SUV and pickup sales have increased dramatically in recent years at a time when the sale of smaller sedans has dropped. These large vehicles may allow their drivers to feel more secure, but they put pedestrians and other road users at increased risk of death and serious injury. In fact, a recent study by the Detroit Free Press has uncovered that the dramatic upswing in fatal
pedestrian accidents across the country in the nearly last decade is largely because of the growing number of large vehicles on the road.
SUVs put pedestrians in danger
It almost goes without saying that large vehicles are more dangerous to pedestrians than smaller ones. However, it is not just their size, but also how SUVs and pickups are designed that makes them so dangerous. In contrast to sedans, these larger vehicles tend to have higher and boxier front ends that are more likely to hit pedestrians’ upper bodies. Sedans, on the other hand, are more likely to strike pedestrians’ lower bodies.
SUVs are also more powerful than smaller vehicles and, because of their large size, take longer to come to a full stop when driving at high speeds. That’s an especially big danger to pedestrians because even a relatively small increase in speed can have a big impact on survival rates. For example, while pedestrians struck by a vehicle going 20 mph have a 95 percent survival rate, that drops to 55 percent survival at 30 mph, and 15 percent survival at 40 mph.