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February 28, 2004
S.U.V. safety
S.U.V.s are not safer than smaller cars, but they give the illusion of safety, according to "Big and Bad: How the S.U.V. ran over automotive safety" written by Malcolm Gladwell and published in The New Yorker in January.
The extra weight, higher center of gravity and frame construction cause them to take longer to stop, swerve more and be less safe in an accident than cars.
So are you safer driving a car or an S.U.V.? Gladwell says cars are safer because you can avoid accidents better in a car thanks to handling and shorter stopping distances. Mini-vans, such as the Ford Winstar, are built more like cars than trucks and are safer than S.U.V.s.
Are you safer in a S.U.V. in a wreck? Fatality statistics show S.U.V.s are no safer in actual wrecks than cars. Market research shows that S.U.V. buyers value stronger their belief they will be safer in the inevitable wreck over being better able to avoid a possible wreck, Gladwell writes.
Parts of Gladwell's article feel like stretches to make a point. He describes the psychology of S.U.V. drivers as trading their responsibility for being safe drivers for the perception they will be able to survive the actual wreck.
S.U.V.s are the vehicles we like to hate. Their size makes us uncomfortable when around them. It's more like driving around a group of tractor trailers.
During the snow on Thursday I heard more complaints about S.U.V. drivers sliding and being involved in wrecks. Maybe they were traveling too fast to stop on the icy roads, but maybe we notice them because they are big.
Gladwell cites the book "High and Mighty" by Keith Bradsher for more about S.U.V.s and the perceptions of their buyers.
Last Sunday, N.Y. Times reports How an S.U.V. Stacks Up to a Car on the Test Track, which discussed how automakers are trying to make S.U.V.s safer, but they're still not as safe as cars and minivans. There's also www.safercars.gov operated by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Others discussing Gladwell's article include Tom Mangan, Shelia Lennon, and Scobileizer
Earlier this month, Marcia had an accident when an S.U.V. in front of her backed into the car. No personal injuries and medium body damage to the car. Driver said she ignored an audible warning device that something was behind her. Probably would have happened even if the driver had been in a car.
Posted by eubie at 11:33 AM permalink
Life in the faster lane
USA Today analyzed 1.2 million speeding tickets issued in 2002 and found that speeders drive faster than they did in 1996 and 1991. Average ticketed speed is higher than the posted speed and the number of ticketers driving 100 m.p.h. has fallen from 1 in 300 in 1991 to 1 in 100 in 2002.
Posted by eubie at 11:07 AM permalink
RSS moving mainstream
Forbes writes about The Coming RSS Revolution as RSS readers become easier to use and more media organizations, including Forbes, N.Y. Times and CNN.com, offer RSS feeds.
RSS saves time from Web browsing, but I use my saved time to read more RSS feeds. From publisher's view, though, the question of offering RSS will be how to make it pay for the cost of producing that content since there's less advertising with RSS feeds.
Do readers become so content with RSS feeds that they no longer visit the actual sites as often? Or is that offset by more choices and easier access to readers? The importance of front pages, such as www.nytimes.com or www.bizjournals.com, is less important to RSS users who bypass it and go directly to articles.
Posted by eubie at 10:08 AM permalink