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As an embodiment of physical safety and privileged social space, the Hummer certainly stands alone. However, its relationship to public perception of crime and social danger is uncertain. The Hummer belongs to a second generation of SUVs, one that emerged during the mid-to-late 1990s and distinguished by increasingly exaggerated dimensions and aggressive styling, as exemplified by the Cadillac Escalade and Dodge Durango, both introduced in 1998. But even more, as a vehicle whose fuel economy is less than 10 miles per gallon (23.5 liters/100 km), the Hummer conflates rationalized risk management with conspicuous consumption. Unlike the first generation, which drew upon the diminutive, Spartan jeep and notions of practicality, the Hummer and its near relatives are decidedly oversized, over-equipped, and impractical. The Hummer itself has become the military model for the second generation of SUVs. Such outsized late-1990s models convey a cavalier egotism that is less indicative of heightened risk consciousness than of overt class consciousness. The Hummer demands to be noticed and admired as an exclusionary status symbol. The protective features of second generation SUVs seem gratuitously aesthetic in comparison to earlier models; like Renaissance codpieces, their progressive ostentation has effaced their utilitarian origins.

One recent Hummer commercial, consisting of a kaleidoscopic montage of the vehicle’s chrome rims, headlights, grille, and tires, concludes with the flippant tagline, ‘Acces- sorize.’ Gone are the associations with working-class authenticity or rural gentility. The Hummer is marketed as high-end automotive jewelry, reflecting the way in which risk management is commodified and placed within a hierarchy of competitive consumption.