preview

Suvs Research Paper

Decent Essays

SUV’s have become the center of a large controversy in the last couple of years. Many studies have been conducted on the relation to the economy and the popularity of the SUV. The sport utility vehicle not only affects the economy with its gas-guzzling capabilities during a time of war, but with the safety questions that have continued to arise.

“Automobiles have a large impact on the quality of our environment and public health. Automobile use affects virtually every aspect of environmental quality - including noise levels, air quality, water pollution, and urban sprawl. Ninety percent of the environmental impact of automobiles occurs through the operation of the cars: about 10 percent from the production, raw materials and disposal of …show more content…

Transportation is the number one thing we consumers do that harms the environment. Transportation causes the highest amount of environmental damage overall - nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than a quarter of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. Over time, however, sales of trucks, vans and SUV's went from 16% market share to over 50%. One big auto manufacturer even shelved their work of the last three years, spent updating their most popular selling economy car, so they could spend the money getting SUVs to market faster.

Many people buy SUVs for safety purposes, not realizing they are among the most hazardous vehicles on the road. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study shows that SUVs are more dangerous than mid-sized cars. There are 75 deaths for every million SUVs in accidents, compared to 48 for mid-sized cars. Half of all occupant deaths in SUVs in 1995 were caused by single-vehicle rollovers; rollovers account for 36 percent of the deaths in pick-up trucks and 19 percent in cars. I think of this every time I read about an SUV rollover accident in The Union. Further, these "mobile billboards" block the view of the road ahead for everyone behind them, as well as oncoming traffic (ever tried to turn from Pine onto Broad Street in Nevada City and one's parked on the corner?).

Even though SUVs are frequently marketed as safer than cars, they are in fact more dangerous.

Get Access