SUVs:
STUPID USELESS VEHICLES

Speaking at an auto industry conference, Jeffrey Runge, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said he wouldn't drive those SUVs that scored lowest in government rollover ratings "if they were the last vehicles on earth."

In the 10-year period during which Ford-Firestone related rollovers caused some 300 deaths, more than 12,000 people --40 times as many-- died in SUV rollover crashes unrelated to tire failure. Do we need a law to prevent children from riding in them? Hell; do we need a law to prevent adults from riding in them!?
. . A Ford Explorer is 16 times as likely as the typical family car to kill occupants of another vehicle in a crash. Do they have the right to subject other people to such a danger?
. . Single-vehicle rollovers (for all vehicles) cause more fatalities than any other kind of motor-vehicle accident --one-quarter of all deaths yearly. In 1999, 63 percent of all SUV deaths were in rollovers.
. . Do SUVs have higher rollover rates than other types of vehicles? Yes. In 2000, SUVs had the highest rollover involvement rate of any vehicle type in fatal crashes -- 36%, as compared with 24% for pickups, 19% for vans and 15% for cars. SUVs also had the highest rollover rate for passenger vehicles in injury crashes --12%, as compared to 7% for pickups, 4% for vans and 3% for passenger cars.
. . Engineers and safety experts have long agreed that the best way for manufacturers to make SUVs more stable (less likely to roll over) is to lower the center of gravity and widen the wheel track. However, such fundamental changes to an SUV's design are costly, and automakers have often chosen less expensive (and less effective) design modifications.

The current CAFE standard for cars is 27.5 mpg, and has not changed since 1986. The current CAFE standard for light trucks --including SUVs-- is 20.7 mpg. This standard has been in place since 1996.

A tie for least efficient SUV: the Land Rover Range Rover, Cadillac Escalade, and GMC K1500 Yukon Denali all get only 12 mpg in the city and 15 mpg on the highway.
. . The SUVs named most polluting by the EPA are: the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet C1500 Avalanche, Chevrolet C1500 Suburban, Chevrolet C1500 Tahoe, Chevrolet K1500 Avalanche, Chevrolet K1500 Suburban, Chevrolet K1500 Tahoe, GMC C1500 Yukon, GMC K1500 Yukon, GMC K1500 Yukon Denali, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Toyota Sequoia.