SUV's get a bad rap!

[BooneRebel]

<< My points still stand.
SUV's are a trend, at least in developed areas. If you don't believe that, then there's no hope for you. >>


You and I agree that SUVs are a trend. You're just wasting your energy fighting it.


<< The majority of people that buy SUV's don't buy them for taking them off road. >>


It doesn't matter what people buy them for. You have your reasons for your purchases, I have mine. Deal with it.


<< They do use more gas than necessary most of the time. >>


How much gas is 'necessary'? Is it a fixed amount per person, or do you have a scale proportional to weight, income, etc.?


<< The do make the road less safe for other vehicles. >>


If you believe this then you should believe the corollary, they make the road more safe for their occupants.


<< You get the shaft from the manufacturer when you buy one, look at that profit margin. >>


The profit margin scales with the price of the vehicle. A $15,000 SUV will be similar to a $15,000 car, same for a $90,000 SUV and a $90,000 car. The percentage of the margin can usually be identified with the demand of the vehicle.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

<<

<< My points still stand.
SUV's are a trend, at least in developed areas. If you don't believe that, then there's no hope for you. >>


You and I agree that SUVs are a trend. You're just wasting your energy fighting it.


<< The majority of people that buy SUV's don't buy them for taking them off road. >>


It doesn't matter what people buy them for. You have your reasons for your purchases, I have mine. Deal with it.


<< They do use more gas than necessary most of the time. >>


How much gas is 'necessary'? Is it a fixed amount per person, or do you have a scale proportional to weight, income, etc.?


<< The do make the road less safe for other vehicles. >>


If you believe this then you should believe the corollary, they make the road more safe for their occupants.


<< You get the shaft from the manufacturer when you buy one, look at that profit margin. >>


The profit margin scales with the price of the vehicle. A $15,000 SUV will be similar to a $15,000 car, same for a $90,000 SUV and a $90,000 car. The percentage of the margin can usually be identified with the demand of the vehicle. >>

I'm not fighting anything.
I'm not even going to answer that.
That makes no sense.
Actually not. Do you really think it costs $10k more to build an SUV that has comparable features of a car?

 

[Viperoni]

Speaking of margins, if car manufacturers made as much money on cars as speaker manufacturers (Paradigm, PSB, Def Tech, ALL of them), lemme just say NO car company would ever be short of $$$

 

[KokomoGST]

"Car is suck!"

 

[MuffD]

I love my Expidition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PullMyFinger]

"I see your spelling is as good as your comebacks"
Now Matt, why don't you copy that entire post, in which I supposedly "misspelled", into Word and run a spell checker. I'll wait....... Gee, didn't find any errors did you, and you'll notice that it hasn't been edited either. Why don't you get a pen and paper so you can write this next phrase down: HA, HA, HA YOU'RE A F@CKING IDIOT, YOU CAN'T EVEN DISS WITHOUT STICKING YOUR HEAD UP YOUR @SS! Did you get all that? I could repeat it if you're having problems with the spelling.

Yayyyyyy, all hail Matt-hole, the knowingest person on the planet regarding SUV's. Um, lets see, you've provided exactly how many FACTS (not opinions, but FACTS)? That would be NONE. All of your responses are opinions of one narrowminded individual.

Don't worry BooneRebel your points all make sense, people like ThisIsScatt and the other fear mongers (use your best Elmer Fudd voice here) are just afwaid of all those big scawey SUV's, wemember they're dangewous all by themselves.

Aw, damnit, the neighbors dog just took a crap in the yard and I must have stepped in it after I got out of my huge, wasteful, dangerous SUV. Well, I'll just have to go wipe that sh!t off on the Matt.

Adaval,
You actually read Harpers? Ok, now that I've stopped laughing, do you realize that 90% of the people who subscribe to Harpers Bazar are minivan driving soccer moms? That really sounds like the kind of expert advice I'd choose to quote, those people in the car magazines don't know squat.

DocManhattan,
"No one is terribly concerned about a bad driver in a Yugo because the POS would probably bounce off anyone's car, roll to the curb and burst into flames". LOL, time to break out the marshmallows and graham crackers.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

<< "I see your spelling is as good as your comebacks"
Now Matt, why don't you copy that entire post, in which I supposedly "misspelled", into Word and run a spell checker. I'll wait....... Gee, didn't find any errors did you, and you'll notice that it hasn't been edited either. Why don't you get a pen and paper so you can write this next phrase down: HA, HA, HA YOU'RE A F@CKING IDIOT, YOU CAN'T EVEN DISS WITHOUT STICKING YOUR HEAD UP YOUR @SS! Did you get all that? I could repeat it if you're having problems with the spelling.

