New research in the US has highlighted what it calls a crisis in crashes and the attendant fatalities caused by the large utes and SUVs.
The report from the Road to Zero Coalition, a National Safety Council initiative funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found large pick-ups and SUVs now make up 75 per cent of the US car parc and contribute to the worst proportional results in fatalities due to their design and weight.
These include pedestrians, cyclists and people in other smaller cars involved in a crash.
It quotes the Economist Intelligence Unit (2024) that for every life saved in the heaviest one per cent of light trucks, more than a dozen occupants of other vehicles would die.
Pedestrian deaths involving SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans rose about 77 per cent in a decade between 2012 and 2022, while over the same period, the number of sales and leases of such vehicles rose by 50 per cent.
Pedestrian deaths and others traveling outside vehicles have been on the rise from a decade with 2022 marking the deadliest year for pedestrians in more than 40 years the NHTSA says.
At the same time, the average hood height of passenger trucks increased by at least 11 per cent between 2000 and 2021, and their average weight increased by 24 per cent between 2000 and 2018, according to a Consumer Reports analysis of industry data
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found the in 30 years, the average US passenger vehicle is now 10 cm wider, 25 cm longer, 20cm taller and 500 kgs heavier.
Other factors that it says are driving the worse crash outcomes are height and weight relative to pedestrians, crash incompatibility with smaller cars, unique front-end geometry and stiffness and large blind zones caused by design and height.
It notes that car buyers pursuing safer cars buy the larger vehicles, only to make the matter worse for other road users in an ‘arms race’ of size and weight.
It wants comprehensive strategies within the Safe System Approach to address the complex interplay between vehicle size, safety, and transportation mode choices including better visibility in light trucks, NCAP safety testing oversight of these factors and better road design.
“This dynamic underscores the urgent need for comprehensive strategies within the [USDOT] Safe System Approach to address the complex interplay between vehicle size, safety, and transportation mode choices.”
“This comprehensive report sheds light on important factors contributing to roadway safety — the impact of vehicle size, weight, and direct vision,” NSC president and CEO Lorraine Martin says in a statement.
“While more work is needed to solve this pressing challenge, the research is clear: government, manufacturers, and drivers all need to come together to tackle this critical safety issue, so more people can return home safely each day.”