Yeah her little feet can't reach the pedals

well, if it's not in a rough terrain, then it's extremely inefficient as well as irresponsible. I know people who drive their suvs to the gym... 6 blocks from their house.

Someone needs to ask all the entertainment industry hypocrites why they figure that a gas guzzling stretch limo is any better for the "environment" than an SUV.

If you really want to fluster them, ask them if all the footage that ends up on the cutting room floor (and then the landfill) is biodegradable. But of course none of that matters since it is we (the great unwashed) who are supposed to bend towards their windmills. ;~D

And how "responsible" is it for you to be on the internet. Do you realize how much energy is expended every day, just so you and I can Email, Surf and Blog?

Umm.. id venture not nearly as much energy is used in a month for the internet as is used for a day for the Ford F150s and Explorers and the like.

Regarding fuel economy: Yes you have the right to choose if you're going to drive an SUV in your everyday use. You also have the right to choose if you're going to drive a more economical car. But one choice makes you a smarter consumer than the other. (Extenuating occupations and circumstances exempted.)

Regarding SUVs, absent of fuel, the facts are thus:

1. SUV headlights are blinding to nighttime drivers of cars because they are higher. This endangers other drivers.
2. SUVs do more damage in wrecks. Car occupants experience substantially higher fatalities and more severe injuries in collisions with larger vehicles. (Source: Paul Craig Roberts, "Fuel Economy Laws Bite Back")
3. SUV drivers tend to be poorer at parking within the lines of a parking lot, no doubt due to their poorer turning radii. This is, for lack of a better word, stupid.
4. SUVs are difficult to see around in heavy traffic, thus depriving smaller drivers of the knowledge of what's going on up ahead (if car drivers pull back, other drivers will continually seize the opportunity to cut in). Again, this can be dangerous.

Those are my arguments against SUVs. I'm not a big Katie Couric fan, but if she's driving a small car, it can squish her--yes, just "like a bug." A stinkbug, perhaps.

-A.

You neglected to mention that SUV *drivers* tend to suffer fewer injuries due to the larger vehicle sustaining less damage.

Exactly. They feel less obliged to drive more safely. I have seen so many SUV drivers drive around in a very risky way. I almost got in serious accident with 3 SUV so far, and only one regular car. The regular car one was my fault, I am still kinda new on driving and I made a major blunder.

You could easily power entire house from one of those SUV engines for longer time than they last with a full tankful of gas. So you're basically making so much power driving around, but doing nothing but move around and create tons of heat. Maybe listen to some music, and some lights, thats it. The heater don't count, since it uses the engine's heat to heat up the air.

Yeah her little feet can't reach the pedals

That is kind of ironic as most of the people I see and know who drive them are little ladies.  They must use booster pedals!

You could easily power entire house from one of those SUV engines for longer time than they last with a full tankful of gas. So you're basically making so much power driving around, but doing nothing but move around and create tons of heat. Maybe listen to some music, and some lights, thats it. The heater don't count, since it uses the engine's heat to heat up the air.

Not unless you live in a log cabin.  When we lost power for 10 days after isabel, I got a 5500 watt generator.  That would only run the lights and small utilities, not the heater/AC, Washer Dryer etc.  And it used over 5 gals per 24 huors.  Adding the rest to a generator that would carry the load would easily drink up 25 gals per day.  Most SUV drivers dont use near that much in a day.

My arguments were against SUVs, not for them. I do realize that SUV drivers tend to suffer fewer injuries; however, they are also 40 to 60% more likely to rollover, depending on the model. My friend was killed that way.

Some are, but most are not.  And consumer reports that the better made ones are the best cars to own and drive from a safety standpoint.

As for the parking, their turning radius beats mine all to hell, so the obvious answer is not the car, but the driver.  I know, my wife owns one and I own a Toyota Tacoma.  Hers is a lot easier to park than mine.

Well, I don't know anything about Couric, but I also hate SUVs. Angloesque already noted many of my gripes against them. Personally, my feeling is that they are so popular, particularly with women, because of the "Napolean complex." Because you sit up higher, you simply feel more powerful. I recently took a trip to California, and basically had to rent an SUV because no one rented wagons and I couldn't get a guarantee that a mini-van would be configured in the manner I required to hold all of my family's luggage, and I can tell you for a fact that sitting up higher absolutely does not give you any better view of what's going on around you. It does, however, nicely block the view of anyone driving behind you. In addition, you absolutely do not have as good a view of what's happening around you from the driving position. Sure, they're safer vehicles from the standpoint of "passive avoidance" (meaning you're less likely to suffer injury due to the sheer size of the thing), but so is a tank (I'm sure we'll be seeing them on the road soon). From the standpoint of "active avoidance" however (the ability to maneuver around trouble), they lose out to most "regular" cars. And I'll tell you another thing while I'm on my soapbox, people who drive the full-sized SUVs like the Suburban, Expedition, and Hummer, should absolutely be required to get a different class of driver's license. There is a huge difference between driving one of those and driving around in your Honda Civic. Most people have no business driving around in something that big with being specifically qualified to do so. To sum it up, SUVs are "me" cars, and mini-vans (and the like) are "we" cars. I'm getting down now.

Bill

So I can count on you to sign my petition to ban all those annoying huge (as well as just plain noisy ) ambulances from the road? ;~D

How about the Semis?  They block it worse than SUVs and are a lot more dangerous in a crash!

Actually, it would be great if we could build a transportation system just for semis. Here in PA, there is a highway that I believe is considered one of the deadliest in the country because of the frequency of car/truck accidents resulting in fatalities. And as for ambulances, well, they're built the way they are because they pretty much have to be to serve the purpose they are meant to serve (did I say that in as confusing a manner as possible). My Taurus wagon seats more passengers than all but the largest SUVs, and is just as capable of hauling as much junk, probably even more than Explorers and the like. Yes, I feel like a complete dweeb riding around in it, but it serves it's purpose well (hauling around 3 kids and their pals). And it doesn't blind you when I'm coming toward you at night, unless I do it on purpose with the high beams because your freakin' SUV has temporarily place me among the non-seeing. So there.

Actually, it would be great if we could build a transportation system just for semis.

This kind of reminds me of a time I was home on leave from Ft. Bragg. Me and my brother were stuck behind a convoy of military vehicles on I-15. My brother, being the ever so patient driver he is, starting complaining about how those vehicles shouldn't be on an interstate freeway.

I laughed and reminded him that the nation's freeway system was funded mostly with Department of Defense dollars. The justification being, that with a system of freeways criss-crossing the country, the military could move equipment much faster.

Then I told him, "So I'd thank you to not get in the way of those military vehicles who do OWN THE ROAD!!! ;~D