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I suspect this may be in part because many people have a need for something like an SUV to carry children and/or cargo from time to time, but can't justify another vehicle so the SUV or truck doesn't need to be driven all the time.

In my case, I have a pickup truck I need for work, but I don't drive enough outside of work to justify the cost of keeping my smaller car on the road also.

When I first got my SUV, I was the only passenger 25% of the time. And I NEEDED it.

I would load my 3 kids up, take them to day care, got to work. My wife would pick them up from day care and I would drive home without kids.

The SUV was the smallest vehicle I could get to transport 3 kids in car seats. And I needed to drive my kids to day care.

Maybe an alternative would be to convert all major roads to tolls, then offer discounts for HOV and electric.