Supersized vehicles are killing pedestrians; tell NHTSA to adopt new rule by November 18
A chance to change federal vehicle regulations to prevent deadly front-end design on SUVs and trucks
Passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs are getting bigger – a lot bigger – in America. The average American passenger vehicle is now 8 inches taller and 1,000 pounds heavier than it was three decades ago. SUVs and trucks are now the dominant type of vehicle, making up almost 75% of the market share, and these vehicle types keep getting “supersized.”
The bigger the vehicle, the higher the stakes – especially for pedestrians, and for a variety of reasons. One is because of the fact that bigger vehicles hit pedestrians in the head and torso, which is much deadlier than at the waist or below ( like where a sedan would hit you). Larger cars also mean large front-end blind spots, with drivers more likely to hit pedestrians (especially children) they cannot see. Higher clearances on large vehicles mean they are also more likely to pull pedestrians under a vehicle when a crash occurs. And of course the bigger the vehicle, the heavier it is, with the greater force more likely to kill.
A report from the National Safety Council found that pedestrians are 50% more likely to die when hit by the driver of an SUV or pickup truck than when hit by the driver of a different passenger car.
As pedestrian fatalities have risen to a forty-year historic high, vehicle bloat and its related hazards have been increasingly pointed to as a key culprit.
Finally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is starting to address this in a new proposed vehicle safety standard on the front-end design of SUVs and trucks with public comment due on a proposed change on November 18.
The proposed revision to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards would ban SUVs and truck designs with excessively high carriages and blunt profiles that are more fatal to pedestrians.
Research has found that SUVs and vans with hoods taller than 40 inches are almost 45% more likely to result in a fatality compared to vehicles that are 30 inches or shorter and have a sloping profile. Medium-height vehicles, with hoods between 30-40 inches tall, that have more vertical front ends also pose a greater risk to pedestrians.
Now until Monday, November 18, the NHTSA is accepting public comment on their proposal – and we need them to see significant support from around the country, especially to counter the auto industry. We will also be asking the NHTSA to do more to take on other aspects of vehicle design that endanger pedestrians, including vehicle size, visibility, and speed.
