I truly belive that a lot of SUV drivers have absolutely no concept of how very much space their car/truck monsters take up.

Most SUV drivers only drove regular cars up until they had an SUV. They never had to drive a pickup for towing or a minivan for kid hauling. They never drove a real Jeep offroad. Very likely they never even had to drive a 1970s sedan, from when advertising copy touted how much larger the current year's model was from the previous. Suddenly, they're 35 with three kids and feel that they are not nearly dorky enough to pop for that Volvo, so they get the Ford Explorer instead. Then they have to learn a brand new style of driving, because their new, huge vehicle is taller, longer, and wider than what they're used to, and is an entirely different beast from the sedan or station wagon they really ought to be driving.

A lot of people seriously mis-judge their placement when they drive a tall vehicle, many people don't understand how much more space a big, heavy vehicle needs for stopping, and most people don't have any clue as to how clumsily SUVs handle, especially at speed.

I agree that there are a lot of "Raaaar, I own the road" jerks out there, but I think there are probably a lot more SUV drivers who are just not very good drivers anyhow, who think it is cool to drive a BIGA$$ TRUCK, when it really is way too much vehicle for them.

When I was finishing up at college, I was in the midst of moving from my first apartment, and my dad let me drive his 1979 International Scout for a weekend, because I could pack way more into it than I could my 1959 VW Beetle. It just about scared me to death driving that behemoth of a Scout (which was a precurser to today's SUVS). I had a crazy difficult time telling how much of a lane of highway I was taking up--it felt like the truck filled up the whole road. Left front corner looked like it was hanging over the center lane, right front looked like it was about to drop off the road. I drove that thing like a timorous granny because I could hardly judge where I was with it, and I really didn't want to end up having or causing a wreck.

I think maybe a lot of novice SUV drivers experience this, but instead of being freaked out by it, like I was, they think it feels pretty tough and hardcore, like being a tank driver or something. It still boils down to driving something they can't really handle, and probably being more enthusiastic about it than they really ought to be.