[mschaef]

> I think that's a result of modern safety requiring you to get a much bigger vehicle in order to have a similar seating position in the vehicle as cars of old, not some selfish desire to drive a land yacht.

Agreed. Nobody [1] goes into a car dealership looking for transportation that explicitly puts other people at risk and burns a lot of fuel. A lot more of it is about trying to exert control and project status. An SUV can feel stronger, more solid, and more capable and look more outwardly prosperous. Those are feelings that, at least in my experience, tend to be sought out, and this is particularly true in an economic and political climate where it's very easy to feel very much at risk.

1] There are exceptions... the whole 'Roll Coal' thing comes immediately to mind, as do some of the decorations often found on large trucks and the like. A lowered F-450 with spikes on the lugnuts and modified to blow black smoke at a Prius... that's intended to convey threat. (Which, now that I think about it is another way to misguidedly try to seek a degree of control.)