Suvs Essay Research Paper These vehicles are

Suvs Essay, Research Paper

These vehicles are stylish to have, but how safe are they to the public. The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) is supposed of as one of the safest vehicles on the road today. People out looking for a new vehicle look at the design of a SUV and cannot see why it wouldn.t be the best choice. The tall frame of an SUV it gives the driver better visibility and ground clearance. The optional 4×4 makes it better for snow and going off road. Their heavy weight and large body are supposed to make these vehicles tough and durable. Also, the SUV has very similar design to a truck, which appeals more to the public than does a van or minivan. Though these characteristics of an SUV are supposed to make them safe, they actually make SUVs very dangerous to drive.

Overall safety on American roads has increased over the last decade. However, sport utility vehicles threaten to reverse the trend. When it comes to safety, SUVs may be the most dangerous vehicles on the road, and the road is exactly the place they should not be. Sports utility vehicles are supposedly designed for off road driving. It seems like the bigger the body is on a SUV, the more popular it is, which is causing the manufacturers of these SUVs to come up with even larger models. So, the SUVs that we see on the roads today are still a normal size car compared to the coming future models. With huge bodies and very low safety features sports utility vehicles are being used for a different purpose than what they where intended for, being an off road vehicle. This causes problems with driving them on the road. Their huge bodies make it hard for other cars to have a clear view of the road they are traveling on. It is very difficult for others to see around a sports utility vehicle. When an SUV like a Chevrolet Suburban, Yukon, or Ford Expedition is backing up from a parking spot, the driver of the SUV cannot see objects located directly behind them. The driver of these massive vehicles have very poor vision to the rear and also cause visibility problems for other drivers; sports utility vehicles might be safe to some extent as far a forward visibility but that only applies to the passengers and the driver in that vehicle.

Braking has also become a big issue; because of the weight of the SUV it results in much longer stopping distance. In fact, drivers of SUVs were warned by the U.S. Government to stay further back from other cars for safety reasons. As accidents and injuries associated with failure to stop quickly continue to rise, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has told owners of certain SUVs to .drive cautiously, leave an extra margin of safety in front of their vehicle. (NHTSA homepage). Moreover, the problems with handling does not stop with driving in good conditions, in fast SUVs perform even worse in bad conditions compared to other vehicles. The SUVs’ poor brakes and portly weight make them more difficult to stop in rain and snow. Many people get a false sense of security from their SUVs because they’ve been told that SUVs handle well in snow. This is not to say the vehicle cannot drive though snow as well as a truck but, the problem is that stopping distance is sacrificed.

SUVs don.t just pose some serious safety problems for occupants, SUVs are also greatly increasing the danger on our roads for drivers and passengers in other cars. The increased damage to a car from an SUV results from the design. Let’s say an accident was about to take place; the vehicles involved would be a Lincoln Navigator and a normal family sedan. The chances of survival for the passengers in the sedan would be 4 times less (Dateline) than the passengers in the SUV. On, average, SUVs are designed to ride eight inches higher than a most cars (J. Muller, 2). SUVs also have a much more rigid and heavy frame using two steel rails instead of the one used by passenger cars (IIFHS homepage). Consumer Reports says, .We.re also concerned about what happens to cars that collide with SUVs. Many SUVs have rigid frames and high bumpers, and they weigh much more than similar-sized cars. In a collision, they can override a car.s bumpers and crumple the passenger compartment, killing or maiming the car.s occupants. More people have been killed in crashes between a car and a light truck, such as an SUV, than in crashes between two cars . even though two car crashes are more common, and there are twice as many cars as light trucks on the road. (Consumer Reports homepage).

Due to the tall chassis that the body of the vehicles are mounted on, the risk of flipping is very high. The propensity of SUVs to roll over is a major safety concern. SUVs are over three times more likely to roll over in a crash than a passenger car (Link Staff 1,4), which leads to higher fatalities. According to NHTSA, SUVs rollover in 37 percent of fatal crashes, compared to a 15 percent rollover rate for passenger cars (NHTSA homepage). Rollover crashes accounted for 53 percent of all SUV occupant deaths in single vehicle crashes in 1996 (Stoller). Only 19 percent of occupant fatalities in passenger cars occurred in similar crashes (Stoller). SUVs are also prone to friction rollovers. A friction rollover happens when the friction generated by the tires when turning a corner hard becomes high enough to cause the center of gravity to extend over its base. Most passenger vehicles cannot roll over this way, unless