Was safety really ever a consideration?

The New Yorker takes an upclose and personal look at the SUV. Are they really safer, as they might appear to be? Big and Bad: How the S.U.V. ran over automotive safety

In the summer of 1996, the Ford Motor Company began building the Expedition, its new, full-sized S.U.V., at the Michigan Truck Plant, in the Detroit suburb of Wayne. The Expedition was essentially the F-150 pickup truck with an extra set of doors and two more rows of --and the fact that it was a truck was critical. Cars have to meet stringent fuel-efficiency regulations. Trucks don't.