Driving Safety of SUVs

* Re “In SUV, the ‘S’ Sure Doesn’t Stand for Safety,” May 8:

Doesn’t The Times have anything better to do than print yet another environmentalist, left-wing article undermining SUVs? Shawn Hubler supports her position by telling us a story about a teenage boy losing control of his SUV as it slammed into a crowd of people, killing three. However, police reports do not say that if he had driven a Cadillac, the same accident would not have happened.

Cars have not gotten bigger. They have gotten smaller from the cars driven in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. All in the name of gas mileage. For me, an SUV driver, my family’s safety comes before any bleeding-heart, left-wing, emotional, make-everything-OK rhetoric.

MELANNIE GUYTON

Torrance

*

As I am sure most people were, I was appalled by the Pasadena incident Hubler referred to. I feel sorry for all of those affected, including the 16-year-old driver of the Explorer.

Like Hubler, I once owned a sport ute; and I have driven others, as rental vehicles. I, too, have long wondered why no special training or licensing is required to drive such a heavy vehicle. But I would go further: Anyone who drives a car of any kind should have more serious training than is required at present. An hour or so of elementary physics of motion, for example, might inhibit some of the incredibly dangerous behavior that I have seen.

People who want to drive SUVs must understand the different characteristics these vehicles have. Let’s hear it for saner driver training and licensing.

PAUL R. COOLEY

Culver City

*

I think Hubler only just touches the real issue here. I agree that the SUV craze started out as something of a joke. Most were sold to people who wanted a macho image and got no closer to off-roading than a parking lot in Westwood Village. Then, when it was “rediscovered” that people were safer in big cars than in small cars, many were sold for this reason. For over 23 years and 200,000 miles I drove a 1972 Toyota Land Cruiser, off-road and on, as my everyday vehicle. At close to 5,500 pounds (loaded) this was, perhaps, the type of “tank” she refers to. While it was sort of a challenge to learn to drive (I previously drove a VW bug), I found that with care it could be, and was during all those miles, driven safely.

I realize that this comes close to the “guns don’t kill people” argument, but I think the real issue here is not SUVs, cell phones, coffee cups, etc. The real problem is the skill level (or lack of it) of so many of the people who are on the roads today. Until this issue is addressed, the accidents will continue to happen and the wrong causes will continue to be blamed.

TIM COX

Downey