Rapid Responses to:

LETTERS: John S Watts Sports utility vehicles and older pedestrians: Not all SUVs are the same BMJ 2005; 331: 967 [Full text]

Rapid Responses: Submit a response to this article

Rapid Responses published:

Stereotyping vehicles misses the point

John McConnell   (28 October 2005)

Stereotyping vehicles misses the point 28 October 2005
John McConnell, Editor, The Lancet Infectious Diseases The Lancet, 32 Jamestown Road, London NW1 7BY Send response to journal: Re: Stereotyping vehicles misses the point	OK, I admit it, I own an SUV, although my wife does most of the driving. As such, I don't know whether to feel ashamed as a conspicuous flaunter of wealth, despoiler of the environment, and potential murderer of the elderly, or exonerated because the car in question is a modestly priced, "pre-owned" Honda CR-V, which as John Watts points out is really rather kind and gentle to pedestrians. The car was brought for entirely practical purposes--nothing to do with looking down on the poor as David Jarrett suggests--because away from work I live in Aberdeenshire, where in the depths of winter even getting out of the garage in a "normal" car can be impossible. The vehicle has an engine slightly under 2L--ie, not large by the standard of many sports, saloon, and estate cars. Several manufacturers build similar modestly sized and priced SUVs, which are no more nor less damaging to the environment and other road users than the average Mondeo. However, even inside my SUV I feel apprehensive as the similarly classified automotive products of Volvo, Porsche, Volkswagen, and BMW thunder past (what is it about the German car industry, are there any French or Italian SUVs?). In the USA, where the SUV and pick-up truck are kings of the road and almost exclusively named after the wilderness parts of North America, you can buy a super-sized CR-V on steroids called the Pilot. So-called people carriers are also bulky, have big engines, and one such model was, I believe, given the worse EuroNCAP rating for pedestrian safety. Yet people carriers don't seem to attract the same opprobrium as SUVs. What the vehicles mentioned above have in common is a tendency towards great size, thirsty engines, and unfriendliness to pedestrians. These are the features of vehicles upon which campaigners should focus, rather than broad classifications such as SUV. Such sweeping classifications are no more helpful and accurate than national stereotypes. In case you're wondering, yes, my SUV has been "off road". Competing interests: Owner of a CR-V