Håper suv elskerne kan engelsk[;)]
New York -
Sure, monstrously big sport utility vehicles burn a lot of gasoline. And parking one can be akin to docking an aircraft carrier. But at least they're safer, no?
Maybe not. A study, published Tuesday in the medical journal Pediatrics, was sponsored by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research project of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in league with State Farm Insurance. According to the study, parents ought to rethink the notion that SUVs ensconce their kids in a protective steel cocoon. Although there are obvious advantages in the greater mass of the hulking autos, there is a doubled risk of rollover--which the study says virtually negates the safety edge.
Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the association had not been provided with an advance copy of the study. "However," he said, "the government data indicate that SUVs have an exceptional safety record in the vast majority of crashes." He said research released last year by the U.S. government found that SUVs have grown less top-heavy since 2000, and have made gains in rollover resistance.
Dr. Dennis Durbin, a pediatric emergency physician who took part in the study, was quoted by the AP as explicating that "We're not saying they're worse or that they're terrible vehicles. We're challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were better."
A "challenge" that [link=http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=136488]G. Richard Wagoner Jr.[/link] probably doesn't need right now. He's the chief executive of General Motors (nyse: [link=http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=GM]GM[/link] - [link=http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=GM]news [/link]- [link=http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=GM]people [/link]), which has troubles that seem to keep piling up, including rising health care costs, analyst downgrades and exposure to its bankrupt supplier, Delphi. Wagoner is counting on new SUV models to help turn the tide.
However, all is not gloom and doom with GM's macro autos: GM spokesman Alan Adler points out his firm's new SUVs come with standard equipment to address the very rollovers cited by the study. The 2007 models have rollover-sensing side curtain air bags, sized to protect all three rows of seats and stay open in a rollover crash. The new mega-cars also have standard electronic stability control, which Adler states is shown to reduce single-vehicle rollover crashes by as much as half.
Så, dvs dere må hoste opp nærmere 1 mill for en suv som er nyere enn 2007 for at dere skal kjøre sikkrere for dere og barna.[;)]