Yayyyyyy, all hail Matt-hole, the knowingest person on the planet regarding SUV's. Um, lets see, you've provided exactly how many FACTS (not opinions, but FACTS)? That would be NONE. All of your responses are opinions of one narrowminded individual.

Don't worry BooneRebel your points all make sense, people like ThisIsScatt and the other fear mongers (use your best Elmer Fudd voice here) are just afwaid of all those big scawey SUV's, wemember they're dangewous all by themselves.

Aw, damnit, the neighbors dog just took a crap in the yard and I must have stepped in it after I got out of my huge, wasteful, dangerous SUV. Well, I'll just have to go wipe that sh!t off on the Matt.

Adaval,
You actually read Harpers? Ok, now that I've stopped laughing, do you realize that 90% of the people who subscribe to Harpers Bazar are minivan driving soccer moms? That really sounds like the kind of expert advice I'd choose to quote, those people in the car magazines don't know squat.

DocManhattan,
"No one is terribly concerned about a bad driver in a Yugo because the POS would probably bounce off anyone's car, roll to the curb and burst into flames". LOL, time to break out the marshmallows and graham crackers. >>

Sorry, go back and read your last insult towards me. The spelling error lies there, and you made it again, here.

I've provided facts in this thread and/or the other recent thread regarding SUVs. You can find them yourself.

Now, how about you pull your finger out of your butt so you can go releave yourself rather than spewing all this $h!t out of your mouth.

 

[Ultima]

It just seems that a lot of people driving SUV's are assh!les, and YES, the vehicles themselves DO make the roads more dangerous. They reduce visibility and are more deadly to small vehicles in a crash...

Today I was nearly ran over by a SUV while crossing the street. I was at a crosswalk. A lot of dumbasses won't stop for you at crosswalks, so what I do is when one side is clear, I start walking and when theres enough space on the other side for a car to stop safely, I keep going. Well, there was enough space for this assh!le (a good 50 feet or more, travelling at 15mph est.), and he kept going. I had to run out of his way, and he had the audacity to honk at me! This behavior can be found with other road users of course, but I see it so much more with SUV's that it pisses me off.

The only other group of drivers that pisses me off as much are woman drivers. The other day while crossing at a stop sign some b!tch stopped halfway across the white line. She couldn't turn cause of cross traffic so she had to wait. While, I walked in front of her car cause I had no choice, her blocking the crosswalk and all and cars behind her. When I was in front of her she started honking madly at me and making obscene guestures. Ugh... I saw her the next day honking like hell at some guy crossing at another crosswalk, honking like hell when she was 100 feet away from him! wtf...

 

[Ultima]

<< that may be so Eli, however IMO the SUV offers a lot of things that the Accord can't, you ride much higher up, I don't know about you guys, but I like riding HIGH! Also, it is much safer, roomier, and you can haul some cargo around, and it's not like you're gettin 9 MPG here. >>



SUV's are not safer. If you hit a car, they are 6 times more likely to die than if you had hit them with a car. So... they're safer in that the OTHER family gets killed instead of yours. Yay... sounds more like an arms race to me.

 

[MaDHaVoK]

All you SUV owners wanna blurt out all this crap....

There are good drivers and there are bad drivers...

If a bad driver in a car was compared to a BB gun, a bad driver in a SUV would be a M4A1 gun...

And just in my own experience of 3 years driving (no accidents) I have seen about a 4 to 1 ratio of SUVs busting side mirrors of parked cars than cars...

Also, if SUV drivers wanna go around using your cars to intimidate people, bc you have a bigger car and we should get out of your way, AND YOU DO, thats fine.. you all said you have a right to drive a car as big as you want... well I guess as soon as I get the money I should have the right, to buy a tank from the US military and drive it.... then when you F8cks try to run me off the road, i'll show you whats up.

 

[andaval]

PullMyFinger - Yes, it's possible that an SUV makes you safer in a normal accident than if you were in another car. Unlike a seat belt, this is to the detriment of the other people. This is what makes it morally irresponsible, if not repugnant. This is similar to a situation where you and a friend see a bear, and you knock your friend on the ground before you run away, increasing your safety by hurting his. That is why the buglar alarm analogy is no good.



