[The Hummer Mentality: continued from previous page]
More vexing to me, however, is how dangerous SUVs have made life for
everyone else. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to die. But if you
get an SUV and decide to put yourself at risk, I don't want you taking me
out with you . But that is the reality of the situation. Bradsher titles this
phenomenon the "kill rate". Note this statistic: for every one life saved by
an SUV, five lives will be taken. Mencimer notes, "Government researchers
have found that a behemoth like the four-ton Chevy Tahoe kills 122 people
for every 1 million models on the road; by comparison, the Honda Accord
only kills 21."
Accounting for the high kill rate is the SUV design. Smaller cars offer
little if any protection against a side-impact collision with an SUV. With
the SUV sitting so high off the ground, most cars that are hit from the
side by an SUV will have little in protection to offer. With such a high
hood, SUVs miss a car's reinforced doors which are meant to protects its
occupants, causing the passengers of the impacted vehicle to suffer more
serious injuries. "When a car is hit from the side by another car, the victim
is 6.6 times a likely to die as the aggressor. But if the aggressor is an
SUV, the cars driver's relative chance of dying rises to 30 to 1. "
Who's Responsible?
So we have a nation full of insecure drivers behind the wheel of the
heaviest and most difficult-to-drive vehicles in the world, feel safe?
Probably not. And is there room for hope? Very little. The reality is
that this SUV craze is probably here to stay. Too many people have
too much invested and with Americans thinking they can buy happiness,
the roads will only become more precarious.
So who in invested, you might be asking? The oil industry. I know,
everyone blames oil companies for everything, but they are huge
movers and shakers. Think about it, in the last 50 years, we have seen
the most remarkable of human achievements, including a man on the
moon. In just the last 20 years, life has changed dramatically. Rotary
phones turned to touch-tone, turned to pagers, turned to small cell
phones. Super-computers, turned to Apples, turned to PCs, turned to
Palm Pilots. Every technology has been revolutionized. Yet cars keep
getting bigger and consume [READ: waste] more gas. All this occurring
while technology has improved and alternatives have become available.
The oil companies are responsible. They have fought legislation for
tougher fuel requirements and stunted the development of fuel alternatives.
Mark Morford puts it quite succinctly, "its because of the titanic truckloads
of cash to be made by continuing to exploit the world's oil reserves,
brokering obscene deals and destroying land and earning our nation
phenomenal levels of hatred."
The auto industry is heavily invested in keeping these hazards on the
road and they are not about to give up on their cash cow. The SUV is
solely responsible for revitalizing the struggling American auto industry
and the economy is dependent on their production.
Government. And no, I'm not only talking about its failure to regulate these
reaper-on-wheels, although that in-itself is bad enough. I'm talking about
the government as a consumer. We have all seen government officials
traveling around in the lap of luxury [SUVs are categorized as luxury
vehicles]. Would we tolerate them buying BMW coupes or other luxury
vehicles? This phenomenon is not limited to politicians either; police and
fire departments have also joined in the fun. They should all stop wasting
our tax dollars and stick with the Lincoln Towncars [or maybe a used Geo
Metro]. Yes folks, you and I pay for their cars.
Furthermore, government now wants you to pay for these luxury vehicles
not only for the government, but some of your fellow citizens. The Bush
Administration wants to subsidize the purchase of SUVs [Hummers
included] for small business owners. And there are no limits to what kind
of business either, meaning that a doctor or a lawyer, who has no
practical need for an SUV, could have their purchase subsidized by your
tax-payer dollars. That means if Joe-Schmoe-business-rich-guy wants to
buy a Hummer H2 to get him from his house to the supermarket across
the street, you and I will have to pay for it. Can you believe that? Don't
you wish he would help pay for your car? I'm no conspiracy theorist
[David Chapelle - Undercover Brother], but it seems to me that it's hard to
argue against the notion that "the people" always get screwed by "the Man".
We are responsible. Lets face it, without consumption, these vehicles
would not exist. The fact that millions of people have gone out to buy these
unsafe, gas-guzzling environment killers is sufficient proof that we must
blame ourselves. While soccer moms and soccer dads should be buying
Chevy Ventures, which are safer and more fuel efficient, instead they
opt to take Bobby and Marsha to their soccer and cheerleading practice
in a Hummer H2.
And that decision in not really made with safety in mind, but vanity. David
Bostwick, Chrystler's market research director states, "If you have a
sports utility, you can have the smoke windows, put the children in the
back and pretend you're single."
I wouldn't put all the blame on the baby boom generation either [I like to
be fair], younger folks are buying these vehicles too. How many times
have I seen young cats rollin' in Escalades while they won't even give
their baby-mama food for the kids. Or how many time have I seen cats
rollin' in their Lincoln Navigator, but can't afford to buy a mattress for
their one bedroom apartment. They live in the worst of places, but at
least they got a nice ride parked in the front [priorities people, priorities!].
But I expect that of my generations, sad indeed.
Well, I should probably wrap this up. If anything, maybe this long diatribe
will keep the three people who read this article from purchasing an SUV.
Well, I've decided not to buy one, so only two more to go!
[Back]
- Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Pinolero
Jeromey