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High and Mighty: SUVs--The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way | 
 enlarge | Author: Keith Bradsher
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy Used: $0.12
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Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 476393
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 1586481231
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.231
EAN: 9781586481230
ASIN: 1586481231
Publication Date: September 2002
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Product Description
The longtime Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times lays bare the dangers posed by the most popular type of American family car: the sport utility vehicle. SUVs have taken over America's roads. Ad campaigns promote them as safer and "greener" than ordinary cars and easy to handle in bad weather. But very little about the SUV's image is accurate. They poorly protect occupants and inflict horrific damage in crashes, they guzzle gasoline, and they are hard to control. Keith Bradsher has been at the forefront in reporting the calamitous safety and environmental record of SUVs, including the notorious Ford-Firestone rollover controversy. In High and Mighty, he traces the checkered history of SUVs, showing how they came to be classified not as passenger cars but as light trucks, which are subject to less strict regulations on safety, gas mileage, and air pollution. He makes a powerful case that these vehicles are even worse than we suspect--for their occupants, for other motorists, for pedestrians and for the planet itself. In the tradition of Unsafe at Any Speed and Fast Food Nation, Bradsher's book is a damning expose of an industry that puts us all at risk, whether we recognize it or not.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 74 more reviews...
 Forecasts our driving future November 17, 2007
In the past two decades, the marriage of news and entertainment, and the takeover of news outlets by large corporations have led to a gradual decline of good news; i.e. news that examines important undercurrents of American society. Fortunately, this has not reduced the quantity and quality of expose books written by journalists. This book is written by a NY Times journalist, and is very well written and interesting to read. It is partially a history of the automobile in the US, a biography of Detroit's Big Three, and an in-depth examination of how advertising, lawsuits, regulatory agencies, civil groups and large corporations deal with each other both on Main Street, Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The text is written in first person, and in approximately chronological order. Like any good piece of writing, it is not objective nor is it purely subjective. Instead, the author presents an argument; SUV's are dangerous, and backs it up with a whole book of reasons.
Overall, a great book. My only critique is that it should have included more figures.
 Hits it right on the mark.... December 12, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ironically, on Fri. Dec 8, 2006, my wife and I have had the unpleasant experience of a black Toyota 4 Runner tailgating us literally what was less than a few inches as the driver exited the 101 freeway at Johnson drive in Ventura, CA. The driver first almost rear ended us and when we were at the first light stopped the driver was still on our bumper. The traffic was too dense to move over to let the idiot pass and so my wife being a nervous wreck had to endure this SUV driver's idiocy. My wife is a very safe driver and never speeds but she was opting to do so in this situation on the narrow portion of Johnson Rd near Bristol Dr. I had to scream at her to slow down and just hope the driver doesn't hit us as it was far more dangerous to speed and us cause an accident. Ironically a Ventura PD motorcycle officer passed us opposite going southbound and I knew he saw the situation as I was ready to dial 911. The officer never turned around and the SUV driver suddenly backed off a little and here's the funny part, the dolt signals left to turn into the Boys and Girl's club to pick up a child at around 4:30 PM. This is a story that neatly fits within the mindset of SUV drivers mentioned in this book. What I experienced and my wife experienced was a belligerent jerk who has no regard for other people's safety. It was so bad at the time that other traffic was backing off to avoid being in a collision and it really is perhaps a sign of the times that insurance companies need to rethink the rates for SUV owners. These vehicles are simply too dangerous in the hands of so many unthoughtful and careless drivers. Cars are bad as it is, but SUVs and Monster Trucks have made the roadways more unsafe than ever.
 Tell this guy to go back to Europe. August 6, 2006
4 out of 24 found this review helpful
Ridiculous
This book truly sucks, if people want to buy SUV'S then that's their right. If people in Europe and Asia are happy with driving sub compact cars where their knees are up to their chin then that's fine.
