[extropy-chat] Driver safety and the immortalist

[BillK]

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 22:50:58 -0700, Spike <spike66 at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Even the most hardcore libertarian can see that it would
> be a bargain to use public funds to repair the hole.  But
> if the government raises taxes then still refuses to
> resurface the roads, the best course of action is for the
> frustrated masses to buy the biggest rudest ugliest jacked up
> humvee available, then go out gleefully looking for holes
> to run over (muaaahahahahahahahaaaa, take THAT, you hole!).
>

It seems to me that blaming bad weather and bad roads for the poor 
accident record of SUVs is stretching the point a bit.

Car drivers take more care in bad weather. SUVs may make drivers
over-confident and too reckless in bad weather.

But the big problem with SUVs seems to be roll-overs.


>From <http://www.saferoads.org/issues/fs-rollover.htm> --

Rollover crashes are the leading cause of fatalities in SUVs. Rollovers
are among the most dangerous types of vehicle crashes because of the
high incidence of occupant ejection and head injuries. SUVs are more
prone to rollover than other vehicle types, due to their higher ground
clearance and narrow width, which tend to make these vehicles top-heavy
and more likely to roll over in crashes. (NHTSA)

In single vehicle crashes, 79 percent of the fatalities among SUV
occupants involve rollover. Single-vehicle rollover crashes produced
more than 50 percent of all occupant deaths in SUVs compared to 34
percent in pickup trucks and 19 percent in cars. (IIHS)

Lighter SUVs are disproportionately involved in fatal rollover crashes,
with a rate that is more than 6 times as high as that in the largest
cars. (IIHS)

For heavier SUVs, those weighing more than 5,000 pounds, nearly 4 out of
every 5 occupant crash deaths (78 percent) occur in single-vehicle
rollovers. (NHTSA)

In 2001, 35 percent of all SUVs involved in fatal crashes experienced a
rollover. The second most rollover prone vehicles were pickup trucks (25
percent), followed by vans (19 percent) and, finally, passenger cars (16
percent). (NHTSA)

A disproportionately high level of rollover related fatalities
characterizes SUV crashes - the SUV is the only vehicle type in which
the number of occupant deaths in rollovers exceeds the number of
occupant deaths in non-rollover crashes. In 2002, almost two-thirds of
occupant fatalities in SUV crashes occurred in rollovers. (NHTSA)

BillK