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Big utes could face design rule change to prevent pedestrian crashes.

Big utes and pick-up trucks will come under closer scrutiny in their impact on pedestrians following a proposed design rule change in the US.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposal would establish a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard requiring new passenger vehicles to be designed in a way that reduces the risk of serious-to-fatal injuries in pedestrian crashes.

The rule will apply to passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand pounds (4.5 tonnes), including multipurpose vehicles such as trucks, SUVs, and vans.

This follows 2022 data that shows 88 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred in single vehicle crashes. The fatalities of pedestrians struck by the front of a vehicle are most common for multipurpose vehicles (49 percent) followed by passenger vehicles (37 percent).

Dangerous designs

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) research last year also found vehicles with high front ends are most deadly to pedestrians, with utes, SUVs, and vans with a hood greater than 100cm, 45 percent more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than cars with lower fronts and sloping designs. Vehicles with bonnet heights of between 75-100 cms with a blunt, or more vertical front end also increase the risk to pedestrians, it found.

The proposed test procedures will include simulating a head-to-hood impact, and other performance requirements to minimise the risk of head injury. Procedures will also include the use of head-like headforms to measure impact, with headforms representing a diverse range of pedestrians from a small child, to an adult.

Road crisis

NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman says pedestrian fatalities between 2013 and 2022 rose 57 per cent, amounting to 7522 deaths in 2022 on US roads.

“We have a crisis of roadway deaths, and it’s even worse among vulnerable road users like pedestrians,” she says. “This proposed rule will ensure that vehicles are designed to protect those inside and outside from serious injury or death.”

NHTSA believes the new proposal would help to save around 67 lives per year.

The IIHS report from 2023 also found over the past 30 years, the average US passenger vehicle is now 10cm wider, 25cm longer, 20cm taller, and 500 kg heavier, while on some large pickups, the hoods are almost at eye level for many adults.

In Australia in 2023, there was an eight percent increase in pedestrian fatalities in 2023 compared to 2022, from 153 to 166 deaths, but the figures have remained largely flat over the last decade.

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