Tall Vehicles: Unsafe at Any Speed

More evidence confirms that vehicles with higher hood lines — meaning large trucks and SUVs — are more likely to injure pedestrians in the event of a crash, according to new research from the Insurance Industry for Highway Safety.

As Gersh Kuntzman reports in Streetsblog USA, pedestrians struck at 27 miles per hour by median-height trucks have an 83 percent chance of suffering “moderate injuries,” compared with a 60 percent chance for median-height cars.

This indicates that taller vehicles pose more danger to people outside the cars even when traveling at lower speeds. “For example, as crash speed increases from 15 mph to 35 mph, the risk of a serious injury goes from 9 percent to 52 percent when a median-height car is involved. With a median pickup, the risk shoots up from 11 percent to 91 percent.”

In a statement, the IIHS noted, “The findings point to the need for policymakers and traffic engineers to account for the makeup of the U.S. fleet when thinking about speed limits and traffic-calming.” The report recommends that automakers modify front-end designs to improve safety and add automatic braking systems to vehicles.