These vehicles are no more hazardous than any other vehicle. It all depends on how you drive. What I really love about this book is how this author makes personal attacks on people who own SUV'S it's like he has a personal vendetta again SUV drivers. He has no right to do that like I said its people's right to drive what they want to drive.
What's everyone's (The anti SUV people) solution to SUV'S?? Let's all trade in our Ford's and GM's for a Toyota. So great we save the environment and at the same time we put the American vehicle makers out of business and destroy our economy. Some people think the domestic auto makers are worthless but they are very important. So many jobs are linked with them and they helped to make this country as great and powerful as it is today.
Don't get me wrong I own a Honda Accord which is a great vehicle and I will probably always own a Honda but I will also always have an American vehicle next to it. This book just angers me and sickens me so much because it's like he wants to restrict people's rights to drive what they want.
I know many SUV's get terrible gas mileage and I will support anyone who can improve the gas mileage. At the same time I will support the right to own a SUV no matter what gas mileage it gets. This is America I don't want to be told by a no body what I have to drive.
What I am all for is a SUV which gets good gas mileage and doesn't pollute the environment. I fully support alternative fuels like E85 and hydrogen fuel cells. GM is starting to get the message they are coming out with a Two Mode Hybrid on large SUV'S like the Chevy Tahoe which will allow it to get 25 MPG which is amazing for a vehicle of that size.
Very convincing, but EXTREMELY LONG AND BLOATED! January 6, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Pros: Many good arguments, good history. Managed to convince me (a big one, for someone as stubborn as me).
Cons:
Riddled with too many weak arguments. Doesn't push the 'inside vehicle vs. outside vehicle' death rate argument enough.
EXTREMELY LONG AND BLOATED! Very redundant.
 Lays out the case against SUVs. March 25, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
What is an SUV ? The author defines one as , having Four wheel drive standard or on demand , an enclosed rear cargo bay , high ground clearance , decended from a pickup truck underbody and designed for urban consumers with cushy suspension. The real question this book trys to answer is why so many people who dont need such a vehicle would buy one. Part of the answer comes from the complex regulatory enviroment which ends up promoting such vehicles. Being classified as light trucks leaves SUVs exempt from all sorts of environmental and safety regulations that raise the price of cars. An entire chapter is devoted to the SUV insurance subsidy which leaves other drivers paying more than thier share of the cost of others poor vehicle choice.
The phsycology of the purchaser is examined. Some SUVs are designed to look meanacing like a jungle animal complete with muscles and teeth. Sales of Dodge RAM pickup trucks rose after the vehicle was designed to look more intimidating. SUVs may be part of a highway arms race with some buyers motivated by a reptilian desire to intimidate others on the road. Auto industry research that characterises SUV buyers as 'self centered' and 'unsure of thier own driving skills' may explain why SUV adds often imply that the vehicles are safer than cars.
All of this would be nothing more than an academic exercise in marketing if it were not for the tragic concenquences of the SUV boom. Prone to rollover , SUVs have led to many cases of paralysis. Lacking crumple zones or side Airbags , SUV occupants are actually slightly more likely to die in a crash than car occupants. SUVs put other drivers and pedestrians at risk as well. Then there are the environmental concequences of the SUV. The SUV is not going away any time soon the US auto industry and its 800,000 workers have become dependent on the profits from SUVs. One ford plant that makes SUVs accounts for 1/3 of the automakers profits. SUVs are cheaper to design and manufacture than cars. As they age the problem of high risk drivers driving old SUVs with poor brakes will become larger and the accident rates for SUVs is likely to increase.
This book is longer than it needs to be and sometimes makes the same point repeatedly. Also the chapter on the firestone tire - ford explorer debacle seems misplaced. It lays out the case against the SUV nicely. These vehicles simply dont belong in the affluent suburban neighborhoods they have invaded. They offer nothing to the average commuter and are inferior to cars. More than that they put others at risk and damage the environment for all.
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