SUV safety myth: children just as safe in cars

(UPDATE: let the furious backpedaling begin! Apparently I skipped the marketing class in which they tell you not to refer to your customers as self-centered jerks.

This post was supposed to be about how SUVs are marketed, and the extent to which hype has become disconnected from reality. But due to some rushed editing, it appears to be an endorsement of some pretty blunt and insulting statements.

I’m sorry. The whole point of TerraPass is to give drivers — all drivers — a way to exercise their environmental stewardship. The founder of TerraPass himself drives a Ford-150. It’s a big tent. Come on in. I’ll behave.)

A new study from U-Penn’s Children Hospital shows that “children riding in SUVs have similar injury risks to children who ride in passenger cars.” Analysis from about 4,000 accidents involving children shows that the rollover risks outweigh any benefit from the larger vehicle. (A 2003 NHTSA study showed SUVs have nine-time the rollover risk.)

As many of you know from playing with our carbon calculator, the extra weight of SUVs really boosts the pollution levels that contribute to our global warming problem. 12,000 miles in a Ford Explorer will emit 13,812 lbs of CO2, 40% more than an equally snow-and-dirt-capable Subaru Outback.

Consumers often justify the purchase of SUVs with safety concerns. Sopranos fans out there will recall Tony crediting his huge Suburban with saving his life in a rollover accident, which is the reason he bought his son Anthony an XTERRA (a nice product placement for Nissan).

But the auto industry’s own marketing research suggests that car manufacturers aren’t all that interested in targeting the safety-conscious crowd. According to the new book High and Mighty: SUVs — The World’s Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way by New York Times reporter Keith Bradsher, auto industry research paints SUV owners in an less-than-flattering light.

[SUV owners] tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communities. No, that’s not a cynic talking – that’s the auto industry’s own market researchers and executives.

Washington Monthly’s review of the same book summarizes the research more aggressively:

Unlike any other vehicle before it, the SUV is the car of choice for the nation’s most self-centered people; and the bigger the SUV, the more of a jerk its driver is likely to be.

Here’s hoping that in addition to high gas prices, both these studies help everyday consumers (and mobsters!) change their purchase behavior to a slightly more environmentally friendly vehicle.

As a side note, you might be interested in this hilarious attempt at pro-SUV lobbying.