<< I'm a responsible driver who bases his decisions and comments on FACTS not OPINIONS. >>



Not Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Magazine (heard of Harper's index?) Harper's Sorry if it is too highbrow for you. Of course, use an ad hominem attack because you have no real argument. Oh, you're just poor. You're just jealous. Wah wah wah. Is it a fact that Harper's Bazaar is read by 90% soocer moms? Oh wait, I see. Other people must provide extensive documentation of any assertations, and then you mistakenly mock their source, but you can say whatever you want.

BooneRebel - So if your purchases shouldn't bother me, mine shouldn't bother you? You wouldn't care if I was buying assault weapons, grenade launchers, tanks, nuclear arms? If it bothers you, it's because you don't have enough money to buy them yourself, you jealous poor person.

 

[PullMyFinger]

Actually Matt-ilda, the only means of communications here is by the keyboard, if you're getting pissed off enough that you are actually talking to your computer, then you should probably step outside and get some fresh air.

And please point out where my spelling error is exactly in the previous post. I'm sorry but I looked at my last two posts and couldn't find the spelling problems you insist are there. Maybe it's because you are reading this through your sphincter, you know, rectal-cranial inversion, seems you have a chronic case. I recommend going to see Dr. Jellyfinger as soon as possible, you can even ask him to leave his class ring on (I heard you like that).

Continuing on the spelling theme, here is a winner that you provided in the same post where you whined about my spelling: "so you can go releave yourself ". And for extra bonus points you previously gave us this grammatical gem "You might as well say if you can't drive we people breaking all the traffic laws".
Uh, maybe you should heed your own advice before making a bigger @ss out of yourself tonight.

And those wonderful facts that you presented, what were they, oh yeah, "The ratio of stupid drivers in SUVs to stupid drivers in other vehicles is higher than 1", and "They do use more gas than necessary most of the time", and "Because they're pompous badasses, haven't we been over this", and the winner is "SUV's are one of the stupidest trends in America". Wow do I feel informed, you know I just may have to start an automobile review site based on your input alone.

Have a good night out there in "A$$hola Grande", maybe you'll post some more opinions that everyone can read in the morning.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

<< Actually Matt-ilda, the only means of communications here is by the keyboard, if you're getting pissed off enough that you are actually talking to your computer, then you should probably step outside and get some fresh air.

And please point out where my spelling error is exactly in the previous post. I'm sorry but I looked at my last two posts and couldn't find the spelling problems you insist are there. Maybe it's because you are reading this through your sphincter, you know, rectal-cranial inversion, seems you have a chronic case. I recommend going to see Dr. Jellyfinger as soon as possible, you can even ask him to leave his class ring on (I heard you like that).

Continuing on the spelling theme, here is a winner that you provided in the same post where you whined about my spelling: "so you can go releave yourself ". And for extra bonus points you previously gave us this grammatical gem "You might as well say if you can't drive we people breaking all the traffic laws".
Uh, maybe you should heed your own advice before making a bigger @ss out of yourself tonight.

And those wonderful facts that you presented, what were they, oh yeah, "The ratio of stupid drivers in SUVs to stupid drivers in other vehicles is higher than 1", and "They do use more gas than necessary most of the time", and "Because they're pompous badasses, haven't we been over this", and the winner is "SUV's are one of the stupidest trends in America". Wow do I feel informed, you know I just may have to start an automobile review site based on your input alone.

Have a good night out there in "A$$hola Grande", maybe you'll post some more opinions that everyone can read in the morning. >>

Blow me. Maybe if you'd pull your head out of your a$$ you'd see that I was referring to the spelling mistake in your cheesy insult, nothing else. It's sort of hard for an insult to bother someone when it isn't even correctly said. You freaking are so retorded. See, like that. I'm glad you had to go search through other posts to find my mistakes, just goes to show what kind of loser life you lead. Hope the SUV fills that fat void in your life, you shmuck. Hope you don't roll over some time.

You obviously can't see the difference between sarcasm and seriousness.

As before, blow me, you're the one who started throwing out non-relevant insults.

 

[andaval]

The problem here is that SUV owners represent bad Americans. They fell that they have some kind of god-given right to be environmentally irresponsible and put other people's live at needless risk. I'm sorry you were born with a small penis, and that you feel you must compensate by buying a grotesque SUV, but there is no way that it is morally defensible. If your safety is all that matters, why don't you put that anti-tank armor on your car that explodes outward on contact? It would make you very safe, of course, if you rear end someone, that's their problem. Dammit, you're an American! It is your right! Be all indignant! You have no social resposibility! As Homer would say, in case you didn't notice, I was being sarcastic.

