An Editorial

Staying Right Side Up
In an Upside Down World

Rollovers • Cars that Pass National Rollover Standard May Still be Deadly • Feds Delay New Roof-Crush Rule til October • Report: NHTSA Seeks More Time for Roof-Crush Rule • Senators Seek Delay in New Roof Strength Safety Rules • Senators Question Roof Strength Safety Rules • Nader Protests Feds' Roof Crush Plan • Treacherous Treads Still Taking Lives • Ford Class Action Settlement Leaves Consumers in the Dust • Feds' Roof Crush Rule Inadequate, Critics Charge • New Study: Stronger SUV Roofs Save Lives • Ford Loses $82 Million Rollover Verdict Appeal • Feds Delay Roof Strength Rule Again • Ford Settles Explorer Rollover Lawsuits • Safety Crusaders Seek Action on Roof Crush Injuries • Roof Crush Summit Highlights Safety Shortcomings • Feds Ignore Roof Crush Conference • Feds Delay New Roof Strength Rule • GM to Offer Rollover Airbags, Ford to Strengthen Roofs • Safety Groups Want Earlier Stability Control Rule --- • More about Rollovers ...

June 8, 2004
By now, it is surely news to no one that SUVs and other light trucks are more likely to roll over than other vehicles with lower centers of gravity. Anyone who has somehow missed out on this need only read the latest government rollover test results.

The general response to news that SUVs are more likely to overturn is that Detroit and/or the government should "do something."

We'll tell you what we think: we'd like to see SUV drivers required to have a commercial drivers license, just like truck drivers and other professionals. Design considerations aside, if SUV drivers drove their vehicles like trucks instead of like sports sedans, the world would be a much safer place.

Not a day goes by that we don't see a soccer mom with kids on board throwing her Tahoe or Explorer through a tight turn on a narrow road at speeds that are way too fast for that type of vehicle, usually while talking on the phone and/or sipping a latte. Same is true on highways, where folks blast along at 85, inches behind the car ahead, completely oblivious to the near certainty -- not the mere likelihood -- that a sudden swerve will put them upside down in the median.

It's time to grow up and learn to drive. There's no question vehicles can and should be safer but the most important piece of safety equipment is still the human behind the wheel.

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