Until yesterday at 10:30am, I owned a 2001 Yukon XL SLT. It was big, had a sunroof, front and back air con and heating controls. Nice. It could haul kids, dogs, Christmas trees, carpet, mulch, really anything. My newly minted 16 year-old driver decided to show off for his 12 year old brother at the front of our neighborhood. He took a corner too fast and lost control of the truck at about 50 mph. The truck spun around and rolled once. All of the windows were broken including the windshield. Both sides of the car were crushed. The back part of the truck was partially collapsed. Yet, they walked right out of the truck without an injury. No scratches or aches. Divine intervention or good technology? The Alpharetta cops said someone should have gone to the hospital. Well, who knows. I do believe the science around safety is quite mature. My buddy was driving to Kentucky last week in his ’98 Mercedes E Class. Due to ice, he ran off the road and found himself 50 feet down from that road. He just walked away.
So, we’ll keep siding with safety over gas mileage. Perhaps the best way to be green is just to drive less.
