Reference Publications

Car talk

Washington Monthly, March, 2003

Stephanie Mencimer's otherwise excellent review of Keith Bradsher's new book High and Mighty: SUVs ("Bumper Mentality," December) was unfortunately marred by the false assertion that most SUV customers are affluent, and often socially liberal, baby boomers. In fact, automakers know--and their marketing efforts reflect--that the biggest consumers of the biggest SUVs (Lincoln Navigator, Ford Excursion, Cadillac Escalade, etc.) are affluent conservatives. As Bradsher points out, large SUVs are also favorites with law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and other groups that could easily function with minivans--and could hardly be labeled as socially liberal.

WILSON HUBBELL
Santa Barbara, Calif.

An otherwise great article slips badly when it reinforces the tired stereotype about why SUVs aren't popular in Japan: "Cultural checks that emphasize the good of the community over that of the individual." Nice try! Japanese are just as selfish as people anywhere else. The reason SUVs haven't caught on, just like most large American cars never catch on here: The roads are too narrow. Good luck trying to maneuver an SUV down the maze of side roads in any Japanese city.

LARRY WIEBE
Tokyo, Japan

Three cheers from up north, where SUVs aren't quite as popular--save for Alberta, our most Americanized and insecure province. I (carefully) drove my non-ego-inflating Ford Tempo in that province for several years, always checking around me for the arrogant--and usually incompetent--drivers who massaged their tiny self-esteem in these portable kill vehicles. Perhaps Canada suffers as a nation from a bit of the "soccer-mom" complex, but this, after all, is not such a bad thing. My compliments (and thanks) for placing this story into the public discourse where it belongs.

TOM PENNER
Winnipeg, Canada

Your article "Bumper Mentality" was completely offensive and inaccurate. I own a Jeep and was hit on two different occasions by reckless, speeding Washington, D.C., drivers. In both instances, I sustained $200 worth of damage to my bumpers, while the other vehicles sustained $7,000 and $4,500 respectively. Each time the police said to me, "Your car is a testament to the safety of Jeeps." My SUV experiences have resulted in saved lives, lower costs for repair, and overall lower maintenance costs (they are very sturdy and require very little). Sure, what I save there goes into high fuel costs, but I only drive six miles round trip to work each day.

In my experiences, SUV drivers tend to speed less, are more cautious and accommodating. I see fewer SUVs in accidents than other cars.

PATRICIA BLAIS
via email

While Ms. Mencimer says that the typical SUV driver "invariably" buys the vehicle for the safety of their kids, I'd argue that most buy them for their flexible utility. They're not as hard to park as a pickup truck; they're flexible enough to load purchases from the hardware store; and they're great if you have dogs. I have no kids and two dogs, and my SUV was great for the weekend mountain treks when I lived in Washington State. I now live in Houston, so I probably do visit more fine restaurants than off-road trails these days. It's still a great vehicle for the dogs and frequent trips to the hardware store (I'm remodeling).

The real culprit here are suburbanites. People move to the middle of nowhere where they have to drive miles to reach anything. In turn, they clog up the roads which forces taxpayers like me to subsidize their roadway expansions. My property taxes end up supporting their lifestyle and doing little for the inner city.