Geodog

SUV's, Redux

A self-proclaimed regular reader of Geodog's weblog who enjoyed the pointer to Ariana Huffington's ads sent in pointers to two reviews of NYT reporter Keith Bradsher's new book, High and Mighty: SUVs--The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way. I haven't read the book myself, but Stephanie Mencimer's review in the Washington Monthly, Bumper Mentality makes it sound like a lot of fun, in the way that information that confirms all your worst fears is fun. Sort of.

According to Mencimer, all the stereotypes about SUV drivers are true: "SUV is the car of choice for the nation's most self-centered people; and the bigger the SUV, the more of a jerk its driver is likely to be." Brasher also details how unsafe SUV's are, both to the people around them and to the people inside them. According to the review, "the occupant death rate in SUVs is 6 percent higher than it is for cars – 8 percent higher in the largest SUVs" and the "kill rate... for SUVs is simply jaw-dropping. For every one life saved by driving an SUV, five others will be taken." The review, and presumably the book, are filled with infuriating statistics like that. Clearly, driving a behemoth SUV is an antisocial act.

Gregg Easterbrook also has a long and very positive review in TNR, Axle of Evil: America's Twisted Love Affair With Sociopathic Cars, which goes into a lot of detail on the regulatory environment that shaped this phenomenon. Easterbrook's observation on the political response to the book: "Members of Congress, for their part, have so far responded to this extraordinary book as they have responded to the entire issue: by hiding under their desks."

The book is definitely going on my wish list. I've ordered it from the Berkeley Public Library using Jon Udell's bookmarklet, but there are apparently 4 people ahead of me on the waiting list, so I may actually buy it.