Some businesses and individuals really do need people-haulers and the ability to go off-road.

Though SUVs do get poorer gas mileage than economy cars, if you put 7+ people in one SUV and measure the cost per person, you're probably better off than seven economy cars with one person in each of them.

So although it doesn't make sense for everyone to have an SUV, to assume that no one needs one is just short-sighted.

I believe Andrew Sullivan is right. Gas prices should be kept high for the following benefits:

1) Insurance companies across the board reported fewer accidents and fewer deaths in March, when gas prices were peaking. This is because fewer people drove, instead opting for public transportation or other means of travel (carpooling, bicycling, etc)
2) Because of the drop in accidents, injuries, and death, insurance prices across the board began a downward trend (which has since stopped since people are back on the road)
3) A personal gain for me, roads are noticeably less congested; at least here in DC...I can't attest to anywhere else.
4) less money leaves America as people stop buying oil.
5) The unwillingness to buy gas-guzzling vehicles drives companies to create more fuel efficient technology
6) Dispite what anyone says, the gas tax does NOT disproportionately hurt the poor. The "poor" generally buy cheaper cars which have fewer cylinders, weigh less, and don't require premium grade gasoline. Generally speaking, the more expensive a car, the more it costs to keep the car on the road.
7) Pollution goes way down....I don't really care about that one, but others do, so that's a bonus to them
8) Finally, and my most favorite, when gas prices are high, all of those egomaniacle Hummer owners that made fun of the left for hugging trees get laughed at every time they're seen on the road

I just bought a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V8 in it. Why you ask? One word - SNOW. Lots of people live well south of us here in Washington where they are always sunny and warm and the only place they ever see snow is on television. These people have absolutely no idea why on earth anyone would have the audacity to purchase something that can actually get you from point A to point B when my Scion tC literally pushes snow by the front bumper and is entirely WORTHLESS in the snow and on ice.

Until car manufacturers realize that their fuel efficiency designs also require that they give us vehicles that can handle weather other than what Southern California always has, there will be people like me who don't care about the price of gas. I'll pay five bucks a gallon. I'm not concerned. What I am concerned about are the puny little cars that get great gas mileage that remain home because they can't even make it out of the driveway. Those so-called "efficient" cars are pathetic in bad weather conditions. But at least I'm nice enough to stop and pull people out of the ditch. I pulled four cars out last night alone on my way home from work.

As for public transportation, it ought to be fairly easy to get on one of the many buses as you can easily find the articulating ones jack-knifed with half of it sticking off the road into a ditch, or you can find the whole thing in a ditch if they are the normal buses. Good luck getting anywhere on them though, provided they haven't cancelled all bus service on that route anyway.

I think the people who write lists like the one above ought to be required to live in a place where they can't see pavement and they have to shovel a foot of snow in the morning just to get out the front door. Apparently, you folks in warm climates don't care at all about those of us dealing with snow.

Hey JM

I live at the north in Europe ( ~ the latitude of your Alaska ) and we see snow all the time. I use a Citroen diesel that gets 70+ miles to the gallon and drives fine on the snow. Perhaps the trouble lies with the designers of your automobiles using 'a sledgehammer to crack a nut'

hill man,

Just curios, what Citroen do you have? I don't even see those cars on the roads over here. When I was stationed in Frankfurt I had a buddy that had one and it was fantastic, though his had electrical problems.

You're in the northern latitudes? London is freezing out rather bad right now. I hope all is well with you wherever you are. Stay warm.

re: snow. Strangely, they have that in Canada but I don't see so many SUVs there as here. I lived for years in Canada, people actually seemed to have smaller cars there than here.

"If you put 7+ people in one SUV and measure the cost per person" - how often do you see 7+ people in one SUV?

"As for public transportation, [it ends up in the ditch]." Other countries with lots of snow make it work, why can't you?

I talked to a woman who parks her SUV near me - huge thing - and asked her why. "We need it for the family." (But you have just two kids.) "Well, sometimes we want to take his mother along." (How often?) "On holidays." (Doesn't she have her own car?) "Yes." (She was getting irritable so I left off there.)

Point is that Americans want to have big cars so they can feel powerful and important. They believe SUVs are safer when in fact they have a better chance of getting into an accident with them (though once they're in the accident they are sometimes somewhat less damaged so it's the same death rate - except for the other guy...) They think gas will last forever.

You just won't learn.