Washington ? Americans think sport utility vehicles are safer than other vehicles — for people driving or riding in them. For those who aren’t, it’s a different story.

There’s more agreement on fuel rules. The majority in an Associated Press poll say SUVs should have to meet the same mileage standards as cars.

People were more likely to think SUVs were safer for their own occupants, by 42 percent to 35 percent, according to the poll conducted for The AP by ICR/International Communications Research of Media, Pa. And they were more likely — by a smaller margin — to think SUVs were more dangerous for other motorists on the highway, by 45 percent to 41 percent.

The poll findings reflect the public’s mixed feelings about SUVs, which industry analysts say are still growing in popularity.

For Mark Milano, an oral surgeon in Muskegon, Mich., buying an SUV makes a lot of sense.

“Most everybody I know, especially in a town, with kids, has an SUV in the family,” Milano said. “I think they’re safer. SUVs are bigger, higher up off the road.”

He acknowledged that the bigger SUVs on the road might not make other motorists in smaller cars feel safer.

One of those motorists, retiree Don l’Heureux of Blue Hill, Neb., gets aggravated at the mere mention of SUVs.

“They’re dangerous to other cars on the road,” he said. “I don’t like them at all. They scare me since I drive a small car, they are wasteful on energy.”

He said he heard news reports regularly about SUVs rolling over on the highways.

The public’s perception of whether SUVs were dangerous for other motorists went up steadily with respondents’ education level. Republicans were more likely to defend the general safety of SUVs than Democrats were.

Just over half in the poll, 54 percent, said the fuel economy standards for SUVs should be the same as for other cars, while 33 percent said they should be allowed to get lower gas mileage.