Irresponsibility and SUV's

Top 10 Reasons to buy an SUV: 10. Gas mileage 9. Endangering the life of others on the road 8. Slow down traffic 7. What else would you do with $40,000? 6. Exhaust three times more hydrocarbons and four times more carbon monoxide than a car 5. All those frequent off road trips 4. Significant monetary depreciation 3. More harmful to streets and roads 2. It compensates 1. Prove to the rest of the world that Americans aren't wasteful after all

With all of the great reasons to buy an SUV it amazes me that my family has still yet to do so. Instead of realizing what the rest of America has already figured out (SUV' s are the coolest), my dad is still talking about " hybrid" cars that get 40-50 miles to the gallon.

SUV' s and other light weight trucks now make up over half of auto sales in the US. This is quite a figure considering that most Americans buying the SUV' s live in the suburbs, where the greatest off road experience they can find is the speed bumps in front of the local grocery store.

The debate over SUV' s is like that of second hand smoke in a lot of ways. Foremost is the question of whether the rights of SUV drivers should be restricted for the health of non-SUV drivers. One obvious example is air pollution and the lack of regulation for SUV-type vehicles. I am also reminded of another threat that gets less press. A student at my aunt' s high school in Charlotte was on her way to school when she was killed by a 1991 Ford Explorer that veered into her lane and collided with her Mazda sedan head-on. It wasn' t the high speed of the collision that did it (they weren' t driving that fast), it was the fact that the Ford' s bumper went over the top of her car and crushed her body.

Motorists without enough resources, fear, or power complexes to buy SUV' s face a much higher risk of death if they are hit by one, whereas the sport-utility-driver might not even get a bruise. Survival of the fittest has its merits, but I think there should be a point when we step back and put some restrictions in place.

I would suggest a yearly tax for SUV drivers (who don't need to be driving SUV's) in the magnitude of five thousand dollars. This money could be used to pay back part of the money spent every year that tries to do, prevent, compensate, and undo the damages of SUV' s caused by excessive pollution, fatal collisions, and traffic jams.

The money could also go towards designing fuel efficient engines for all cars and alternative energy sources as well.

Vehicles account for about half of U.S. oil consumption which is equivalent in volume to all imports. By using engines that are twice as efficient the US would be half as reliant on the global oil market (Iraq et al). Hey, that' s an idea! With a little more oil efficiency the US would not need to import oil from the Middle East at all.

Unfortunately the oil industry has such a tight grip on Congress (how many of them drive SUV' s anyway?) that most alternative-energy and fuel-efficient legislation is doomed before it is written.

Although it may be hard for an individual to change federal legislation, America' s views on what constitutes a wise vehicle purchase, or the public' s perspective on national security, there is one thing we can all do. Get a bike. Or a fuel-efficient sedan. Robin Williams is a Wilson School major from Greenboro, N.C. He can be reached at awilliam@princeton.edu.