I don't hate jeeps, i used to drive a rav4 3 door. But a point some pple are trying to make is. Yes it is safer, but at the inconsideration of others.
SOME (not many, just a few i've noticed) big 4wd drivers think that since their car is bigger, they have the bloody right of way. And the fact that they think so is already a big mistake. It means they have no bloody due care for other pple's safety. These are the pple whom should have their bloody liscense revoked for life.
Another issue is, you know how sometimes pple are not as inclined to driving as others? But they still have a liscense? Yes. They purchase these tanks with the idea that if they hit someone, at least they're safe. What is the point in that? Can't they just buy something smaller so that they can handle it better? And with that, if they hit someone, there won't be as much damage?
I agree on the fact that they are safe. But only to themselves. Imagine a kid who runs out onto the road with an oncomming vehicle. If it were a jeep with a bull bar, and it jam brakes, the stopping distance is further no doubt, thus the speed the jeep hits the kid would be realitvely high, with the addition of a bull bar FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES, won't help either. Hitting ABS plastic with more surface area is much better than hitting a solid metal bar. Imagine the car as a skyline, better brakes, lower CG, due to performance, better tyres. Brakes in time, or just almost in time, speed to hit the kid is not as bad, and it's low. Broken leg maybe? Where else the jeep is high, ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, internal injuries... death.
Now, imagine that IS YOUR KID. Would u rather have ur kid dead or having a broken leg? Jeeps are made for the offroad and country side, it should be kept that way.
Cheers.