I spent 8 years driving these for the USAF. Talk about changing vehicle dynamics and center of gravity!
Posted on 03/03/2004 12:10:08 PM PST by ambrose
The dangers of SUV driving
(Hadlyme-WTNH, Mar. 2, 2004 6:00 PM) _ SUV's are trendy, but are they safe?
The number of rollovers is astounding. An SUV driving school can help drivers be in control of their vehicles. Watch the story by News Channel 8's Gil Simmons
"There are three times as many rollover deaths in SUV's as there are in traditional cars," says Dr. Phillip Atwell Brewer, Yale- New Haven Hospital.
Doctor Phillip Brewer can put a face on the numbers. He's an attending physician in the emergency room at Yale New Haven Hospital and he's alarmed by the number of trauma patients who end up there after they lose control of their SUV's.
"So putting your family in one of those vehicles is actually putting them at greater risk."
Dr. Brewer says those 'big SUV's' give drivers a false sense of security. He says bigger doesn't always mean safer.
"They feel safer and so they're less likely to drive safely and less likely to wear seat belts."
And his concerns are backed up by national numbers that show in 2003 36 percent of fatal SUV accidents involved rollovers, compared to only 4 percent of fatal crashes involving vans and passenger cars.
Bruce Elfstrom says,"You're obviously always going to wear your seatbelt."
Overland Experts, an SUV driving school, educates drivers showing their vehicles capability on and off road.
Instructor Bruce Elfstrom says an SUV can not be driven like a car.
"By accounting for how this vehicle behaves in bad situations which you will learn here, you can adapt that to your on-road driving," says Elfstrom.
Classes start with understanding vehicle components such as suspension, tires and the center of gravity. All can contribute to rollovers.
"You start sliding and people try to correct. If you correct before that body has rolled to its maximum then once you correct it snaps back and goes over," says Elfstrom.
It didn't take me long to experience how easy it is to almost tip over.
Most SUV's top heavy designs makes them tougher to control.
Elfstrom says the best solution to safer SUV's is education.
Elfstrom says,"My most common email is how much better their on road driving has gotten."
But, Doctor Brewer wants to hold auto makers more accountable.
Dr. Brewer says,"The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency and Congress through legislation to require much greater safety in SUV design and construction."
The same could be said for the graduates of any driving school.
Amen. #1 Daughter attended Skip Barber at Lime Rock when she waas 18 and still talks about it. When she realized the mass of what she was in/out of control was, her insight to vehicular physics changed...drastically.
I spent 8 years driving these for the USAF. Talk about changing vehicle dynamics and center of gravity!
People don't know how to drive SUV's? Crap! We drove Cadillacs for years before owning an SUV. No one in our family needed SUV driving lessons and none ever turned one over. Get a life you SUV haters.
So what.
"So putting your family in one of those vehicles is actually putting them at greater risk."
No it's not. If you load them up in a Geo Metro and if it gets whacked, I'll gaurantee those in my Explorer have a better chance of walking away.
"They feel safer and so they're less likely to drive safely and less likely to wear seat belts."
Whether I wear a seatbelt or not isn't anyone's damn business. I wear it, but the law on it sucks. As for 'less likely to drive safely, where the hell is your proof Doc?
And his concerns are backed up by national numbers that show in 2003 36 percent of fatal SUV accidents involved rollovers, compared to only 4 percent of fatal crashes involving vans and passenger cars.
There's lies, damn lies, and statistics. Rollovers are ONE type of crash. That's it. How about comparing rear end collissions?
"By accounting for how this vehicle behaves in bad situations which you will learn here, you can adapt that to your on-road driving," says Elfstrom.
Thanks, but I'll trust my own experience. I've driven SUV's off and on since I was 15, and owned once since I was 19.
It didn't take me long to experience how easy it is to almost tip over.
Don't take sharpe curves. C'mon that's obvious.
Dr. Brewer says,"The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency and Congress through legislation to require much greater safety in SUV design and construction."
This is as f'ing stupid as the gun lawsuit jokers.
Then, soccer moms and families could have big, comfortable, safe station wagons and family cars, and farmers could have their farm capable SUV's.
Of course, that will never happen.
(putting on flame resistant underwear now)
Why? You've hit the nail on the head.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.