Photo: Cadillac
Ten years ago - or maybe more -, the automotive industry was about to go through a very significant change. A certain type of vehicles that had been around for much longer were suddenly becoming a lot more appealing to a much broader audience.
They used to be called 4x4s (four by fours) or off-roaders, but once people who mostly drove them around towns started buying them, that needed to change into something a bit more accurate. The best the industry could come up with was Sports Utility Vehicles, despite the fact only the last of the three words bore any connection with the reality.
Fast forward to present days and the SUVs and crossovers are still the best selling segments almost anywhere in the world, despite the fact that our roads and our cities are becoming more crowded by the day. But despite all evidence, there is a logical explanation for the SUV's ascendance to stardom.
It all goes back to the early adopters. Exactly what made the first people choose this type of vehicles is open for debate, but it was probably versatility. They needed a car that could handle itself on rough terrain, but work just fine on asphalt as well. The SUVs offered a higher driving position which led to increased visibility and an overall greater sense of safety. But these two benefits they bestowed upon their occupants were mirrored in a reverse way for the other drivers around. They found it very hard to see around these large vehicles and the prospect of one hitting their compact sedans was less than enticing.
And since you can't control what cars other people buy, the only solution they saw was to get one of their own. Naturally, bigger and heavier, if possible. Add a bit of vanity to the mix and you'll see how things escalated so quickly to the situation we have on our hands now. But focusing on other drivers alone is wrong because the traffic participants that have the most reasons to fear SUVs are the pedestrians.
Their taller than normal and vertical front ends - as well as their mass - significantly reduce the odds of surviving for the pedestrians they might hit. Not to mention that their height makes spotting shorter things (like kids) difficult in tight urban areas, which is where a lot of these vehicles spend most of their time.
A recent string of regrettable fatal SUV and pedestrian encounters have convinced Treehugger.com author Lloyd Alter to call for a ban on all SUVs inside city borders. "Yet another needless death caused by a driver who cannot control her car. Why do we allow these in cities?" he asks rhetorically, before launching into an explanation of why SUVs and cities don't mix too well. His main argument is that, statistically, one of this vehicles is three times more likely to injure a pedestrian fatally than normal cars, so naturally, the two should be separated. And since banning walking is even more absurd than banning SUVs, his chose the latter of the two solutions.
Obviously, that's more than a little ridiculous. Force manufacturers to find ways of making these cars more pedestrian-friendly? Sure. Launch campaigns that attempt to convince car buyers to go for other kinds of vehicles? Why not, it's a free country (and, mostly, a free world). Tell hundreds of thousands of people that the car they've bought - and spent a lot of money in most cases - won't be allowed to enter any city starting the next day because some idiot driver in Canada can't tell Reverse from Drive or the accelerator from the brake pedal? That might be taking things a little too far. What do you think?
Fast forward to present days and the SUVs and crossovers are still the best selling segments almost anywhere in the world, despite the fact that our roads and our cities are becoming more crowded by the day. But despite all evidence, there is a logical explanation for the SUV's ascendance to stardom.
It all goes back to the early adopters. Exactly what made the first people choose this type of vehicles is open for debate, but it was probably versatility. They needed a car that could handle itself on rough terrain, but work just fine on asphalt as well. The SUVs offered a higher driving position which led to increased visibility and an overall greater sense of safety. But these two benefits they bestowed upon their occupants were mirrored in a reverse way for the other drivers around. They found it very hard to see around these large vehicles and the prospect of one hitting their compact sedans was less than enticing.
And since you can't control what cars other people buy, the only solution they saw was to get one of their own. Naturally, bigger and heavier, if possible. Add a bit of vanity to the mix and you'll see how things escalated so quickly to the situation we have on our hands now. But focusing on other drivers alone is wrong because the traffic participants that have the most reasons to fear SUVs are the pedestrians.
Their taller than normal and vertical front ends - as well as their mass - significantly reduce the odds of surviving for the pedestrians they might hit. Not to mention that their height makes spotting shorter things (like kids) difficult in tight urban areas, which is where a lot of these vehicles spend most of their time.
A recent string of regrettable fatal SUV and pedestrian encounters have convinced Treehugger.com author Lloyd Alter to call for a ban on all SUVs inside city borders. "Yet another needless death caused by a driver who cannot control her car. Why do we allow these in cities?" he asks rhetorically, before launching into an explanation of why SUVs and cities don't mix too well. His main argument is that, statistically, one of this vehicles is three times more likely to injure a pedestrian fatally than normal cars, so naturally, the two should be separated. And since banning walking is even more absurd than banning SUVs, his chose the latter of the two solutions.
Obviously, that's more than a little ridiculous. Force manufacturers to find ways of making these cars more pedestrian-friendly? Sure. Launch campaigns that attempt to convince car buyers to go for other kinds of vehicles? Why not, it's a free country (and, mostly, a free world). Tell hundreds of thousands of people that the car they've bought - and spent a lot of money in most cases - won't be allowed to enter any city starting the next day because some idiot driver in Canada can't tell Reverse from Drive or the accelerator from the brake pedal? That might be taking things a little too far. What do you think?
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