The SUV That Could Be |
The SUVs made today are not as safe or fuel efficient as they could be. Technologies readily available to manufacturers could make SUVs safer for their own occupants and other motorists – potentially saving the lives of hundreds of children and adults in the U.S. each year, and could dramatically improve the fuel economy of SUVs. Fact 1: SUVs should not be as rollover prone as they are today – widening the track width and lowering the center of gravity of SUVs would greatly improve their stability. Fact 2: SUVs should not be as deadly in rollovers as they are today – increasing roof strength, bolstering windshields, windows and doors, installing side air bags and improving restraint systems would greatly lower the risk to SUV occupants in rollovers. Fact 3: SUVs should not be as dangerous for other vehicles on the road as they are today – redesigning SUVs to be more compatible with cars and increasing the front and side impact protection of small and mid-sized passenger vehicles would decrease fatalities in two-vehicle crashes with SUVs. Fact 4: SUVs should get nearly twice the fuel economy that they have today. On-the-shelf technologies that would improve engine efficiency, vehicle aerodynamics and other fuel saving possibilities exist that could be used to manufacture a much more efficient SUV. Fact 5: Because of the economic structure of vehicle design cycles, it would be most cost-effective for automakers to improve fuel economy and safety simultaneously. Meaningful fuel economy standards for SUVs would also improve safety by absorbing efficiency gains and reining in weight increases in the heaviest vehicles in the fleet, producing a win-win for safety and the environment. Click here to see The SUV That Could Be – a graphic representation of a safer, more efficient SUV that is possible with technologies available today. Click here to read the full report "SUVs: The High Costs of Lax Fuel Economy Standards for American Families." Click here to return to the betterSUV.org website. |