In reply to:

The arguments of supporting terrorists by owning an SUV is weakened greatly by the blatantly glutanous life styles all around us especially of those
leading the charge such as Huffington.


I don't know that this is necessarily true. It is possible to just try to resolve one problem at a time while admitting that there are also other problems. I also don't know how much other parts of people's lifestyles trace back as directly as fuel/oil consumption. Heating their homes is one possibility (i.e. oil consumption at the power plant), but a friend of mine made a good point that there is a layer of abstraction there -- by upgrading the plants, we "cure" the problem for many houses, as opposed to every SUV being a tiny little problematic power plant.

In reply to:

Yes SUVs are bigger than other vehicles but they themselves are shadowed by semis and other trucks with drivers who may or may have not slept in the last 24 hours.


Just because there are other trucks that may be larger doesn't make SUV's less bad. Besides, look at the numbers. As of 1997, there are 7 million "large trucks" registered and 67 million "light trucks" registered (and 124 million cars, incidentally). So yes, they're crappier but there are a much smaller number of them on the road.

In reply to:

I guess we justify the loss of life they create when in accidents because they are "needed".


Not that the large truck argument is really relevant, but as of 1997, large trucks account for only 12% of fatalities in the US. That leaves 88% of fatalities behind the wheel of SUV's and passenger cars.

In reply to:

I see as many bad drivers in smaller vehicles as I do in SUVs. It simply does not take a rocket scientist to realize that a bad driver is indeed a bad driver
whether in an SUV, a tractor-trailer or a sub-compact.


The original discussion wasn't about bad drivers. I think everyone agrees that 98% of people are jackasses (1997 number too ).

In reply to:

It all comes down to choice. If someone CHOOSES a smaller vehicle they run a higher risk of injury.


This is not necessarily true. I'm looking for the numbers on this one. For instance, my Cooper S has like 8 airbags. Apparently it turns into a huge balloon in an accident. The numbers do show that in an accident involving "large trucks" and smaller vehicles, there are more injuries in the smaller vehicles. I do agree that momentum is not on the side of the smaller vehicle. If this DOES turn out to be true, then how many more fatalities are caused by people having huge SUV's hitting passenger cars and killing the passengers?

In reply to:

But for someone to choose a smaller vehicle and then try to force these riskier vehicles on others is ridiculous.


The aim is not to "force" people to not buy cars, but to educate and inform people about the decisions they are making about the cars they drive. My preference is to have people speak and influence car manufacturers with their wallets, not to outlaw options.

In reply to:

I personally could not live with myself if I forced a person to purchase a car that they would have otherwise not chosen themselves.


First of all, could you really "not live with yourself"? Somebody's a drama queen . As far as the forcing part, see above. Personally, I tend to LIKE to be well-informed while purchasing a car, which often means I refer to reviews by other people and magazines. This information often affects the choice of the car that I perhaps originally set out to buy.