> I can't understand why people keep buying SUV's with gas prices going up.

Take a walk through a junk yard. You will find, that in a wreck, most SUV's turn over. Many of them don't have four-wheel drive, but to make them look like they do, they build them with a high center of gravity. A vehicle that never goes off-road has little need for high ground clearance. But these tall vehicles are prone to rollovers. A car will often spin around after a collision, but usually, it remains upright. SUV's don't usually spin without rolling over.
The junkyard will verify that.
Howard