Book I'd like to find

[m_cobweb]

baphometsangel, take note! ;-)

High and Mighty: SUVs--The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way, by Keith Bradsher.

The New Republic ran a lengthy review of this book last week that included a lot of the facts therein. Such as, how the auto industry got around a lot of mileage and pollution requirements by making SUVs higher and heavier until they qualified as "light trucks" (although they could meet those requirements easily if they wanted to spend the money to do so). And how studies repeatedly show that rollover risks are much higher than for other vehicles, yet SUVs still have a false reputation for being safe. And how perfectly nice people (as well as aggressive drivers who want to appear intimidating on the road) are buying SUVs without being aware of the facts behind their manufacture and marketing.

Comments

[m-cobweb.livejournal.com]

Aha! You actually *use* yours off-road. A lot of this guy's complaint was suburban drivers whose vehicles never leave the city. I don't think he objects to people who use them for the purpose for which they were intended. It's the leather-upholstered Expeditions that could be made safer and more fuel-efficient that he's ranting about.

(Then again, my first car was totalled by a Silverado after I'd had it a month. So I might conceivably have an axe to grind. ;-))

[sarmonster.livejournal.com]

Ah. Yeah, OK, soccer Moms in Expeditions piss me off. 2WD SUVs piss me off. Lowered SUVs REALLY piss me off. No one's really come out with a minivan a CEO would want to be seen in-don't say PT cruiser: they're crap, Boss has one.

Suburbans...If I lived in AK, maybe. The gas mileage is half that of my Cherokee.

I think you'll be seeing a lot less of the monster bubbles: Higher gas prices, SUV's "Going out of style" (station wagons are coming back?!) and I'd imagine within the next five years we'll see gas use regulation requirements as we do with smaller cars-Actually the reason so many Auto makers are building SUVs-they don't have a gas mileage requirement whereas newer cars do.