Safety in Inadequacies

This article actually came out almost a year ago, but it's a really good read. The author makes an excellent case for why the SUV boom in America really doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense.

As Keith Bradsher writes in "High and Mighty" ... what consumers said was "If the vehicle is up high, it's easier to see if something is hiding underneath or lurking behind it." Bradsher brilliantly captures the mixture of bafflement and contempt that many auto executives feel toward the customers who buy their S.U.V.s.

If you asked the young parents of America whether they would rather strap their infant child in the back seat of the TrailBlazer or the passenger seat of the Boxster, they would choose the TrailBlazer. We feel that way because in the TrailBlazer our chances of surviving a collision with a hypothetical tractor-trailer in the other lane are greater than they are in the Porsche. What we forget, though, is that in the TrailBlazer you're also much more likely to hit the tractor-trailer because you can't get out of the way in time. In the parlance of the automobile world, the TrailBlazer is better at "passive safety." The Boxster is better when it comes to "active safety," which is every bit as important.

This article is particularly resonant for me because, as a driver of a tiny car, I'm surrounded by big bad trucks and SUVs all the time.