"For a generation, pickups and SUVs have symbolized a rugged, oversized, no-holds-barred American lifestyle. Tuesday, automakers made it clear that consumers are hitting the brakes on their love affair with the hardiest, roomiest -- and thirstiest -- vehicles." What bullshit. Those SUV's were terrible off road vehicles. Look at some of them from the rear, the suspension hangs down and would get hung up off road, in some cases the bottoms of the shock absorbers were about 6 inches or less off the ground. the only real off road vehicles were the 4 wheel drive trucks, and the hummer. All the other SUV's were designed for false security, a big, heavy vehicle will protect the family. SUV's are top heavy, they handle terrible, they do not have the same crash protections as cars - that's right, cars are expected to be more crashworthy than SUV's, because they are "trucks" and the crash worthiness of cars do not apply. So if you drive a chevy trailblazer (or whatever its called) my corolla survives a head on crash with a barrier better than your trailblazer. I checked out SUV's when one of my sons wanted to buy one, they look cool (sometimes) but drive awful, handle awful, brake terrible, crash dangerously. I remember back in Oklahoma, when I worked for a health care corp, out chief financial officer (a hopeless okie) adopted a child and he went out and bought a Ford Explorer so his wifey and child would be safe driving to the shopping mall...what an idiot.
Many experts now say the rollover propensity of the SUV is more to blame for fatal accidents than faulty tires.
I looked up front crashes for explorer and Ford has greatly improved the performance since the explorer first came out: a 60 mph front crash (into stationary object) would total the explorer and buckle the frame underneath the driver, but driver would only have leg injury, no head injury. So ok, the explorer is finally as "safe" as a car like a Taurus ("safe" is a relative term in a 60 mph crash...)
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