GPS

If you’ve paid attention to the kinds of cars people use in recent times, you’ve probably noticed the trend of “soccer moms”, who drive SUVs through the suburbs of America, transporting their families with these large vehicles. Since they’re only driving through suburban streets, there’s usually no use for them to purchase lift kits or king shocks, since they won’t in fact be using these vehicles for the kind of off-road activities they’re designed for. The soccer mom situation brings up some interesting questions, is it right for these vehicles to be utilized in this way? Does it pose a risk to other individuals on the road? And what about the environmental costs?

The most often provided reason soccer-moms would give for using these large vehicles simply for transportation is that they provide the greatest amount of safety to their family. This is surely a good notion, but the trouble is the actual safety benefits of SUV’s are quite small when they’re in a suburban setting. The problem with being so far up above the ground, although it makes you seem safer, is that you are not aware of what’s going on close to your vehicle. Is something tiny is very close by, like a child going to pick up a ball underneath the vehicle, you won’t be able to notice it. There have been many fatalities caused in this way. The problem with SUV’s is that they provide the illusion of safety only, and while there are some things that make it a safer option to drive one of these cars, these protections only apply to those within the vehicle, so while it may be safer for those inside, other drivers and pedestrians are put at risk when there are SUV’s driving around.

Also an issue with these cars is their gas mileage and the effect this has on the environment. Since the car has to haul a greater amount of mass around, and thus a greater amount of energy needs to be used, the amount of fuel required becomes much more. If a smaller family car was bought, the effect to the environment would be significantly reduced.

There is an American situation to believe that items are our right, that they belong to us. When a soccer mom is confronted with the dangers of SUVs, they’ll often become indignant and think they are being personally attacked, since the right to keep their family safe has been called into question. This is an attitude that is, of course, promoted by marketers and car manufacturers. There is a misguided impression that the only choice for those who really care about their families is to buy a large vehicle. This is not the truth, however, and is only a lie created in order to help line the pockets of the car makers.

To begin making improvements to the well-being of ones family, common sense has to be undertaken at the level of each individual. Purchasing a large car might seem like a good idea at the time, but if logic and reason are utilized, it can be noted that the long term effects of these cars are in the end damaging.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 9:36 am and is filed under Autos, Trucks and More. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.