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Article: Monsters of the driveway: faults aside, SUVs satisfy demand. (Commentary).(sport utility vehicles)(Column)
- Article from:
- Los Angeles Business Journal
- Article date:
- October 14, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SPORT-UTILITY vehicles are known as the bad boys of the American road, though I'm not sure they deserve their reputation.
Environmental advocates call SUVs gas-guzzlers. Plaintiffs' attorneys say some models are dangerous -- to their occupants and other vehicles. And some people hate them as examples of a wasteful and indulgent lifestyle.
Consumer Reports, which the auto industry regards as an influential guide for new-vehicle buyers, labeled some models unsafe because of their tendency to roll over during testing.
"Calling SUVs unsafe as a class of vehicles would be a stretch," said Gabriel Shenhar, the magazine's senior test engineer. "But ...