Suv Instability
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The Instability of Sport Utility Vehicles
As the ambulance slowly pulls away from the accident, a police officer stops to ponder how different this crash was from all the others in which a Sport Utility Vehicle was involved. He realizes it is no different at all. SUVs are the leaders in rollover crashes in the United States which includes all vehicles of make and model. They have been around for an extremely long time but, so have their problems. However, there were no problems actually documented due to the incredible instability of the cars during the first time period in which SUVs were created. Although extremely popular and useful, Sport Utility Vehicles are extremely dangerous and highly susceptible to roll over in sharp turns and high speeds. Reasons for such crashes include things like high ranking executives ignoring engineers warnings about the potential hazard of the vehicles, and high speeds mixing with sharp turns. Also, over- and/or under- inflated tires on a top-heavy, high-centered vehicle. Sport Utility Vehicles are extremely popular. A few reasons are for their all-terrain capabilities, the feeling of safety people have while their driving them, and their seating capacity. However, it is also for these reasons they are unstable. The false feeling of safety leads people to be careless while driving them, and/or leads people to feel “in charge” of the road thereby creating a higher chance of an accident or rollover.
The history of the Sport Utility Vehicle and its unique problems with rolling over in high speed fast reaction situations starts almost at the beginning of the car. According to John D. Pietro, the Suburban was “[i]ntroduced way back in 1936, the Chevrolet (and GMC) Suburban was based on a commercial panel truck, but instead of having a huge, windowless cargo area there was a large passenger compartment” (The History). The early makers of General Motor Company, (GMC), saw potential in building a vehicle which could carry more people and still be useful in big jobs such as construction. GMC was the “first” company to build an SUV. The title of the “first SUV and/or high capacity vehicle maker”, however, is still up for debate. Such a part in the debate is “[i]n 1934, the name was shortened to “Westchester Suburban” and Dodge was selling them to the army” (The History). Such statements started the debate on who had the first SUV. Dodge claimed their wagons to be the “Westchester Suburban” whereas, GMC and Chevrolet claimed the title Suburban. In 1956:
Power was on the rise againÐ [a]s much as 205 horsepower was produced by
Chevrolets small-block V8. GMC followed suit with its six-cylinder engine (now
at 270 cubic inch) putting out 130 horsepower as well as its V8 (now at 317 cubic
inch) pumping out 180 ponies. The big news this year was the introduction of
four-wheel drive for the GMC, and it could be had with either the six- or the
eight-cylinder engine. (The History)
The Suburban was the original reason for SUV rollovers that are now known. It was the first to have 4-wheel drive capability and there for, made it easier to roll than two-wheel drive trucks.
However dangerous, they are still popular mainly because of their versatility and look. Also, they are very helpful for mothers or fathers to use for taking their kids to something like soccer games and football games and being able to carry more than just their child or children and instead fitting something like 5-6 kids in their vehicles. According to SUVRollovers.com,:
SUV popularity created a large increase in sales in the 1990s,
and because there was so much consumer demand for these
cars, carmakers continued to manufacture SUVs. Because the vehicle
has changed from simply being an off-road vehicle to a family car,
manufacturers have also removed the roll bar that protects drivers and
passengers in a rollover situation. (SUVrollovernews.com)
This is the main reason for their continually growing popularity. Although SUVs are somewhat hard on gas mileage and are not the most economic cars on the road, people enjoy them because they can take bumps in the road and hold a higher number of people. Thereby, creating a useful tool for commuting, whether it be on a farm or to a metropolis.
But, there are many dangers in both driving and owning an SUV. One instance of a danger occurred when “all Ford Bronco IIs were [found to be] dangerously unstable and Ford executives had ignored warnings from their own engineers” (Lisante). The Bronco II posed a danger to the driver of the vehicle and to the other drivers on the road. The executives at Ford decided to not listen to their own engineers and proceeded with production. The Bronco II was not the only vehicle Ford had problems with. During testing of the Explorer “a recent federal scorecard that gives a fully-loaded Explorer the worst rollover rating Ð- one star out of a possible five” (Lisante). Again Ford executives proceeded with manufacturing a dangerous and unstable vehicle. They put safety aside in order to make money. These SUVs although still manufactured, are exceptionally unstable and dangerous to have on the road. Ford was one of the first companies to have trouble between engineers and designers and executives who were just in it to make a quick buck on the average typical “soccer mom”.
Ignorant people are not the only causes of crashes and rollovers involving Sport Utility Vehicles. According to writer James R. Healey of the USA Today newspaper, “[i]n a multiple-vehicle crash, you get hit by another car and might roll over. Thats not an unstable vehicle” (Healey). Rollovers are not just caused by unstable vehicles. There is always the chance of outstanding circumstances in any collision. On the other hand, James Grimaldi and Cindy Skrzycki of the Sun Times report, “Firestone, primarily concerned about stresses placed on under inflated tires, has set 30 psi (pounds per square inch) as optimal. Fords 26 psi reflects its concern about stability” (Grimaldi and Skrzycki). Conflicting reports can easily confuse an owner into an unavoidable accident. Some “facts” are not all they are shown to be. Consumer Reports magazine in a test of SUVs found, “(we) tested seven SUVs on the same day, May 16. During those tests the only vehicle to tip up was the 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Limited.” A well known and respected testing facility found an SUV to be unsafe. Although the odds of one in seven are pretty good, thats still too many. Upon an investigation of the Ford Company “[i]nternal documents indicate Ford wanted a wider 245-centimeter