From Robert O'Shea, University of Otago
I was glad to see Anil Ananthaswamy’s article on the dangers of sports utility vehicle pose for their occupants and for other road users (8 March, p 12). But I believe one factor has been overlooked in the quest for safer vehicles: perceived safety.
There is evidence that drivers who perceive themselves as being safer—an illusion that SUVs promote—actually drive more riskily. This means that any solution to road safety depending solely on engineering is likely to fail or, at best, transfer the risk to other road users. What is required is more attention to the psychology of “the nut behind the wheel”.
Dunedin, New Zealand
