Nonetheless more than 40,000 people a year die in traffic accidents. The government's role is to set gas mileage, pollution and safety standards, but the large SUVs mostly are adaptations of pickup trucks already on the road. Ford's new Excursion, the largest SUV, is for example, adapted from its super-duty pickup. So in most cases, the mechanical elements of these SUVs already are approved. That is a public policy question that I cannot fully answer, but the people who buy SUVs often are buying it for the hauling or people-carrying capacity, not with an eye to having a bigger vehicle than yours.
Some people tow boats or horse trailers and others haul a lot of kids.
Still others like the four wheel drive for bad weather. Critics commonly assert that SUVs are a major danger to other cars on the road, and it is true that if an SUV and car collide the car occupants are more likely to fare badly. On the environmental front, it often is asserted that if SUV gas mileage requirements were raised it would be a significant help to global warming. So while higher SUV mileage might not be a bad idea, it is no panacea for global warming gases. Your statistics are heartless.