I agree, SUVs may appear to be safer, and if they are involved with a
smaller vehicle in a crash they will be less affected, however, after the
initial crash, the spinning and barrel rolling will ultimately kill and
maim. In our state, the vehicles with the highest injury rate are SUVs and
motorcylces.
"jim beam" > wrote in message
...
> Mike Hunter wrote:
>> Buyers buy the vehicles they want and can afford. In Europe vehicles and
>> fuel are heavy taxed to pay for their socialist system of government so
>> they can get FREE medical care etc, making it more expensive to own a
>> operate a car. There are plenty of vehicles available in the US from
>> domestic and import brands, for those the choose to buy them, but
>> apparently few choose to do so. If buyers can afford to buy larger
>> safer vehicles they will do so.
>
> i'd /love/ to know where this "larger safer vehicles" myth comes from.
> have you ever looked at any of the insurer or nhtsa fatality stats? suvs
> kill many more times the number of their occupants than cars. it's
> because they're so unstable and because there are no rules regarding cabin
> crush safety like there are cars. c'mon guy, get with the facts.
>
>> The recent spike in gas prices did not slow larger vehicle sales as much
>> as it increased small vehicle sales. Apparently those that could
>> afforded to buy the vehicles they wanted continued to do so and some went
>> out a bought a small vehicles to use as well. It was the poorer folks,
>> that can not afford to buy larger safer vehicles, that were effect by
>> high gas prices not those that drive the larger safer vehicles. It was
>> the small car buyers that cut back on their driving or converted some of
>> their discressionary spending over to fuel.. WalMart and McDonalds were
>> effected butt upper class stores and restaurants. Unlike Europe,
>> Americas population is more spread out over the country where their is
>> little or no public transportation and people need cars and trucks in
>> their daily work and lives.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Bob Palmer" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>>"Hachiroku" > wrote in message
>>>news >>>
>>>>On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 13:26:09 +0100, NeedforSwede2 wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>In article >,
>>>>>says...
>>>>>
>>>>>>if there ARE any nice, solid, dependable Euro cars, we AIN'T getting
>>>>>>them
>>>>>>over here!
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Thing is.
>>>>>I'm selling my Celica GT4/Alltrac. It has 147k miles on it. It is too
>>>>>thirsty and expensive to maintain.
>>>>>
>>>>>I've bought a Saab convertible. 2 years newer, 212k miles, body is in
>>>>>about same condition maybe better. Big ends were gone. So the last
>>>>>owner
>>>>>totally rebuilt it, fitted a recon box and turbo at the same time.
>>>>>
>>>>>The suspension is fine, the steering is good, because it is a
>>>>>convertible there is more rattle and scuttle shake, but it drives
>>>>>great,
>>>>>and uses far less fuel. Oh and they are reliable.
>>>>
>>>>Saabs, and most Euro cars over here, seem to be a 50/50 proposition for
>>>>some reason.
>>>>
>>>>The most you ever see a Euro car over here is sitting outside the repair
>>>>center...
>>>>
>>>>Even the Big Boys, M-B and BMW spend more time on the lift than on the
>>>>road.
>>>>
>>>>BTW, I saw a NICE, REALLY NICE 2002 yesterday. Some young lady owns it,
>>>>says it's her second.
>>>>
>>>>i am trusting she will park it before the first snowflakes...
>>>
>>>
>>>I am from Pennsylvania, over here in the states, and I was wondering how
>>>everyone in Europe gets along without driving a pickup. I never see any
>>>pickups on the road over there whenever I watch "The Amazing Race" or
>>>news stories involving Europe. Are we Americans addicted to pickups for
>>>no reason? I know most American families survived without them during the
>>>'50s and most of the '60s. I love small economical vehicles. I am amazed
>>>at the different makes and models available to Europeans and not to the
>>>US market. A majority of the vehicles over here that are on the road are
>>>gas guzzling bricks on wheels.
>>>
>>>On another note, remember that Mercedes has been contaminated by
>>>Chrysler - but I don't know why BMW is having reliability problems as of
>>>late.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>