| SPORTS UTILITY VEHICLES Essay, Research Paper
We see them everywhere these days, on the way to work,
on the highways, parked in every driveway and hundreds
of them by every shopping center. Sports utility vehicles
have given a new meaning to the word car. When it comes
to safety, SUV’s (sports utility vehicle) are by far the most
dangerous vehicles on the road, and the road is exactly the
place they should not be. Sports utility vehicles are
designed for off road driving. It seems like bigger the body
is on a SUV, the more popular it is; the SUV’s that we see
on the roads today are still a normal size car compared to
the coming future models.
With huge bodies and very low safety features sports utility
vehicles are being used for totally wrong purposes. Their
huge bodies make it hard for other cars to have a clear
view of the road they are traveling on. It is very difficult to
see around a sports utility vehicle. When a vehicle like
Chevrolet Suburban, Yukon, or Ford Expedition is backing
up from a parking spot, may god be with the person, car,
or any other object that is located behind them. The driver
of these monster trucks have no low rear view at all; sports
utility vehicles might be safe to some extent but that only
applies to the passengers and the driver in that vehicle. The
SUV’s poor brakes and portly weight make them more
difficult to stop in rain and snow. Many people get false
sense of security from their SUV’s because they’ve been
told that SUV’s are good in snow. What they forget, is that
they still have to stop. Let’s say an accident was about to
take place; the vehicles involved would be a Lincoln
navigator and a normal family sedan. The chances of
survival for the passengers in the sedan would be 4 times
less. Due to a tall chassis that the body of the vehicle is
mounted on, the risk of flipping is very high. A sports utility
vehicle is nothing but a mini van body on a 4×4-truck
frame. A mini van or a full size van serves exactly the same
purpose as a sports utility vehicle does, and the vans are
much safer, also they consume much less gasoline 270,000
Chevrolet Suburban and Yukon?s are on recall, due to
airbag problems.
Second reason why SUVs are not a safe transportation
vehicle is that oil today, is a natural resource that will only
last for 45 more years. A sports utility vehicle with an
engine size of 5.7 liters has a gasoline mileage equivalent to
two Toyota Camrys and one Honda Civic combined. In
order to tow a trailer that is more than 3000 pounds, then a
large SUV is the best choice. However if the trailer is less
than 3000 pounds, there are many mini vans that are up to
the task. The Chevrolet venture tows 3500 pounds and the
Pontiac trans port tows 3000, for example. Mini vans and
some wagons have more usable space than SUVs of
comparable size. Interior space is sacrificed when SUV
bodies are designed around truck frames or other 4WD
systems.
Though few will admit it, many poseurs think that their
SUV gives them a tough, independent image instead of the
"soccer mom" or "married man" image of a mini van or
wagon. While this might have been true a few years ago
before this trend started, now an SUV screams "YUPPIE
SUBURBAN FAMILY IN A SUBURBAN" just as
much, if not more than a mini van or wagon. If we take in
consideration why so many people prefer SUVs to any
other kind of vehicle, we will find that there is no other
reason but a simple stupid trend, which is created by auto
industries. Just when sports cars and family sedans were
getting good, the SUV craze started. Top heavy Explorers
and Pathfinders are replacing Taurus SHOs and Nissan
300zxs. This regression in automotive technology is
pathetic, and we hate to see this trend destroy the progress
that cars have made. If people would go by their own
needs instead of competing with neighbor Anderson about
who got the biggest SUV, all the vehicles wouldn’t look the
same by every driveway.
We should admit who we are, and buy the vehicle best
suited for our need and not based on some silly trend.
Unfortunately many people are unaware of how technically
inferior SUV’s are, strictly from engineering point of view.
This would be far less outrageous if not for their high asking
prices and huge profit margins. We all would like to see
good products succeed in the marketplace and bad ones
fail, not the other way around.
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