matter how set in your ways you’ve become – and you know who you are — they just may make sense compared to top-heavy, roll-prone, costly-to-drive SUVs. And besides, life needn’t be a single-minded crusade to maintain an outdated status quo in the face of changing times. Sometimes you’ve got to pry apart your fingers and open your mind, all by yourself.

SUV Accidents