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Hummers: More Than Just a Menace to the Environment

hummer.jpg People who drive Hummers apparently like them because they look like engines of destruction. New research out by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that it's not just an image thing. Hummers really do leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

According to the Institute data, Hummer owners wiped out two and a half times as many parking lot pilings and smaller cars than the average car driver. The H2 pickup was especially bad, topping the list with the worst property-damage claim record of any car on the road. The reason is fairly obvious: Hummers are enormous. With bumpers far too high off the ground, these pricey toys turn the run-of-the-mill shopping mall fender-bender into a major catastrophe.

"The Hummer is a classic example of a big mismatch with just about anything out there on the road," says Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute, a nonprofit research arm of the auto insurance industry. The new data suggest that those seeking relief from a midlife crisis should abandon giant SUVs and return to the classy sports car. The car generating the lowest number of property-damage claims? The Porsche 911 coupe.






Comments

Look at the Hummer for what
it is, corporate devolution
of what was once a Really
Cool Little Vehicle, the
Jeep, or GP. Once upon a
time, th gummit needed
a hill-climber that could
basically be flat-packed
and dropped out of an airplane
or stacked on ships and stuff.
The G-P was born, 4wd, 4-cylinder, multipurpose
hill-climber. Awesome.
And, if you took something like this, and put one of
those eco-groovy engines in
it, tricked the steering
and suspension a little bit
with contemporary technology,
especially the brakes, you
could probably even work it
to where it got decent mileage and stuff. In
the words of one off-road
enthusiast, 'humm THIS' LOL.
Don't just drive a rich
guy's Stupid Useless Vehicle,
go 'retro' and get the
Real Deal.

Posted by: Bert on 12/03/07 at 1:26 PM  Respond

Im just wondering: Does this finding result in 2 1/2 times higher insurance premiums for Hummer drivers? I hope so.

Posted by: Christian on 12/03/07 at 1:51 PM  Respond

Why single out the Hummer? How about all the brain dead housewives driving around in those gigantic Ford explorers with cell phones glued to their heads. There are hundreds of times as many of those as Hummers! As long as America remains a fascist state, the corporations will lull the American public into more gross consumption That is the American way!

Posted by: Carl Malone on 12/04/07 at 5:36 AM  Respond

But how else to compensate for that tiny, tiny, weenie except with a GIGANTIC TRUCK?

Posted by: David on 12/04/07 at 9:54 AM  Respond

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Posted by: wow on 12/28/07 at 4:59 PM  Respond

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This article has been made possible by the Foundation for National Progress, the Investigative Fund of Mother Jones, and gifts from generous readers like you.

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