SJ
07-08-2003, 01:28 PM
From the Freelancestar - Jason Vines
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In reality, SUVs are among the safest vehicles on the highway and do not pose undue risks to other drivers. Less than 3 percent of crashes are rollovers. And while especially violent events, NHTSA estimates that eight out of 10 rollover fatalities could have been prevented had the deceased occupants been wearing their safety belts.
What's more, the latest available report on multivehicle crashes shows that SUV-car collisions account for just 4 percent of highway fatalities--despite the boom in SUV sales.
Finally, SUVs are much cleaner than just a few years ago and within the next few years will equal cars in super-low emissions. Ahead of schedule, some SUVs already meet car standards and most 2003 SUVs are cleaner than 2000 model year passenger cars. Here's a stunning fact: A round-trip from Washington, D.C., to Albuquerque, N.M., and back in a 2001 Ford Explorer pollutes less than a one-way trip from D.C. to Baltimore in a 1969 Chevy Blazer.
No vehicle is perfectly safe nor perfectly clean, and still more progress can and should be made on both fronts.
...
In reality, SUVs are among the safest vehicles on the highway and do not pose undue risks to other drivers. Less than 3 percent of crashes are rollovers. And while especially violent events, NHTSA estimates that eight out of 10 rollover fatalities could have been prevented had the deceased occupants been wearing their safety belts.
What's more, the latest available report on multivehicle crashes shows that SUV-car collisions account for just 4 percent of highway fatalities--despite the boom in SUV sales.
Finally, SUVs are much cleaner than just a few years ago and within the next few years will equal cars in super-low emissions. Ahead of schedule, some SUVs already meet car standards and most 2003 SUVs are cleaner than 2000 model year passenger cars. Here's a stunning fact: A round-trip from Washington, D.C., to Albuquerque, N.M., and back in a 2001 Ford Explorer pollutes less than a one-way trip from D.C. to Baltimore in a 1969 Chevy Blazer.
No vehicle is perfectly safe nor perfectly clean, and still more progress can and should be made on both fronts.