Here’s a set of statistics that will interest owners of pickup trucks, minivans, SUVs — and pedestrians, a rising number of whom are getting hit by these vehicles.
Writing at TheWhyAxis@substack.com, Christopher Ingraham reports, “Since 2000, vehicle fatalities among drivers and their passengers have fallen by about 20%, while fatal crashes involving pedestrians have risen by 30%. Perhaps most alarmingly, the share of fatal crash vehicles weighing more than ... 5,500 pounds, or roughly the weight of a tricked out Ford F-150 — rose from less than 4% to more than 12% over the same period.”
Let’s look at the fatalities first. The lower number of vehicle occupant deaths is a great achievement by the auto industry. It indicates that airbags are saving lives, as are the warning systems on newer vehicles that alert drivers if they are drifting out of their lane or are coming up too quickly on the car in front of them.
The rising number of crashes involving pedestrians, most of them in large cities where more people tend to walk, is at first perplexing. But it makes a little more sense when you recall that a lot more people today drive larger vehicles like SUVs or pickups.
Research by Justin Tyndall of the University of Hawaii indicates that between 2000 and 2019, the average weight of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash increased by 400 pounds. That is a sizable gain, and it’s no surprise that more pedestrians are being killed if they’re being hit by heavier vehicles.
Tyndall wondered how much of the increase in pedestrian fatalities could be attributed to the increasing size and weight of vehicles in America. Controlling for a number of variables, his study indicates that replacing all pickups, SUVs and minivans sold between 2000 and 2019 with cars would have saved more than 8,000 lives — about 400 per year.
But the market is telling automakers to make more large vehicles. Buick, for one, today builds only SUVs — and no sedans. Even so, there are some design issues in larger vehicles that deserve attention.
For example, the hood height of many pickups keeps increasing. This means that more collisions are occurring at a pedestrian’s chest level instead of below the waist, resulting in a greater likelihood of death. The higher hoods also create larger blind spots directly in front of pickups, putting children at greater risk.
There are reasons why larger vehicles have become more popular. SUVs and minivans can carry more people or goods, and pickups are great for hauling just about anything.
Also, traveling in a larger vehicle often increases occupant safety. If you’re going to be in an accident, you want to be in a heavier vehicle that is more likely to withstand a wreck.
Using actuarial values, Tyndall recommends a $750 tax on the sale of larger vehicles to offset the transfer of risk to pedestrians. That’s unlikely, which means that pedestrians have to take their safety more seriously.
— Jack Ryan, Enterpise-Journal
