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I have driven vehicles from sports cars to mini vans to pick-ups to my current Explorer. The vans and trucks offer much better visibility. The sports cars offered better handling and acceleration. I think this whole argument comes down to driver responsibility.
You have to drive the vehicle you are in. By this I mean stay within its capabilities. It takes some time but you need to learn how the vehicle you are driving responds in different situations.
You also have to take into account the vehicles around you. I drive quite a bit. My daily drivers have always been trucks or SUVs. I find most of my problems come from other drivers expecting my vehicle to handle like theirs. I rarely have a problem with other trucks or SUVs. My problems typically are caused by smaller cars weaving in and out of traffic or expecting me to be able to take a curve at the same speed they can.
Conversely I have to remember than on rougher roads they will not travel as fast as I would. I'm not concerned about cruising over steel plates in construction areas where they need to think about ripping the front valence off or damaging their 13" wheels.
I know this was a question about vehicle saefty related to SUV size. I know we have to plan and design vehicles around the impact they will have on another in a collision but there should also be more emphasis put on how the vehicles are driven. This should be done without the "woman putting on make-up/talking on cell-phone" comments. I've seen plenty of that but I've also seen the "guys reading the newspaper/talking on the cell-phone/making entries in dayplanner/PDA" drivers.
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So, what's your point?
It's not an attitude, it's a way of life.
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