* SUVs are useful tools that can serve a real purpose
* Even within the same vehicle classes, cars are getting bigger and heavier in the name of safety and consumer preferences. This is disastrous for the safety of pedestrians and drivers of smaller vehicles
* Most people will never take their SUVs/trucks off-road, or use them for blue collar-type work, or tow anything more than once a year, for which they could easily rent a vehicle
* Thus, barring safety concerns (which are themselves exacerbated by the prevalence of massive vehicles on the roads) or an opportunistic desire for more interior space, most people would be equally well served by smaller cars.
* However, people are not buying smaller cars. This has the effect of “literally killing” sharply increasing numbers of pedestrians every year, and indirectly killing countless others through increased air pollution and greenhouse gas effects.
You can tow a small trailer with any car. That's the common way to haul the occasional big load in rural Western Europe. My relatives who live in the country side have one or borrow one from a friend when they need to stock up on fire wood, move a washing machine or carry away debris to the recycling center.
* SUVs are useful tools that can serve a real purpose
* Even within the same vehicle classes, cars are getting bigger and heavier in the name of safety and consumer preferences. This is disastrous for the safety of pedestrians and drivers of smaller vehicles
* Most people will never take their SUVs/trucks off-road, or use them for blue collar-type work, or tow anything more than once a year, for which they could easily rent a vehicle
* Thus, barring safety concerns (which are themselves exacerbated by the prevalence of massive vehicles on the roads) or an opportunistic desire for more interior space, most people would be equally well served by smaller cars.
* However, people are not buying smaller cars. This has the effect of “literally killing” sharply increasing numbers of pedestrians every year, and indirectly killing countless others through increased air pollution and greenhouse gas effects.