See the videos mentioned in the previous post, especially where the prototypes are driven through busy traffic. If we gauge every mitigation by how it will compare against large SUVs, we end up in a situation where we always revert back to a larger vehicle than would have been helpful. Your argument could be used to discourage even bike commuting, for example, so the fallacy of SUVs always being safer falls flat when we hit the downslope of PO.

I was told my tiny Honda Insight would be crushed by large SUVs the first year (and I live in an area with LOTS of them), but I'm in my 8th year with it with nary a scratch (granted, I've vanpooled alot when not zipping around on consulting engagements). As gas prices go higher, or as the recession deepens, we'll be seeing lighter traffic anyway.