Overall safety on American roads has increased over the last decade. However, sport utility vehicles threaten to reverse the trend. When it comes to safety, SUVs may be the most dangerous vehicles on the road, and the road is exactly the place they should not be. Sports utility vehicles are supposedly designed for off road driving. It seems like the bigger the body is on a SUV, the more popular it is, which is causing the manufacturers of these SUVs to come up with even larger

Braking has also become a big issue; because of the weight of the SUV it results in much longer stopping distance. In fact, drivers of SUVs were warned by the U.S. Government to stay further back from other cars for safety reasons. As accidents and injuries associated with failure to stop quickly continue to rise, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has told owners of certain SUVs to "drive cautiously, leave an extra margin of safety in front of their vehicle" (NHTSA homepage). Moreover, the problems with handling does not stop with driving in good conditions, in fast SUVs perform even worse in bad conditions compared to other vehicles. The SUVs' poor brakes and portly weight make them more difficult to stop in rain and snow. Many people get a false sense of security from their SUVs because they've been told that SUVs handle well in snow. This is not to say the vehicle cannot drive though snow as well as a truck but, the problem is that stopping distance is sacrificed.

Another reason why SUVs are not safe is because of their effect on the environment. SUVs have extremely poor fuel economy. Oil today is a natural resource that will only last for 45 more years and federal law permits a double standard between SUVs and cars, SUVs are allowed to use 33 percent more gasoline than passenger cars. A sports utility vehicle with an engine size of 5.7 liters has a gasoline mileage equivalent to two Toyota Camrys and one Honda Civic combined. Another double standard exists for air pollution of SUVs and light trucks. SUVs are allowed by law to emit 30 percent more carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides (Link Staff 2,6). According to the SUV Info Link, "Since, 1990, the inefficiency of light trucks has led to Americans wasting an extra 70 billion gallons of gasoline. For each gallon of gasoline burned, nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide is emitted. An extra 6 pounds of carbon dioxide are released in the gasoline refining process for each gallon produced"(Link Staff 2,5) The SUV Info Link also said, "Many SUVs feature larger engines and four wheel drive capacity. However, for the vast majority of drivers, four-wheel drive and large engines is an unnecessary, unused, and expensive feature. According to Ford Motor Co., 87 percent of Ford Explorer owners have never taken their vehicle off-road."(Link Staff 2, 5)

The new Ford Excursion will be introduced for the year 2001, weighing in at 8,500 pound, 19 feet long and 6 1/2 feet wide, will be the largest SUV on the market. It wil

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