Lolita wrote:I think that some people who drive SUV's are a little more careless because they feel safer in their large vehicles and know that other cars will get out of their way if they barrell through them.
I definitely agree with this. People generally become less careful and less risk-averse in their driving if they feel safer in their cars.
For example, seat bealts becoming law and therefore standard in every car had a very interesting effect. Seat bealts obviously lower the risk of being seriously injured or killed in an accident, so one would expect less of both. However, because people
felt safer they drove less carefully and took more chances. In the end, the result was that the number of fatalties and serious injuries of people inside cars stayed pretty much the same while the number of accidents as well as fatalties and serious injuries among people outside of cars (walking, on bikes, on motorcycles and so on) that where involved in an accident rose.
I got into my car today (which I share with my brother and which actually isn't my car) and almost fainted when I saw that a quarter of the tank was already empty. My brother is so paying for the next tank...