 

[conjur]

<< They're one of the most popular style vehicles out there today >>



And AOL is the most popular ISP


Can you say...."marketing"? Yeah...thought you could.


They're [SUVs] not popular because some unfulfilled need was finally met, well, unless that need was just having to keep up appearances with the neighbors and show up to the PTA meeting in the biggest, tallest, most $$$ hunk of metal on the road.

Every time I go to a function at either of my daughters' schools it looks like a freakin' Minivan/SUV dealership. I need to mount a flashing red light atop a 15' mast on my bumper to spot my car.

 

[PullMyFinger]

Matt-hole,
You really are a piece of work. Your big "comeback" is a post which incorrectly states "Me Matt, me spell good". Ha, ha, ha, you couldn't even proof read your own typing before bitching about someone elses. Then you try to inflate your perceived importance by stating "I've provided facts", another false statement, every one of your posts in this thread has been your own narrow minded opinion. Oh yeah, nice unbiased link there in your last post, girlfriend.

Andaval,
In a free society, your statement "Yes, it's possible that an SUV makes you safer in a normal accident than if you were in another car. Unlike a seat belt, this is to the detriment of the other people. This is what makes it morally irresponsible, if not repugnant" makes absolutely no sense. Based on your statement, everyone should be riding around in open air vehicles with absolutely no crash protection just so that the passengers in all vehicles involved are injured equally? That is absolutely laughable. You say SUV's and large vehicles lead to an "arms race", well your reasoning would lead to a "foot race" because any vehicle capable of injuring a pedestrian would be "too big and dangerous" to be allowed on the road.

There are hundreds of vehicles which are legally allowed to operate on US roads. Small, medium, large, they're all available for purchase to the general public, pick what you want and buy it. Someone with a small car can say "your vehicle is too large, it will cause too much damage to my vehicle" while someone with a larger vehicle can say "your vehicle is too small, it doesn't provide sufficient crash protection". The coin has two sides.

And the analogy to guns and weapons is idiotic. Who is the more dangerous person in this scenario: a gun collector who uses semi-automatic weapons for competitions or a 19 year old crack addict with a knife standing outside a quicky mart? It's all in the person who is using the items.

And thankyou for pointing me to Harpers.org, I mistakenly thought you meant Harpers Bazaar. After visiting the Harpers.org website and reading the last months topics ("Estimated percentage change in the fuel efficiency of an S.U.V. if it flies a small American flag from its antenna "), I actually have more respect for the opinions of the soccer moms in Harpers Bazaar.

Large vehicles have been around since the invention of the automobile, why are so many people jumping on the "I hate SUV's" bandwagon? Can't figure out what to like or dislike by yourselves, need everyone elses opinions? What will be the hot thing to bash next, computers which are way too fast? Or how about high speed internet access, who needs that much bandwidth for themselves, wasteful pigs.

Wow, thanks for informing me that I'm a bad American, maybe I'll get depressed for a while, okay I'm over it.

Like I said before, if people are terrified of larger vehicles on the road with them, then they have absolutely no right being allowed to drive. And you had better watch out if you go outside because there might be a really big jet flying over your house. If one of those crashes it can really cause a lot of damage, maybe they should be outlawed and everybody should fly in 2 seat Cessna's.

(Psst, Andaval, the comment about a lifer was a joke about your signature. A lifer is a term for someone who is serving a life sentence in prison and will never be free, get it now?)

 

[ThisIsMatt]

<< Matt-hole,
You really are a piece of work. >>

*sigh*...is that the pot I hear calling the kettle black, again?

Oh no, not the typical "narrow/closed minded" insults. Man do those get old. What exactly would make me open minded to the issue? You don't even read half of what I write, you only read what you want to hear.

Sorry buddy, the only ones trying to "inflate" their importance in this thread are SUV drivers. Yes, that's a stereotype. Is it true? Quite a bit of the time, yes. All the time? No, of course not.

What facts would you like, specifically? Rollover data, collision data, profit margin data, gasoline data, other safty data? I really don't care if your car uses X amount of gas. I don't really care if you like to pay through the nose to buy your sheetmetal. I don't really care if your SUV rolls over, heck, I'd think it was funny. I just think that for most of the SUV buyers it is stupid, and you're obviously not going to convince me otherwise. I'm not afraid of SUVs no matter how much you want to believe so, that's just an immature ploy in an attempt to insult me, whoop-dee-doo.

