Thinking SUV for Toad? Think Safety

RV owners looking for a new SUV for a toad car, or for other use, might want to reflect on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tests. While recently tested SUVs have improved in "frontal" crash tests, things did not go so well for SUVs evaluated for side-impact crashes.

Says the institute, "Among the worst performers in the side test are the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chevrolet TrailBlazer, even though both are equipped with standard side airbags. The front and side tests recently were conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to evaluate how well midsize SUVs protect people in the two most common kinds of serious crashes. Rear crash protection ratings for these models were released earlier this year."

“The performance of some of these models in the side test was surprising,” says Institute senior vice president David Zuby. “SUVs should have an advantage in side crashes because the driver and passengers ride higher up than in cars. People often think they’re safer in one of these vehicles, but many cars hold up better than some of these midsize SUVs in this test.”

SUVs are safer now than they were even just a few years ago, especially with the addition of electronic stability control, which is standard on all the models in this group. Still none of the six SUVs earned the Institute’s TOP SAFETY PICK designation because of low ratings for protection in side and/or rear impacts.

“If you’re in the market for a midsize SUV, there’s no reason to buy one with mediocre crash test ratings,” Zuby says. “Vehicles like the Ford Edge and Taurus X, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Subaru Tribeca would be safer choices. They afford good protection in front and side crashes. Plus they have good seat/head restraint designs to protect you in rear-end crashes. These five models, tested earlier this year, are our highest rated midsize SUVs, earning the TOP SAFETY PICK award. If you’re willing to spend a little more, the Acura MDX and RDX, Lincoln MKX, Mercedes M class, and Volvo XC90 also are TOP SAFETY PICK choices.”

For more information, check out a story in the New York Times.

Photo courtesy DR Ranch on FLICKR

Motorhomer Cries "Foul!" at Colorado State Park Policy

An RVer with a motorhome and a "toad car," visiting Colorado's Cherry Creek State Park feels the state discriminates against motorhome owners. On pulling into the state park, the RVer was charged--in addition to his $22 per night campsite fee--$7 for his motorhome and $7 for his towed car. These latter two charges are assessed "gate fees," charged for entering the park. At the same time, he discovered an RVer with a pickup truck pulling a trailer or fifth wheel would only be hit with a single $7 gate fee. Feeling a bit nettled, and in his view, discriminated against, the RVer wrote to our parent website, RVTRAVEL.COM

Our diligent research elves put in a call to the rangers at Cherry Creek. They cheerfully told us, indeed, since the vehicle pulled by the motorhome was a motorized vehicle, there would be an additional gate fee; at the same time since the trailer wasn't motorized, there would be no additional charge. We decided to 'give the dog another bite,' so we checked with the home office. A slightly different version of the tale was related by the agency's public information officer, Clare Sinacori.

Ms. Sinacori told RVs in the News that if the toad car remained hitched to the motorhome, then only one gate fee would be charged--that for the motorhome. We explained that in the "real world," it was highly unlikely a motorhome could be backed into a campsite with a towed car in place. "That would be fine," we were told, "As long as once you were settled, the towed car is hooked back up to the motorhome and isn't used."

Having never visited Cherry Creek, but drawing on our experiences at other state parks around the country, the likelihood of hitching the toad back up to the motorhome once it was "settled," is pretty unlikely. The typical design of campsites would likely not allow for maneuvering the car back around behind a parked motorhome, at least not without driving off onto "sacred" non-paved ground. If that is the case in reality, then RVers, prepare to pay more for the privilege of bringing your toad car with you to Colorado State Parks.

Why such a stringent policy? It may lie with the fact that Colorado legislature reduced its park system's share of general funds by $750,000 for the current biennium. As a result, in the park system's own words, it has, "increasingly focused on cash generation." At $7 per day, per "motorized vehicle," "cash generation" falls primarily to the wallets of motorhome owners.