Safety regulations apply to all cars on the road and are not making cars bigger as all cars have to comply as you can readily buy very small cars.Not really. People drive larger (wider, longer) cars because safety regulations have made them larger. People drive higher cars because it's much easier to get small kids in and out and work with child seats etc - let's face it, the vast majority of "SUVs" are family vehicles - there's as reason for that! Note most cars in Europe which are called "SUVs" (especially by eco nutters, but sometimes even by their manufacturer) are actually crossovers and take up a lot less road space than people think - e.g. the biggest selling car in Ireland is the Hyundai Sante Fe and while jealous Greens are foaming at the mouth about it being an 'enormous SUV', it actually takes up the same space as a Ford Focus.
Some cities are banning big suv's anyway for taking up too much space and pollution reasons.