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Poke around at what American auto manufacturers are selling these days, it's almost entirely high-grill trucks and SUVs, we don't sell much in the way of cars (
by ruddct 6y ago
Poke around at what American auto manufacturers are selling these days, it's almost entirely high-grill trucks and SUVs, we don't sell much in the way of cars (and even then, they're mostly of the bigger/sportier variety).
When you get hit by something with a high grill you're more likely to go under the vehicle than over the hood (compared to a car).
This is allowed because when we evaluate cars for safety, we exclusively look at safety of the driver/passengers, not someone getting hit. This is a great place to start when looking for solutions to this problem.
Of course lack of safe infrastructure and a legal system that frequently dismisses 'accidents' also play a role.
EDIT:
I'm talking about the American market and the way the NHTSA evaluates auto safety.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/nhtsa-too-slow-in-fight-against-surging-pedestrian-fatalities-federal-watchdog-says/ https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/nhtsa-too-slow-in...
https://www.codot.gov/safety/traffic-safety-pulse/2019/march-2019/death-on-foot-americas-love-of-suvs-is-killing-pedestrians https://www.codot.gov/safety/traffic-safety-pulse/2019/march...
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/04/28/vehicle-safety-standards-dont-protect-pedestrians/ https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/04/28/vehicle-safety-standa...
- toxik 6y agoThe second problem is it becomes an arms race. If I’m in a normal height car and get hit by the monster trucks out there today, I am more exposed. So I buy a big monster truck, to be safe.
- nitrogen 6y agoI currently drive a car that is a little over four feet tall. I regularly pull up to intersections and try to turn corners where my roofline is below the bottom of the windows of the megatrucks next to me. So yes, the arms race is real, and my next car will be taller and bigger.
- toxik 6y agoI think it's fair to tax bigger cars higher. They take up more road space, they take up more parking space. Should pay more by % of oversize.
- _nalply 6y agoAnd the car's inmates are also getting bigger.
- internetslave 6y agoYou just made all of this up
- s1artibartfast 6y agoCertainly seems plausible as a hypothesis, would be interesting to look at the fatality data by make. The insurance companies should have this data and I would be interesting to FOIA it if it’s not public
- stryan 6y agoFrom the HN guidelines: > Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something. It would be useful if you explained how or why there's a problem with OP's post.
- dghlsakjg 6y agoNot at all. The eu has pedestrian safety standards that must be met as well as passenger safety. In those countries Tesla and Mercedes, to name a few, have active pedestrian safety devices in the hood that change the angle of the hood just before a pedestrian strike to minimize injury. They remove those safety devices in North American markets where there isn’t testing. Do you really need a peer reviewed study to tell you that getting hit by a truck in the chest/head is going to be more dangerous than getting struck by a small sedan in the legs? If you do, Euro NCAP has them.
- moron4hire 6y agoA simple Google search for "vehicle safety testing for pedestrian accidents" pulls up quite a few manufacturer safety testing videos.
- burntoutfire 6y ago> This is allowed because when we evaluate cars for safety, we exclusively look at safety of the driver/passengers, not someone getting hit. At least in Europe, pedestrian safety is part of the assessment: https://www.euroncap.com/en/vehicle-safety/the-ratings-explained/vulnerable-road-user-vru-protection/ https://www.euroncap.com/en/vehicle-safety/the-ratings-expla...
- deelowe 6y ago> This is allowed because when we evaluate cars for safety, we exclusively look at safety of the driver/passengers, not someone getting hit. This is not true at all. Pedestrian Safety Requirements are why most modern cars tend to look the same from the front these days: https://www.hotcars.com/why-pedestrian-safety-ruining-car-design/ https://www.hotcars.com/why-pedestrian-safety-ruining-car-de... https://www.treehugger.com/why-all-modern-cars-look-alike-4868444 https://www.treehugger.com/why-all-modern-cars-look-alike-48... https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15118822/taking-the-hit-how-pedestrian-protection-regs-make-cars-fatter-feature/ https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15118822/taking-the-h...
- ruddct 6y agoLooks like these are talking about hood standards on three-box vehicles/sedans, which don't apply to trucks or SUVs[0] (most of the American market, these days). [0] https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-419.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-419.pdf https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/studies/bumper/index.html https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/studies/bumper/index.htm...
- stefan_ 6y agoIt is your position that Pedestrian Safety Requirements have caused an unprecedented rise in both the weight (with the obvious increase in kinetic energy) and size, particularly height of new cars?
- deelowe 6y agoMy position is stated in the first two lines of my comment. Automobiles definitely do have to meet increasingly more stringent regulations for pedestrian safety. I work with several people who have industry experience.
- david38 6y agoThis isn’t even close to true. Front end crash compatibility for example has been a thing for decades.