Pickups and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) with bonnet heights greater than 1,000mm are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than shorter vehicles with sloped bonnets, according to new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIIHS).
Earlier studies have shown SUVs and pickups are linked to higher fatality risks in pedestrian crashes. But the new study focused on the risks posed by vehicles with bonnets taller than 1,000mm using data from nearly 18,000 crashes.
Tall, squared-up bonnets are signatures of some of the best-selling and most profitable vehicles sold in the US, such as the Ford Super Duty pickup, the Cadillac Escalade and other large SUVs.
The rise in pedestrian deaths has outpaced the increase in overall US traffic deaths since the easing of pandemic lockdowns.
The number of pedestrians killed in 2021 jumped 13% to 7,342, the highest since 1981, while the number of people on bicycles killed rose 5% to 985, the highest since at least 1975, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.
Since reaching their lowest point in 2009, pedestrian deaths have increased 80% and account for 17% of traffic deaths.
The Insurance Institute, an arm of the US insurance industry, has no regulatory authority,but its studies are influential in the industry and with regulators at the NHTSA.
The IIHS study found vehicles that are tall and blunt, such as a large pickup truck, are 43.6% more likely to cause death in a collision with a pedestrian. Vehicles with tall and sloped bonnets are 45% more likely to cause a pedestrian fatality, while medium-height vehicles with blunt front ends, such as a Mazda CX-9 SUV or a Chevrolet Colorado pickup, are nearly 26% more likely to kill a pedestrian, based on the institute's analysis of crash data.
“Carmakers can make vehicles more pedestrian friendly by designing vehicle front ends that are lower and more sloped. The NHTSA can consider evaluations that account for the growing bonnet heights and blunt front ends of the vehicle fleet in the New Car Assessment Programme or regulation,” the IIHS study said.
US vehicle fuel efficiency standards administered by NHTSA have encouraged carmakers to build larger vehicles. The bigger the vehicle, the lower the fuel efficiency target it has to meet.
US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has called the rise in traffic deaths “a crisis”. The Biden administration this year allocated $800m (R14.95bn) to infrastructure improvements aimed at improving vehicle and pedestrian safety.
US study shows tall pickups, SUVs are 45% deadlier to pedestrians
Image: Supplied
Pickups and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) with bonnet heights greater than 1,000mm are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than shorter vehicles with sloped bonnets, according to new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIIHS).
Earlier studies have shown SUVs and pickups are linked to higher fatality risks in pedestrian crashes. But the new study focused on the risks posed by vehicles with bonnets taller than 1,000mm using data from nearly 18,000 crashes.
Tall, squared-up bonnets are signatures of some of the best-selling and most profitable vehicles sold in the US, such as the Ford Super Duty pickup, the Cadillac Escalade and other large SUVs.
The rise in pedestrian deaths has outpaced the increase in overall US traffic deaths since the easing of pandemic lockdowns.
The number of pedestrians killed in 2021 jumped 13% to 7,342, the highest since 1981, while the number of people on bicycles killed rose 5% to 985, the highest since at least 1975, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.
Since reaching their lowest point in 2009, pedestrian deaths have increased 80% and account for 17% of traffic deaths.
The Insurance Institute, an arm of the US insurance industry, has no regulatory authority,but its studies are influential in the industry and with regulators at the NHTSA.
The IIHS study found vehicles that are tall and blunt, such as a large pickup truck, are 43.6% more likely to cause death in a collision with a pedestrian. Vehicles with tall and sloped bonnets are 45% more likely to cause a pedestrian fatality, while medium-height vehicles with blunt front ends, such as a Mazda CX-9 SUV or a Chevrolet Colorado pickup, are nearly 26% more likely to kill a pedestrian, based on the institute's analysis of crash data.
“Carmakers can make vehicles more pedestrian friendly by designing vehicle front ends that are lower and more sloped. The NHTSA can consider evaluations that account for the growing bonnet heights and blunt front ends of the vehicle fleet in the New Car Assessment Programme or regulation,” the IIHS study said.
US vehicle fuel efficiency standards administered by NHTSA have encouraged carmakers to build larger vehicles. The bigger the vehicle, the lower the fuel efficiency target it has to meet.
US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has called the rise in traffic deaths “a crisis”. The Biden administration this year allocated $800m (R14.95bn) to infrastructure improvements aimed at improving vehicle and pedestrian safety.
MORE:
Continental plans thousands of job cuts
Fisker cuts 2023 production forecast as it struggles to ramp up deliveries
Electric car demand looks set to stall in Europe's 'valley of death'
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos