Clarence Hayes is a former Representative Town Meeting member, and an ardent environmentalist. He says:
At school pickup and shopping center parking lots, oversized SUVs are hard to miss.
Many owners buy them to protect their families. But what if they offer little extra protection to the people inside, while endangering everyone outside?
And what if their emissions overwhelm the reductions from the more than 1,000 Westport households who have switched to electric cars?
My third annual analysis of Westport’s motor vehicles has the answers.
SUVs are not safer for your family. But they are much deadlier for your neighbor.
When a vehicle is heavy, extra bulk adds little protection. The latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data show that moving from a midsize SUV to a very large one lowers its driver’s death rate by just 4 per million registered vehicle years.
But it raises the death rate of drivers it hits by 18 to 24.
The 4ppm decrease is not statistically significant. But the 18-24ppm increase is. That means real danger to others, for no personal safety benefit.
IIHS President David Harkey says, “The conventional wisdom is that if bigger
is safer, even bigger must be safer still. These results show that isn’t true today. Not for people in other cars. And … not for the occupants of the large vehicles themselves.”
An Audi Q5 — one of Westport’s most common midsize luxury SUVs — weighs about 4,000 pounds; an Escalade, Suburban or Yukon, well over 5,500. The benefit of increased weight largely disappears above 4,000 lbs.
Their towering front ends also endanger pedestrians. Vehicles with hood edges above 40 inches are 44% more likely to kill a pedestrian than those with low, sloped fronts.
A 2-ton SUV is a net-negative safety choice, significantly raising the risk to everyone else on the road – driving, walking or cycling.
The average EV in Westport emits 82 grams per mile – the power plant emissions to charge it. The average large SUV emits nearly 700.
Westport has 917 of these behemoths. At 12,500 miles a year, each emits nearly 9 tons of CO₂ — almost 2 tons more than the annual footprint of the average European from all sources.
Just 162 of these SUVs emit as much as all 1,665 EVs in Westport combined. A small number of drivers can undo the efforts of many.
On a per-person basis, Westport is among the worst climate polluters on the planet.
Westport’s footprint reflects everyday choices, including the vehicles we drive.
EV and plug-in hybrid registrations grew by an average of only 450 a year over the past two years – a mere 2% of the town’s 22,000-plus vehicles.
Last year, only 1 in 9 people acquiring a car in Westport chose an EV, even though there are comparably priced options for every common type of car driven here.
Meanwhile, our vehicles keep getting bigger. Average emissions of our gas, diesel and non-plug-in hybrid fleet fell only 4.5% in seven years, even as hybrids grew from 4% to 14% of all vehicles.
Had our Priuses not grown into Lexus RX450Hs, the drop would have been closer to 7%.
The planet keeps heating. 2023, 2024 and 2025 were the three hottest years ever recorded, and atmospheric CO2 hit an all-time high of 432 parts per million in May.
We cannot solve climate change in one town, but we can stop making it unnecessarily worse.
If you drive an Escalade, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Range Rover or similar, consider a different choice next time. These vehicles combine enormous weight, high front ends and very high emissions.
And let’s be honest: these vehicles are big, conspicuous and expensive. I doubt safety research is why most Westporters choose them. I
f safety and family practicality are your priorities, there are cleaner alternatives that don’t endanger your neighbors.
Nor should we simply swap gas status symbols for electric ones. The Rivian R1S cuts emissions, but it is heavier than an Escalade and has a blunt high hood.
Electrification is not a free pass on size, weight or pedestrian safety.
Choose the lightest vehicle that genuinely meets your family’s needs – and go electric where practical. You can have space, comfort and lower emissions without buying the biggest vehicle you can afford.
Need 7 seats for long road trips? Consider the Mercedes EQS SUV, Tesla Model X, Volkswagen ID Buzz, Volvo EX90 or Lucid Gravity.
Can live with 5 seats? There are many lighter SUV EVs: Hyundai Ioniq 5, VW ID 4, Kia EV6, Nissan Ariya.
Westport’s choices add up. Our neighbors, and their children, share the roads with us. They deserve to be part of the calculation, too.
(Questions, or interested in the data? Email emissions@westportct.town)
(“06880” regularly covers environmental issues, transportation topics, and everything else related to Westport life. If you enjoy our coverage, please support us by clicking here. Thanks!)
Very cogent commentary – with the safety angle vividly illustrated by the accompanying photo.
