Author(s): Keith Bradsher

Sport/Transport

Since High and Mighty was first published in the Fall of 2002, regulators and consumers have become increasingly suspicious of sport utility vehicles and their poor safety records, heavy air pollution, and misleading marketing. Yet SUV sales continue to rise, leading average fuel consumption of new vehicles to a twenty-two year low and pushing traffic deaths to the highest level since 1990. As aging SUVs enter the used market, the problem is likely to grow much worse. Keith Bradsher makes a powerful case that these vehicles are much worse than cars - for their occupants, for other motorists, for pedestrians, and for the planet itself. In doing so, he pulls off a work of investigative journalism that shows how a flawed regulatory system, a desperate Detroit, and our national love for "bigger and better" have combined to create this highway arms race. The paperback includes an epilogue covering new developments and an appendix explaining how to drive an SUV more safely.