Drivers Cling to Their SUVs

Even as SUV sales have dropped 33% this year, some drivers hang on to their gas-guzzlers. "You've got to have that room when you're moving around," says a Georgia man. The cost of switching is another major factor for families.

1 minute read

June 8, 2008, 11:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"Stephanie Torgerson, 32, of Pataskala, Ohio, said she simply can't put her three boys in her husband's Mazda 626. The 1-year-old needs a car seat, the 5-year-old needs a booster chair and she doesn't feel comfortable wedging her 8-year-old between the two.

Sure, she could probably get better mileage in a minivan, but she doesn't like the stigma."I don't want to be labeled as a soccer mom," she said.

Torgerson said her 2006 Chevy Trailblazer, which gets about 20 mpg, affords her and her kids protection -- not to mention four-wheel drive traction in the snowy winter months. But security comes with a price.

Torgerson's daily commute to Hilliard -- another Columbus suburb -- is 72 miles roundtrip. She spends about $82 a week on gas, she said."

Friday, June 6, 2008 in CNN.com

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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