in Shaver, A4). This, however, is highly unreasonable. The number of registered SUV's in the Washington area from 1996 to 1999 was so startling that officials thought the figures were wrong. Pollution is not the only problem brought forth by an increase of SUV use, but unfortunately another large problem with SUV's is in regards to their safety.
SUV's have been proven to be more fatal for drivers in smaller cars. When an SUV collides with another vehicle, its massive size and high-riding frame tend to mutilate smaller cars and prove more fatal. The driver of the SUV usually walks away from these collisions unscratched while the driver of the smaller car can be injured or killed (Naughton, 25). I remember when my mom got into an accident during one of the first rains of winter, with the grounds all extra slippery; she stopped a little too late, hitting the SUV in front of her. Nothing happened to the SUV, while my mom's small Honda hood got pushed in. The driver of the SUV did not mind about getting hit, probably due to the fact that nothing happened to his car, not even a scratch.
Even though very popular, SUV's are increasingly the subject of safety studies. The statistics are surprising. Rollovers are a leading cause of auto related deaths and SUV's are three times more likely to roll over than other vehicles. More than 60 percent of the SUV passengers killed in traffic accidents were involved in rollovers. The main cause for the high rollover rate is that the SUV's center of gravity is too high, making it more difficult to control in turns. For drivers, the higher passenger compartment can lead to a false sense of security with a perception of driving speeds considerably lower than actual rates (Rist, 14). Having driven friend's SUV's, I can see how speeding becomes extremely easy without noticing. Just thinking about SUV's, I can name off a number of flaws, leaving me to wonder why SUV's came to be so popular today.