My only real gripe, which I can't support with any stupid consumer reports evidence, is that a LOT of SUV drivers are hot headed, pompous, arrogant, & crappy drivers, who, when enclosing themselves in their god-mode SUVs, are an annoyance to other drivers. There is absolutely no reason for so many people to buy SUVs except to fulfil a status feeling. I wouldn't be surprised if you fit the bill, you sure sound like it. You can't convince me otherwise of the evidence presented to me on a daily basis on my round trip 50 mile commutes.




How come SUV drivers always slow down to 5mph to go through dips and speed bumps? Weren't they designed for stuff like that?

 

[BooneRebel]

<< Because they're pompous badasses.

How come SUV drivers always slow down to 5mph to go through dips and speed bumps? Weren't they designed for stuff like that? >>



This is the hypocritical thinking that blows my mind. How can you complain that people in SUVs are careless, aggresive, bad drivers who go too slowly through dips & speed bumps?

Seems like I can't please any of you people. If I drive faster than you I'm a menace, if I drive slower than you I'm a menace. It sounds like the only people that you approve of must think -exactly- like you. So unless I follow your ideal model of conformity, I shouldn't be on the road, right?

 

[BooneRebel]

And PullMyFinger, please acknowledge that the word Matt is not the same as the word mat so we can finally put that bickering to an end. Matt is a proper noun, mat is the item that you clear your shoes on. No humor or sarcasm is permitted in these forums, right? (sigh)

 

[PullMyFinger]

Matt,
You just don't get it, it's obvious that I've read all of your posts in both threads, where do you think I got all of your opinions and mistakes from. Hell, you were the first person to respond in this thread. AaronP brought up some interesting points and questions and all you had to say was "SUV's are the stupidest trend in America". And any time someone spoke up to defend SUV's and provided facts to support them, you chimed in with more narrow minded personal opinions.

You made broad generalizations (incorrect ones at that) about the mentality and abilities of all SUV drivers, and SUV drivers only. It's a fact that you can find stupid and incompetent drivers behind the wheel of ANY type of vehicle, not just SUV's. Yet no one seems to care that Grandma can't see past the hood of her Grand Marquis, or Jimbob is on his cell phone while driving the minivan full of kids, or the little punks with radios so loud that you can't hear your own radio with the windows rolled up, or the little Asian kid's riced up Civic with a 5 in exhaust that's so loud you'd think it was a Harley. Nope, none of that exists in your mind, to you the only dangerous thing on the road is the SUV.

Well guess what Matt, the US is a lot bigger than your little 50 mile commute. If you commute 50 miles each way to work, then you probably take pretty much the same route each day. So you are saying that your single 100 mile route gives you a sufficient cross section of drivers to be able to determine the driving habits and abilities of every other driver across the entire US? Maybe in your mind it does.

Maybe you can answer me this, since you responded previously that SUV's are just excessive wastes of everything. Should vehicles come with options? Honestly, the way you and every other SUV hater have portrayed the excessive nature of SUV's, it would appear you feel that any option is an expression of indulgence. Who needs metalic paint when solid color paint looks ok? Why pay for leather when cloth will do just fine? Who needs a CD player when the road noise makes it impossible to differentiate from a cassette? Who needs intermitent wipers when you can just turn them on and off repeatedly? Nobody needs these items but they are nice to have. The same can be said about SUV's. If you don't like them, don't buy them, but never tell me or others that your decision to not buy one is better than my decision to buy one.

 

[AaronP]

Boy, I sure know how to start a good thread!

 

[PullMyFinger]

Yeah Boone, that was the intent of the play on words. I thought it was an appropriate correlation as they both seem to attract sh!t. Unfortunately, certain people just don't get humor. Those same people are the ones whining about SUV's being too big, too wasteful, too dangerous, too evil, (insert detrimental comment here).

Aaron, you whipped up a good spicy one here .

 

[BooneRebel]

<< Yeah Boone, that was the intent of the play on words. I thought it was an appropriate correlation as they both seem to attract sh!t. Unfortunately, certain people just don't get humor. Those same people are the ones whining about SUV's being too big, too wasteful, too dangerous, too evil, (insert detrimental comment here).

