Originally Posted by
fly:yes/land:no
not the entire story there, docray. as do most enviro-freaks, i wish that we could just condemn all of those who drive excessively large vehicles as selfish consum-o-haulics, but there are a substantial percentage (perhaps even a majority) of those who buy large cars and suvs because of safety factors. of course, this is a never ending cycle, but let's be fair here. afterall, this was the reason why americans moved away from stationwagons to minivans - to get more safety. the difficult thing is that as the u.s. government enforces more strict fuel economy requirements for small and midsize vehicles, they are forced to get smaller and more efficient, and in the eyes of the public, less safe. this of course further pushes them to larger cars and suvs that don't have those requirements.
This is because Americans listen to TV commercials for 'facts'. SUVs are proven to be unsafe: they are more likely to tip over and have longer braking distances because of the excessive weight. SUVs and vans are classified as "trucks", and have lower safety requirements than cars. Insurance agents will tell you, you are more likely to get into an accident with a larger vehicle. The original Chrysler minivan was one of the worst vehicles on the road for safety and durability.
It's just cheap psychology, people
think bigger is safer, and they think they get more value for a bigger vehicle, and automakers know that they can make higher profits on bigger vehicles, and rather than invest in proper R&D and innovation, they just make the same crap over and over, bigger (most of these things still have pushrod engines, leaf springs, drum brakes and solid rear axles).
This is a video done by the British show, 5th Gear, that shows that the Smart car is safer in high speed crashes (70 miles/hr) than much bigger cars. It even fares better when crashed against cars 2x its weight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s
F=MA, you can't get around physics. You can't stop a truck in the distance of a car, when you hit with a truck, you are sending more force. Trucks aren't just unsafe for passengers, they pose a risk to everyone else on the road.
These people were killed by the weight behind them, and the fact that this truck was never originally designed for public road use.
