Everybody's driving and no ones getting high

Time for my own quiz. Read this quote:

S.U.V.s tend to be bought by people who are insecure, vain, self-centered, and self-absorbed, who are frequently nervous about their marriages, and who lack confidence in their driving skills.

Now you tell me, was that written by a) an environmentally concerned progressive liberal (okay, like me - I failed the Neocon test) or b) a sales man for the new Toyota Prius Hybrid?

Baaaah! Sorry, trick question. The correct answer is c) by market researchers for the auto industry. Yes, shock horror, this industry quote was taken from an article by Malcom Gladwell in The New Yorker^*. You'll have to buy The New Yorker to read it in full, but a brief interview with Gladwell is available online.

In the article Gladwell discusses the phenomenom of "overperformance" -- the idea that there is a growing gap between the technical characteristics of a product and its real-world use. Such as buying a vehicle that is optimized for rugged outdoor activities that feature in our fantasies, and then using it to satisfy our mundane real life chores like driving to Wal-Mart for a 60-pack of toilet roll and a gallon of pickles.

Another interesting comment is that SUV commercials almost never include children, because SUVs are designed to allow those who would otherwise have to buy a minivan, to pretend they don't actually have any children, or even a wife, next to them. What fun would a manly fording of a river, or streaking across a rock strewn dusty desert be if the screaming kids are back there singing along to "The Lion King"...

Gladwell also makes an excellent point about safety and how it andthe cost of accidents is minimized when all vehicles are of equal, and hopefully low mass:

If every car on the road was a Mini, then the cost of an accident would be quite small: if you are in a Mini and you hit a Mini, you aren’t going to be that bad off. So, in the old days, the premium on active safety wasn’t so large. On the other hand, if every car on the road is an S.U.V., the cost of an accident grows substantially. When a Ford Explorer hits a Chevy TrailBlazer, both parties suffer enormously. And, if a Ford Explorer hits a Mini, the Mini driver is a dead man. I’m more interested in active safety now than ever before. As a non-S.U.V. owner, I simply cannot afford to get into any accident at all these days.

^*Thanks to JB for the reference.