Common sense would dictate that the finite supply of oil and its impending exhaustion would deter people (Americans specifically) from using it inefficiently, but unfortunately that is not the case. There are a variety of ways in which Americans are wasting oil, but perhaps the most conspicuous is through our use of oversized vehicles.

 

There is no greater symbol of American excess than the SUV. Consider the fact that the Toyota Highlander (SUV) uses around twice as much fuel as a Toyota Corolla (passenger car), and over three times as much fuel as a Toyota Prius (hybrid). Basically, driving a single SUV is equivalent to putting two to three efficient cars on the road. Inefficient oil use will cause price increases, which could seriously damage the American economy, and it also causes larger amounts of CO2 to be released into the atmosphere. Surprisingly, the truth has not functioned well as an incentive to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. Instead, the only time there is a real decline in SUV sales is when gasoline prices rise. Because Americans are so inept at responding to large-scale problems, a higher gasoline tax would be appropriate to function as a deterrent for wasting huge quantities of oil.

 

It is worth pondering what makes SUVs appealing to people when they are so wasteful. Some psychologists have argued that people drive SUVs because they create a sense of superiority and safety due to their size and height. SUVs are often even viewed by many as a status symbol. On the contrary, these gas-guzzlers are not cool. The only people who think SUVs are cool are those who are ignorant about the adverse consequences of wasting oil. SUVs are undesirable for a number of reasons other than those previously stated. They are on average louder than passenger cars, as if to intentionally make the driver come off as tough or menacing (or perhaps to run their engine, which must make loud sounds to move such a massive object). The size of SUVs also works wonders at obscuring other drivers’ vision on the road. They are also extraordinarily dangerous.

 

Buying an SUV for safety is counterproductive because it further endangers the lives of everyone else. SUVs are three times more likely than passenger cars to cause a fatality in an accident with an average sized car. SUVs aren’t even that protective of their own drivers anyway. SUVs have a uniquely high tendency to roll over, and in 2002 alone, more than 10,000 people died in rollover crashes. Rollovers are involved in only three percent of all crashes, but account for over one third of total fatalities in accidents. According to the NHTSA, SUVs are at an increased risk in single vehicular accidents, in which there is double the chance of a rollover. Not only that, the drivers of SUVs perceive themselves as safer, and are thus less likely to wear their seatbelts, show a tendency to drive more recklessly, and one 1996 study showed that they were even more likely to drive drunk.

 

People can either deny oil depletion and climate change are problems and continue to gleefully drive ridiculously large vehicles, or acknowledge that SUVs are hazardous, inefficient, dangerous, and ultimately just unnecessary. Certainly, no SUV drivers have malicious intentions, but their vehicles are nevertheless endangering the well being of America, the planet and other drivers.