My pulmonologist and his technicians who tested me said that this area is known as “The Tailpipe of America.” The pollution from the Rust Belt, coupled with the air blowing up from NY all settles here. I cringe when I see drivers idling in their vehicles for no apparent reason.
it’s actually illegal to idle for more than three minutes (in a non-hybrid/non-electric vehicle).
Hmmmm; though true, hardly enforceable so an incredibly silly “law”.
The machinations of a vehicle purchase are so complicated so often wrapped in fnancial, self image and perceived familiy or individual needs that sound, environmental info and advice will have almost no effect on purchases gone forward…I, of course, include myself in this mix.
Oversize Vehicles Drive Costs Up even to those that don’t own them! My non-suv car has been damaged 4 times in Westport parking lots from SUV drivers who can’t see they are scraping the sides of other vehicles. They don’t even notice. Is it bad driving or bad vision- doesn’t matter, it still costs ME thousands of dollars. Don’t park anywhere near an SUV even if it’s inconvenient.
and parking spaces have not expanded to fit these ever widening “cars” so door dings are inevitable as it struggling to get out of your own car as the door can’t open wide enough thanks to the chromed and blinged monster in the next space.
As is usual for Clarence, this is a well researched and reasoned analysis.
Great piece Dan. Thanks for doing all the research.
Thanks, but it’s not me. Clarence Hayes did all the work. I just posted it!
By now I’m sure everyone has seen the video of the Silverado running over the Lamborghini in a the shopping center parking lot because the driver couldn’t see the car sitting in front of them. If not that, one of the various charts showing how far a 5 year old or 8 year old has to be in front of various vehicles before they can be seen. Or the charts showing a Peterbilt tractor or an M-1 tank has better front sight lines than large SUVs.
If you haven’t, google it and be amazed. These vehicles have horrible front sight lines making them dangerous to others beyond just their weight.
I suspect they add to Westport’s traffic problems as well. The number of times I pull up to a stoplight on the Post Road and see car length plus gaps in the adjacent lane in front of SUVs is crazy. I assume it is because they have no clue they are leaving that much space because they can’t see. Add slower acceleration both because of sight lines and weight significantly reduces the number of cars making it through the intersection before the light turns red again. That, of course, adds to the emissions problem for everyone.
Do better Westport.
I couldn’t agree more, Dan! The problem isn’t unique to Westport or other Gold Coast towns. I live about twenty miles east and constantly see people (usually retired men) driving massive pickup trucks (F-150, Silverado, etc.) to the transfer station. I’d be willing to bet that few of these truck’s beds have ever seen anything much larger than a few garbage bags. It’s just another instance of trying to show that “mine is bigger than yours”! And God help the pedestrian unlucky enough to cross paths with these monstrosities!!
EV’s are deceptively heavy which directly contributes to greater wear and tear on our roadways. CT transportation infrastructure maintenance is paid for by the Special Transportation Fund (STF), which is funded by the 25 cents a gallon gas tax. A tax their owners do not pay.
Clarence’s closing point—that our neighbors and their children deserve to be part of the calculation—also applies to public decisions about our roads.
For the Cribari Bridge project, CTDOT needs to explain what accommodating larger, heavier, high-polluting diesel trucks would mean for people along Bridge Street and Greens Farms Road, throughout Saugatuck, and on school bus routes. That assessment should include the proposed affordable housing on Greens Farms Road: future residents deserve the same consideration as those already living here. Lots of the most vulnerable would be affected.
What additional truck traffic could the proposed bridge attract, including diversions from I-95? What would that mean for pedestrian and cyclist safety, congestion, noise and air pollution? How do the alternatives compare?
CTDOT should present the evidence, assumptions and uncertainties clearly enough for the public—and the RTM’s new bridge subcommittee—to evaluate them. Clarence has asked us to consider how individual vehicle choices affect our neighbors. We should expect that same accounting when a public project could shape traffic through our neighborhoods for generations.
After 30 years of living in the Imperial and Greens Farms neighborhoods, including decades of commuting to the train station by bike and car, I’ve grown to hate traveling across Cribari Bridge. It’s obsolete and unsafe for cars, cyclists and baby strollers and walkers, especially in this era of monstrous SUVs and, worse, the heavy-duty pickup trucks with side mirrors the size of Dumbo’s elephant ears. Replace it with a safer structure that works with the neighborhood and serves the greater public good.
The Sagamore Bridge is being replaced, that would be a nice structure to span the Saugatuck. Float it down from the Cape.
And it’s 91 yrs. Fits right in to the Historical District wants.
And it would allow, BIG BIG trucks!