SUV Mania - Where Does It End? (2001)

Flashback to the 1970s, when lawmakers discover that...

• our national security depends on having a reliable source of petroleum, which powers all military vehicles and most shipping; and...
• burning gasoline (especially with carburetors!) tends to turn oil products, which are traditionally stored in liquid form under the ground, into gases and soot, some of which are toxic to people; and...
• since there were a limited amount of foliage buried way back when, we have limited supplies of fuel.

The result was an attempt to regulate fuel consumption. Whereas some governments would base auto taxes on engine size, or mercilessly tax gasoline, the U.S. chose to institute corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, ordering automakers to slowly raise gas mileage to roughly 27.5 mpg in cars. The plan was for the level to consistently rise and challenge automakers to do their best; as it happens, even in 1976, it was possible to make a reasonably priced car that could get well over 30 mpg, with a large trunk, acceptable acceleration and ride, and room for five - the Feather Duster.

As with so many other laws, a major exception was made to the CAFE rules: trucks were regulated differently than cars. Back then, trucks were used almost exclusively for business (or by people who actually needed trucks), because they were, well, trucklike. Normal people would not drive trucks or vans unless they needed to. Jeeps were not especially popular, and were included with trucks and vans, probably because it was easier.

Fast forward.

Times change. It's the late 1990s, and most people don't seem to care about anyone else. The subtext of most TV commercials is that people should be as annoying, obnoxious, and childish as possible.

Now, there is no longer any social incentive to conserve fuel. That would be politically correct, and as we all know, political correctness is politically incorrect. As noted earlier, the TV is constantly telling us that anyone who tells us to be polite deserves to be screamed at, soaked in cola, and generally abused. Someone should even run an Isuzu through their birthday cake to avoid growing older. (The Fountain of Youth is apparently made by not only Isuzu, but also Mitsubishi and several other companies).

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 2,000 traffic fatalities can be attributed to the mismatch between cars and light trucks (for example, SUV bumpers are far higher than car bumpers). Only Mercedes has placed an SUV bumper at a safe height.

Thus, we have an odd situation where over half the vehicles sold in the US in 1998 were officially not classified as cars, and are exempted from a number of regulations, including fuel economy, pollution, safety, lighting, and bumper height requirements, because in theory they are not used for everyday commuting, but for work. An odd exemption for over half the vehicles in the nation, especially when most are quite obviously being used as cars.

Indeed, these days even dedicated car owners are often thinking of moving to trucks just to avoid being creamed by those people who swing around full-size pickups like they were Fiat Spyders. Pickup and SUV owners do not seem to believe that they should exercise any more caution than someone driving a Neon; nor do many understand that they do have large blind spots for small cars. A few years ago, one could say they were buying a small car so their children could breathe; now, people who see that we have a small car wonder that we care so little about our children that we would allow them in a "deathtrap."

The result will, I suspect, be a nation in which the average fuel economy is 21 mpg, where we are increasingly opening up oceans and national preserves to oil drilling to preserve our way of life, where the heat rises just a little each year, and where people have a hell of a hard time breathing. I don't see much mass transit being developed, nor do I see the government moving to encourage people to drive cars instead of trucks. In fact, I see more car/truck hybrids - many more - and companies producing a wider range of trucks than cars. (Ford makes a wide range of large vehicles starting with "Ex" and is expanding them with ever-larger models. They are the least inhibited, with huge SUVs for each of their three major brands, presumably supported by large sales of Rangers. Chrysler, with no small pickup, still does not sell a full-size SUV outside of Mexico).

The fuel economy standards for "non-car" autos has increased by one mile per gallon since 1981.

There are solutions, of course. Culturally, we could all speak up, write letters to the newspapers, Congress, and television stations. Personally, we can continue to buy cars. As a nation, we can change the regulations and make CAFE and other rules apply to both cars and trucks equally, which would do wonders. (Personally, I would very much like to see the bumper-height requirement, so long applied to cars in the name of safety, applied to trucks, SUVs, and minivans, as well. This would prevent many deaths and serious injuries, at minimal cost. The Mercedes "SUV" has it - all should).

In the meantime, please have sympathy for me. In my experience, writing a letter of this sort engenders one or two replies in good English by people who agree, and dozens of profanity-laden, logic-free rejoinders by people who insist that I must be some sort of Godless left-wing communist who wants everyone to die in riceburners. (Note that if we all drove smaller cars, by the way, accidents between cars would be much less serious!).

The situation we live in today was caused by a never-addressed oversight. I urge you to do what you can to make sure that oversight is rectified, before the Dodge Durango is considered to be a "small car."

Responses

Wheatking wrote: Great article. I guess one place to start, since the vehicles are being used as cars, is to start smogging them like cars. Being biased AGAINST minivans/sportutes (i hate the things) perhaps cars like the PT Cruiser will change people's minds.. (still a minivan really, but a lot more like a normal car than a hunk of steel with a big motor).

Bill wrote: I know its probably been posted for awhile. But I just had to reply to your site's take on SUV. Amen, amen, amen. I currently own a Jeep Cherokee and it is a blast. I mean there is no comparison between it and my 84 Laser Turbo on the street but it is a dream when used to its potential. Although I do have ARB air lockers in my diffs so I get a good compromise between both on and off highway. I get irritated about the same stuff. The keep up with the Joneses, gotta have the newest most trendy SUV thing. I have owned 4 different 4x4's (3 were pick-ups) and I enjoy driving off-road as much as drag racing. It seems such a waste to spend money on something you will never use.

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