The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "sport utility vehicles" ...
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SUVs and Guardrails
The investigative reporters at WTAE-TV discover that there is a greater risk of accidents with usage of guardrails on major interstates and roads, especially for light trucks and sport utility vehicles. The reporter discovered that, during an eight year span, there were 82 fatal accidents with SUVs and guardrails in Pennsylvania. There has been little effort to fix this problem because of a state Supreme Court ruling which determined that the state could not be sued for unsafe guardrails.
Tags: Sport Utility Vehicle; guardrails; safety
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Choke Points
This story takes a look at Maryland's air pollution problems. The article confirms that most of the pollution comes from the fuel emissions from motor vehicles, particularly SUV's. it also looks at one of the most polluting power plant in the country, the Muskingum River Plant and profiles the surrounding area.
Tags: Muskingum River Plant; air pollution; fuel emissions; Sports Utility Vehicle; Maryland Department of Environment.
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Sticky Subject. Industry finds devil in the details of plan for border SUV labels. New warnings highlighting risk of rollovers inspire exercise in deconstruction. The fate of the dangling man.
This article talks about SUV rollovers, and the increasing number of rollovers that are happening. The federal government is considering requiring SUV manufacturers to place labels on the vehicles which warn of the "high risk of rollover."
Tags: SUV; Sport Utility Vehicles; SUVs; government; labels; rollover; seat belts; federal government; driver safety; roads; highways; speeding; traffic
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Trucks, Darlings of Drivers, Are Favored by the Law, Too
The Times reports on the enormous success of Chrysler's new SUV, Dodge Durango, and other light trucks. Auto dealers are happy to sell more; the consumers are happy to buy more. But what is the price of the deal? "If the Durango and most other sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and mini-vans were classified as cars, they would violate federal standards for pollution and gasoline consumption aimed at protecting the environment and conserving energy." The story finds that light trucks enjoy lower standards thanks to the combined lobbying muscle of dealers and manufacturers.
Tags: SUVs; light trucks; pollution; environment; gasoline consumption; global warming; emissions; GM; Ford; lobbying
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An officer, a child, an unexamined death
Philadelphia Inquirer looks at the lack of proper police investigation on a case in which an off-duty police officer driving a sport-utility vehicle struck and killed a four-year-old boy on October 11, 1999. The story finds that Crystal Dixon, the driver guilty of the accident, might have been intoxicated at the time she struck the child. The reporter interviews witnesses who state having smelled alcohol on Dixon after the accident occurred, and quotes a doctor saying that she was on medication that could impair a driver's reactions. Investigators neither questioned Dixon, nor gave her a breath test or a blood test, as they normally would have done, if a civilian had struck and killed a child, reports the Inquirer.
Tags: alcohol; driving; drunk driving; children; road accidents; pain medication; muscle relaxant; Fernhill Road; Germantown
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Further Problems of Safety Found For Light Trucks, Documents on Design of Explorer Reveal a Series of Compromises
Half of all cars purchased in the U.S. are in the light truck category, which include SUVs. "Ford designed its Explorer on a shoestring budget in the late 1980's, bolting a roomy car-like passenger cabin on top of the underbody of a Ranger pickup truck. The high-riding design made the vehicle more prone to rolling over... Sport utility vehicles, which many American busy partly because they seem safer than cars in collisions between the two, roll over so often that their occupants are just as likely to die in an accident as car occupants..."
Tags: Ford; SUV; sport utility vehicle; rollover rate; tire; Firestone; auto safety; consumer image; SUV drivers; mass production; design changes and flaws; payload; rear suspension; frame rails; track width; sides and roof alterations
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Pumped Up: Shock at the Wheel: Wonder Why Gas Prices Suddenly Got So High?
The WSJ reports that "the movement to regulate gasoline more stringently, begun in the mid-1990s, is colliding head-on with a still-strong economy and the arrival of gas-guzzling vehicles that have pushed up demand faster than domestic refining capacity could match...The result: tight supply, not enough extra capacity and prices that the slightest worries can send soaring...Sport-utility vehicles, pickups and minivans make up 43% of the vehicles on the road today, up from 30% in 1990...The problem (of high gas prices) is most severe on the West Coast and in the third of the county where Environmental Protection Agency regulations require the sale of lower-emission gasoline." Additionally, many of the country's biggest oil companies have gotten out of the refining business.
Tags: energy; gasoline; gas prices; sport-utility vehicles; clean air; refining; refinery; refineries; Unocal
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Rollover
Dateline investigated "one of this year's most controversial auto safety issues, revealing vital new information about the risk of deadly rollover accidents in sport utility vehicles. By researching historical records and personal accounts of auto industry insiders, Dateline documented that auto experts had serious concerns decades ago about the high risk of SUV rollovers."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; automobiles; sport utility vehicles; SUV; rollovers; safety; CAR; FARS
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Explorer Has Higher Rate of Tire Accidents
An analysis by the Washington Post reveals that the "Ford Explorer has a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport-utility vehicles," regardless of the tire brand. The findings suggests that there is something about the design of the Explorer that contributes to accidents. This may mean that Firestone Tires are not entirely to blame for the recent fatal accidents. The study found that even if Explorers were equipped with Goodyear Tires, they were still more like to have tire-related accidents.
Tags: Ford Explorer; Firestone Tires; Goodyear Tires; Ford Motor Co.; automobiles; CAR; FARS
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Sporting Chance
Westword lays out alarming statistics on SUVs involved in accidents. Describes some of the more noteworthy and destructive accidents in Colorado involving SUVs.
Tags: sport utility vehicles; colorado; accidents; road safety