Esuvee
Encyclopedia
ESUVEE was a US year-long consumer education campaign on sport utility vehicle
safety in 2005. There was also an associated website
game. The goal of the campaign was to encourage safe driving of SUVs. The campaign emphasized the need to drive carefully to avoid rolling the vehicles over because SUVs handle like trucks, not cars. The focus was changing driver behavior, particularly among younger male drivers.
The campaign was a $27 million effort sponsored by the consumer protection agencies and the Attorneys General of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Part of the funding came from a settlement agreement with the Ford Motor Company
to resolve lawsuit
s alleging that Ford’s marketing practices misled consumers on how to drive, load, and maintain the Ford Explorer
. "States Unite to Promote SUV Safety with $27 Million Public Education Campaign" Colorado Attorney General Office, January 31, 2005, retrieved on February 5, 2009.
The SUUVEE campaign was to inform the public about four safety elements to help save lives:
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
safety in 2005. There was also an associated website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
game. The goal of the campaign was to encourage safe driving of SUVs. The campaign emphasized the need to drive carefully to avoid rolling the vehicles over because SUVs handle like trucks, not cars. The focus was changing driver behavior, particularly among younger male drivers.
The campaign was a $27 million effort sponsored by the consumer protection agencies and the Attorneys General of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Part of the funding came from a settlement agreement with the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
to resolve lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s alleging that Ford’s marketing practices misled consumers on how to drive, load, and maintain the Ford Explorer
Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a sport-utility vehicle sold in North America and built by the Ford Motor Company since 1990, as a replacement for the smaller but related Ford Bronco II. It is manufactured in Chicago, Illinois...
. "States Unite to Promote SUV Safety with $27 Million Public Education Campaign" Colorado Attorney General Office, January 31, 2005, retrieved on February 5, 2009.
The SUUVEE campaign was to inform the public about four safety elements to help save lives:
- Handling - A higher risk of rollover in SUVs because of a higher center of gravity than passenger cars.
- Loading - Number of occupants, as well as the weight and distribution of cargo, raises the center of gravity, thus increasing the risk of rollovers.
- Tires - the size, pressure, and proper maintenance of tires are keys to SUV safety.
- Seat belts - Since 80% of deaths in SUV rollovers were from ejection, seat belt use would help prevent fatalities.