This might be mistaken - at first glance - for a book that looks askance at SUV's and 4 wheel drive vehicles generally, and the people who drive them. Mostly it's an account of how Detroit designed an unsafe style of vehicle, and worked successfully to cover up its faults for decades. As Bradsher points out, there was a very good understanding very early on about what dangers SUV's posed and how to (largely) fix them. All of those solutions, however, involved some extra expense, and stepping away for a very successful (and cheap) marketing image built around notions of invulnerability and an aggressive approach to terrain - and other road users.

In that sense it's a classic text about corporate deception, putting profits ahead of safety in the full knowledge that they were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of their customers and other road users. Bradsher also describes how systems of Government oversight had been emasculated by politicians at the behest of those same Corporations. It's a familiar theme, both from the tobacco industry and the carbon polluting companies fighting recognition of climate change. That - to some extent - the car industry has begun to do something about some of the worst aspects of SUV design, by improving anti-roll characteristics and lowering the front grills, is testament to the power of public shaming, and the influence of corporate insurers. ( )

A look at the popular SUV. The author questions the conventional wisdom that SUVs are safer, and finds that studies demonstrate a greater risk in certain types of accidents. ( )

This is an outstanding history of the rise of the SUV in the US since 1985, its sociologial effect on Americans by an author well versed in the history of American automobiles. This book is a warning about what is happening and will probably continue to happen to erode highway safety because of this trend that was really begun because a tax loophole. The paperback edition has an important addendum to the hard copy published in 2002. ( )

http://www.deathcookie.com/node/568 ( )