By Craig Boreth Santa Monica
I agree with Ed Silverstein (“There will be no baby aboard my big, bad SUV” 1/22/03). The anti-SUV ads are counterproductive, but he shouldn’t buy an SUV just to spite Arianna Huffington. She is correct in that there are alternatives that the car companies don’t want us to consider.
Is he buying an SUV to live in Montana and use just when he’s there, or will he be driving it solo (with those other seven seats empty, with nothing in tow) every other day of the year on the rough roads of Santa Monica? His argument loses some steam if the latter is the case.
Every SUV owner has a few instances each year when they actually need it, but for the vast majority, an SUV is simply not an intelligent, personally responsible purchase. Before everyone gets all defensive, just consider that a sport wagon or (gasp) a minivan gets better mileage, will be cheaper in the long run, is actually safer and can provide the same cargo space.
Let’s face it, we’re at war, and it’s about time every American did their small part to make a difference, regardless of the fact that our president thinks we need to do nothing.
Mr. Silverstein could buy a junker for towing (government loopholes allow SUVs to be poorly built, so they’ll fall apart quickly under heavy use), rent an SUV for when friends visit and drive a normal car for the other 95 percent of the time.
Remember, in the words of the conservative muse Sir Edmund Burke: “Nobody ever made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 23, 2003. Read the original PDF.