Roadhog Essay, Research Paper

According to the SUV info link website, Roadhog is any of several vehicle type exhibiting excessive size, creating dangerous highway condition, and emitting increased pollution, also formally known as SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle)

These are the enormous looking vehicles that I constantly have to seek refuge form while I am driving on the road. For some reason, all the SUV drivers seems to have this urge to run over small cars such as my modest Corolla.

Surprisingly enough, the number of these people is rapidly growing. From the downtowns to the winding highways, people are having a love afire with these monsters. Last year Americans purchased a record number of 3.36 million of them, most of which were domestic made. This year foreign made such as BMW and Honda Acura are reporting record number of sale. This is a concerning matter when SUV proven to be most inadequate vehicle for the consumer. The purpose of this paper is to establish the fact that SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles) are the most inadequate vehicle for the consumer. The three reasons that support this argument are, first the safety concern, second its damage to the environment and third its excessive cost.

The cleaver marketing and overstated advertisement has made an impression that SUVs are the safest vehicle on this planet. There is increasing evidence that SUVs are not as safe as they appear. Recent studies show that SUVs pose a significant threat to drivers and passengers of other cars on the road. In addition, there are indications that safety problems threaten passengers and drivers of SUVs themselves.

The propensity of sport utility vehicles to roll over is a major safety concern. Sport utility vehicles are more than three times more likely to roll over in crash than normal passenger cars. SUVs are built on the base of the pick truck platform. This meant that a taller and heavier body would be riding on a frame designed for a pick-up truck. The result is higher center of gravity than that of a pick-up truck. This causes SUVs such as Explorer to be top heavy and prone to rolling over at high speeds and sharp turns.

According to the NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were approximately 9,700 Americans death last year as a result of SUV and truck rollovers.

While SUVs pose serious safety problems for their occupants, recent studies are showing that SUVs are greatly increasing the danger for the drivers and passengers in other cars. Think about the Ford Excursion. It is 19 feet long and weighs 8500 pounds. Your average hatchback weights 2500 lbs. and is 14 feet in length. Imagine what is going to happen when an Excursion hits it. SUVs are designed to be eight inches higher than a car. They also have a more rigid frame that consists of two steel rails. So in a way it is designed to kill.

Driving an SUV has a much greater impact on the environment than driving other passenger cars. The federal regulations allow SUVs to waste 33 percent more gasoline than passenger cars. The federal corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards set the fuel economy goals for new passenger cars at 27.5 miles per gallon (m.p.g.). But under the law, SUVs (and other light trucks) only have to achieve 20.7 m.p.g. Federal law also gives heavy sport utility vehicles permission to emit higher levels of toxic and noxious pollution – carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. Sport utility vehicles can spew 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars.

Carbon dioxide, of course, is the most significant greenhouse gas that may be causing global warming. Because SUVs burn more gas than cars, more carbon dioxide is being released. The inefficiency of SUVs and light trucks has contributed to the increased emissions of 717 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

These combustion pollutants contribute to eye and throat irritation, coughing, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, confusion and headaches. Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are precursors to ground level ozone, which causes asthma and lung damage. So as we can see how great of a threat SUVs pose to the environment.

SUV are not inexpensive either. Gasoline is a major expense for large SUVs. In addition to higher fuel costs, SUVs have higher repair and maintenance costs. Can you imagine paying $5,000 – $6,000 for a new bumper? A June 1999 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that some popular SUV bumpers incur expensive damage in impacts at little more than “walking speed” or five miles per hour. Farmers insurance increase liability by 15%

Now that we know how costly, environmental unfriendly and hazardous SUVs can be, we will discuss some alternatives to purchase Suvs. First, you before purchasing new car ask yourself,

Do you commute more than 30 miles each way to work? 50 miles? Do you live in an urban or suburban area? Does the size of your current car meet your needs for cargo space? Are you concerned about road rage and other safety issues on America’s roads? Are you concerned about the increasing size of vehicles on America’s roads? Does the quality of your neighborhood’s air and the health of our children concern you?

There are also Hybrid vehicles in a push to dramatically lower vehicle emissions and increase gasoline engine efficiency. Honda, Toyota, Ford has come up with some of them.