Wednesday, November 09, 2005
SUV Drivers Truly are Blind
Consumer Reports has reported that SUVs have enormous blindspots, which lead to 2,400 children being run over, and 100 being killed, every year. To demonstrate, they used a 28-inch high cone, which is about the size of a two-year-old, and placed it behind various cars. In a Chevy Suburban, the cone only become visible in the rear-view mirror when placed 46 feet behind the SUV.
Based on results such as these, lobbyists are pushing for greater safety systems on a SUV, such as rear video monitors or motion sensors. In response, Ron Defore of the SUV Owners of America said such requirements would be "dangerous public policy" because the SUVs would then become too expensive to buy.
Which is a more dangerous public policy; requiring an auto manufacturer to add a safety system to a vehicle for, at most, several thousand dollars, or allowing a car that runs over 7 children a day to remain on the road? SUV owners have already chosen to drive a vehicle that costs several hundreds of dollars more a year to fuel, not to mention that already costs about half the value of my house. If you can afford to buy a $30,000 dollar SUV, you can afford that additional cost for a safety system. If you can't maybe you should consider buying a different car.
Looking at the SUV Owners of America website, one can see how far someone can go to defend their lifestyle choice. I'll take it one further, Ron. Unless someone can show a demonstrable need to own an SUV, I think their sale should be curtailed by the federal government. Oil isn't just a commodity open to the free market, it is a valuable resource vital to the every tenet of the modern world and how we live. And, until an alternative energy source is found, it should be proitected and rationed rather than expended at every given opportunity. If you can't see that, then you truly do have blinders on.
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