Aaron, you whipped up a good spicy one here . >>



Now, let's just wait 2-3 days and do this all over again.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

<< Matt,
You just don't get it, it's obvious that I've read all of your posts in both threads, where do you think I got all of your opinions and mistakes from. Hell, you were the first person to respond in this thread. AaronP brought up some interesting points and questions and all you had to say was "SUV's are the stupidest trend in America". And any time someone spoke up to defend SUV's and provided facts to support them, you chimed in with more narrow minded personal opinions.

You made broad generalizations (incorrect ones at that) about the mentality and abilities of all SUV drivers, and SUV drivers only. It's a fact that you can find stupid and incompetent drivers behind the wheel of ANY type of vehicle, not just SUV's. Yet no one seems to care that Grandma can't see past the hood of her Grand Marquis, or Jimbob is on his cell phone while driving the minivan full of kids, or the little punks with radios so loud that you can't hear your own radio with the windows rolled up, or the little Asian kid's riced up Civic with a 5 in exhaust that's so loud you'd think it was a Harley. Nope, none of that exists in your mind, to you the only dangerous thing on the road is the SUV.

Well guess what Matt, the US is a lot bigger than your little 50 mile commute. If you commute 50 miles each way to work, then you probably take pretty much the same route each day. So you are saying that your single 100 mile route gives you a sufficient cross section of drivers to be able to determine the driving habits and abilities of every other driver across the entire US? Maybe in your mind it does.

Maybe you can answer me this, since you responded previously that SUV's are just excessive wastes of everything. Should vehicles come with options? Honestly, the way you and every other SUV hater have portrayed the excessive nature of SUV's, it would appear you feel that any option is an expression of indulgence. Who needs metalic paint when solid color paint looks ok? Why pay for leather when cloth will do just fine? Who needs a CD player when the road noise makes it impossible to differentiate from a cassette? Who needs intermitent wipers when you can just turn them on and off repeatedly? Nobody needs these items but they are nice to have. The same can be said about SUV's. If you don't like them, don't buy them, but never tell me or others that your decision to not buy one is better than my decision to buy one. >>

Maybe you should just stop putting words in my mouth, huh? I never said there weren't stupid drivers of other vehicles (I've ranted here before about plain old stupid drivers), I'm saying that there seems to be a disproportionate amount of stupid drivers in SUVs. Whether that's the fault of the SUV itself being less road worthy or the stupidity of the driver doesn't really make any difference, does it?

Actually, my commute is a nice cross between country, small town, freeway, & city driving.

All those options are pretty stupid if you don't plan to use them, but you probably do. Plus, they don't affect other drivers.

 

[andaval]

PullMyFinger - You're the one who doesn't get it. I don't care about your indulgences, when they don't adversely affect me. It's about you making my life less safe. Your paint color won't affect me. If your bumper comes through my window, it will. Your headlights at my mirror level blind me. If you ever looked at things from other people's point of view, you would understand this. But you don't. Since you claim to base decisions on facts, here are some more for you.

Owning an SUV will cost more for repairs, gasoline and insurance than other passenger cars, in general.
Farmers Insurance has raised liability rates by 5 to 16 percent on SUVs and is providing passenger car owners a discount of 5 to 19 percent in some states.
A loophole in the gas guzzler tax provides automakers a free ride to build and market inefficient, polluting vehicles while taxpayers are left holding the bag.
Source
Light trucks crashing into cars accounts for the majority of fatalities in vehicle-to-vehicle collisions
2,000 people would still be alive if their vehicles had been hit by a heavy car instead of an SUV
80 percent of car and SUV owners strongly feel that automakers should make safety changes to SUVs that would make the roads safer for car occupants
Source
Today a car that gets approximately 27.5 mpg, like a Volkswagen New Beetle, will emit 54 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the burning of gasoline over its lifetime. An SUV that gets 14 mpg, like a Lincoln Navigator, will emit over 100 tons of CO2 over its lifetime. Federal law gives heavy sport utility vehicles permission to emit higher levels of toxic and noxious pollution - carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. Sport utility vehicles can spew 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars. Finally, it is important to note that SUVs are contributing to our dependence on imported oil. The more gasoline we use, the more oil we have to import from other countries. Currently, more than half of the oil we use is imported. This level of dependence on imports is the highest in our history.
Source

If you still don't understand why so many people consider it irresponsible and un-American to drive an SUV, then at least I know that you don't base your decisions on facts, rather on your inflated sense of self-worth and compensatory compulsions.