[extropy-chat] Real Extropians don't drive SUVs

Brian Alexander Lee brian_a_lee at hotmail.com
Mon Aug 23 13:22:34 UTC 2004


Look, generally speaking there are more things inherently unsafe about SUVs
than sedans. I'm aware that there are unsafe things about everything in our
universe, but one of my personal goals is to reduce these risks. So when it
comes time to purchase a vehicle a rational decision factor is "What is the
safety record of this vehicle and class?" and "What are the safety features
of this vehicle and class?".

BAL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. Andrew Rogers" <andrew at ceruleansystems.com>
To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 3:56 PM
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Real Extropians don't drive SUVs


> > There are things inherently unsafe about many SUVs. They have a higher
> > tendency to roll over (not just due to driver ignorance). They also
> make the
> > road less safe for non-SUV owners by obstructing their view.
>
>
> There are many things inherently unsafe about EVERY type of vehicle --
> engineering is about trade-offs.  To reverse your assertion above, small
> sedans are inherently less safe because they give poor visibility.  All
> you are saying is that $VEHICLE is the safest of all vehicles iff the
> entire universe is engineered to be optimal for the design of $VEHICLE.
>  Welcome to the real world.
>
>
> > So it is a little more than just "use wisely". If you take an excellent
> > driver and have them drive a sedan and an SUV, they will have more
> > roll-overs and be more unsafe in the SUV even though their driving
> skill is
> > excellent.
>
>
> You take your Prius on a gravel highway up in the mountains and I'll
> take the unused Bronco sitting in my driveway.  The Prius is inherently
> less safe even if you never see another vehicle.  Which would you rather
> be in if you hit a moose or cattle or got stuck in a rainstorm on that
road?
>
> There is a hell of a lot more to safety than a moderately higher
> probability of rollovers, which are a tiny portion of the bigger
> calculus.  For a skilled driver who understands the parameters of an
> SUV, a rollover is not a major concern.  Of the rollovers I've seen
> around here (more than half of which were sedans), the SUVs generally
> appeared to be the aforementioned soccer moms that like to play Pole
> Position while yapping on the phone and putting on make-up.  Their
> number was coming up anyway (in terms of having an accident), the choice
> of an SUV just helped parameterize the mode.
>
>
> j. andrew rogers
>
>
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