I think people have gotten into the habit of buying gigantic SUVs (Tahoe and Suburban are king here) for the illusion of safety, when they have no other real need for something that size. In other words, when they're texting or applying makeup at 60mph, they want to feel that they'll come out of it unscathed if they hit someone or something. The other big draw to these beasts is that they enjoy "being up high", mainly so they can more easily spot the car ahead that they will eventually cut off.
It's not my intention to be sexist, but by observation, there are a LOT of women driving around in Tahoes and Escalades that have no business driving something that big. The corners of their bumpers usually look as if they've been in a few demolition derbies, and they can often be seen changing lanes before bothering to look over their shoulders, and feel justified in doing so because they're bigger. This is the demographic surrounding my decision to get rid of my motorcycle. They don't care how they handle (softly sprung and tall, a great combination) or that they suck gas (a V-8 is as useful in urban traffic as a jet engine on a shopping cart), they just feel the need to be bigger than everyone else, so when they screw up and hit somebody, they're "safe".