SUV is an acronym for sport-utility vehicle. The importance lies in people realizing the difference - cars are meant for everyday use, vehicles are meant for more specific, technical uses. The classification is now incorrect, though, because these vehicles are being used for the same purpose as cars. The debate environmental agencies must now deal with is that Federal law permits SUV's to waste 33 percent more gasoline than passenger cars; this is problematic especially since SUV's are becoming the car of choice in America (Shaver, A4). With the greatly rising sales of SUV's, Americans seem blinded to the fact that SUV's cause greater amounts of pollution, and are unsafe in a number of ways.
Television advertisements present SUV's as a way to return to nature, yet SUV's actually accelerate existing environmental problems. Commercials often depict happy families driving on mountain roads, avoiding falling rocks and enjoying the flowered wilderness in leather-seated comfort (Bradsher, 29). The truth, which many choose to ignore, is that SUV's can spew 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons with 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars (Bradsher, 36). Americans disregard the truth because in America, a car is far more than just a means of transportation - it is a status symbol. Many people purchase SUV's due to the empowering feeling they receive from having one; it is no wonder why more than half the cars being sold today are SUV's (Motor Vehicle).
Transportation officials claim that the number of sport-utility vehicles on Washington area roads is growing so fast that it will likely push the region over the pollution limits for automobile emissions and force delays in same-road building projects (qtd. in Shaver, A4). Officials expect the amount of nitrogen oxide in the D.C. region's air to be eight tons per day over the limit of 162 tons by 2005. Officials admit that there is no way to make up eight tons of extra pollution a day unless Washington takes all the highway projects out and puts everyone on Metro (qtd.