| Folks:
This is my longest yet. I apologize in advance, but I really hope that many of
you have the time to read it all, now that you are “downhill seniors”
awaiting graduation.
I hope you read it for two reasons: first, because the Post
editorial,
the Post article,
and the New Republic book
review (linked from the side "Contents"
panel and also cited in full at the bottom) are addressing
the political, economic, and social aspects of a very real
and uniquely American problem.
And second, because driving
fatalities are very common among “downhill seniors” as graduation approaches.
When I lived in McLean and Great Falls, Virginia, EVERY SINGLE SPRING I had to
pass a new cross by a fatal roadside accident site and watch for days as weeping
high school students put flowers, pictures, and notes on the crosses. This bell
tolls for thee. Apart from the editorial, the article, and the book review
included, I’ve alsoincluded Dr. Runge’s talking points for the speech
referred to in the editorial and the article. It’s a .pdf file. He went into
the lions’ den with that one. Dr. Runge is the second emergency room
physician in a row to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
I haven’t met him, but I knew Ricardo Martinez, his predecessor. From that
experience I can assure you that NO ONE has a greater interest in highway safety
than an ER doctor who has spent years trying to put back together humans who have
been torn apart in
car wrecks. Rick had a white hot intensity that he had
earned the hard way. Dr. Runge was an ER doctor in Charlotte for 20 years. As
you’ll see in the Post article,
being a political appointee who really “cares” can be hazardous to your
job. And as you’ll see in the book review, in this case it’s because
there are a LOT of people making a LOT of money off SUVs. Or “FUVs”
as the author, a distinguished muckraker, puts it. I admit to being of two
minds, myself. I drive a 2001 Ford SuperCrew F-150 pickup (not quite an SUV) as
well as a 1992 Saab convertible. I gotta tell you I feel safer in the pick-me-up.
I think I know enough to avoid a rollover –after all, I’ve been a licensed
driver since 1954. I started my #1 daughter driving in a full size Ford
van, and my #2 in another full size Ford pickup. My #1 daughter is now driving
a 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis that has been rear-ended twice. In both cases, the
Mercury’s rear bumper wasn’t even dented. In both cases, the other cars
(a Toyota and a small pickup) had to be towed away. The safety issue is
very real for me. My father said, “Wrap your family in Dee-troit iron, boy
– it’s the cheapest insurance you can buy.” But the New Republic
article
especially points out that we can make SUVs a lot safer, both for their occupants
and their “opponents.” Or we could not make them at all. But if
we stopped making them right away, America would surely be in a serious economic
downturn for years and years. What’s a country to do? Bob
Knisely
WebLink Citations:
1) Safety
& SUVs, Washington Post Editorial, January 17, 2003;
Page A22
2) Regulator
Assails Safety of SUVs, By Cindy Skrzycki Thursday, January
16, 2003; Page E01
3) Axle
of Evil: AMERICA'S TWISTED LOVE AFFAIR WITH SOCIOPATHIC
CARS
Book Review by Gregg Easterbrook, Senior E ditor in The
New Republic, 1.20.03 issue
RELATED LINKS
(Copyright 2002, The New Republic)
"Unsafe
at Any Speed: Why big SUVs don't really make us safer"
"Jesus Drove
a Civic": Michelle Cottle on why it's un-Christian to
own an SUV.
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