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.