Hybrids - The Cars of the Future?

Major car companies such as Ford and Toyota recently announced the increased sales of hybrid cars. The sales of the Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape doubled in the past month. Americans have even shown an interest in the subcompact cars. These include the tiny Honda Fit and the Toyota Yaris. On the other hand, sales of large sport utility vehicles and trucks have fallen sharply. Dodge reported that sales of the Ram were down 15%, while Fords sales of the F series were down 9%. The car companies are blaming the high gasoline prices for the increase in hybrid sales. This indicates that large trucks and SUVs are a complement to gasoline. Since the price of gasoline increased, fewer gas-guzzling trucks are going to be purchased. On the other hand, if gas prices were to fall, there would be an increase in the sale of the larger vehicles.
This issue leads me to wonder how safe these smaller cars are. On an average day, the large majority of vehicles I see are trucks and SUV’s. In an accident, I do not see the Honda Fit faring well against a large SUV like the Cadillac Escalade. It appears that consumers are more concerned with saving money than their safety. If the sales of hybrid cars continue to increase, there is a good chance the number of traffic related fatalities would also increase.