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75% More Pedestrians Have Been Killed Since 2009. Giant Trucks and SUVs Are Why

xnx 4mo ago
Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347
- dang 4mo ago
  Ok, since that submission has the original source, we'll merge the comments thither and re-up it.
ChrisArchitect 4mo ago
[dupe] Discussion on source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347
nfriedly 4mo ago
The NYT article they link to is worth looking at, and I believe it's free for everyone: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/21/us/trucks-suv-pedestrian-crashes.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/21/us/trucks-suv...
- dang 4mo ago
  (this is at the merged thread - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648727 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648727 - and there's an additional gift link in the top text for people hitting the wall)
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
1p09gj20g8h 4mo ago
You can tell by a comment's content whether the user drives a normal car or monster suv/truck lol.
- black6 4mo ago
  You don't understand! I NEED to drive a one-ton pickup every day to and from work! I MIGHT stop by the feed store on the way home to pick up some fence posts and fertilizer for my hobby farm. I HAVE to have the flexibility of a daily driver F350 just in case! It doesn't make sense for me to have a farm truck AND an economical Honda for daily driving!
  - tim333 4mo ago
    You know I think people might be more flexible. When I was last in the US I was driving a 15 seat minibus and at the moment I'm using an e-bike. Doesn't make that much difference to me. I'm pretty flexible depending on what seems cool / convenient / good value. I think some nudging might work.
Lonestar1440 4mo ago
Between this and the Headlight situation, it's bad out there. One of those issues where the two-party politics are really toxic and prevent any action. Realistically, we need a new license class for vehicles >3T. This would mean anything from the biggest F-150 on up. It doesn't have to be any harder to get than a motorcycle cert, but we should put some burden on the driver to show that they know how to handle a big vehicle. That and a common sense rule on headlights could get pedestrian deaths back where they were a decade ago.
- tim333 4mo ago
  Just a 100% tax on monster vehicles and maybe some subsidy for normal cars / evs would sort it.
  - ilinx 4mo ago
    Why not address the actual problem: ability to drive responsibly? Otherwise you’re just creating another privilege for the wealthy. Licensure is already an established practice. Edit: I do want to clarify that I’m not entirely opposed to taxing them if needed. There should be fewer of those vehicles on the road. I’d just rather explore ways that don’t further exacerbate wealth inequality.
  - forgotTheLast 4mo ago
    Just make car registration fees proportional to the odds of killing or injuring someone: Cost ∝ mass² × blind spot ratio You could also add another mass⁴ term to compensate for road damage.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
jmclnx 4mo ago
It is like an arms race :) people who went to large SUVs got better views and a greater false sense of security. Soon everyone was driving the same size SUV. So what happens, people way bigger, the everyone is buying bigger. Rinse and Repeat. Something has to be done to stop this.
wookmaster 4mo ago
My country proves time and time again ego and profits matter more than lives. It’s always so depressing watching it all happen and if you try and point out the cost it’s hand waived away or seen as a personal attack.
josefritzishere 4mo ago
The size of these SUVs is getting absurd.
brg 4mo ago
As part of a large research organization, I was involved in multiple studies about increased traffic fatalities. This work began in 2020, and was part of a larger epidemiological effort. Our findings contradict the headline, but are in agreement with the body of text. The most significant causal factor we found was the rise of mobile device ownership and usage. In fact, mobile device usage is the reason for the inflection of year over year decrease in traffic fatalities in 2012. The article states that 10% of the fatality increase can be attributed to vehicle size. This is far below the actual increase, and while a contributing factor, not the primary one.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]

xnx 4mo ago

Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347

dang 4mo ago
Ok, since that submission has the original source, we'll merge the comments thither and re-up it.

[dupe] Discussion on source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347

nfriedly 4mo ago

The NYT article they link to is worth looking at, and I believe it's free for everyone: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/21/us/trucks-suv-pedestrian-crashes.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/21/us/trucks-suv...

dang 4mo ago
(this is at the merged thread - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648727 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648727 - and there's an additional gift link in the top text for people hitting the wall)

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

1p09gj20g8h 4mo ago

You can tell by a comment's content whether the user drives a normal car or monster suv/truck lol.

black6 4mo ago
You don't understand! I NEED to drive a one-ton pickup every day to and from work! I MIGHT stop by the feed store on the way home to pick up some fence posts and fertilizer for my hobby farm. I HAVE to have the flexibility of a daily driver F350 just in case! It doesn't make sense for me to have a farm truck AND an economical Honda for daily driving!
- tim333 4mo ago
  You know I think people might be more flexible. When I was last in the US I was driving a 15 seat minibus and at the moment I'm using an e-bike. Doesn't make that much difference to me. I'm pretty flexible depending on what seems cool / convenient / good value. I think some nudging might work.

Lonestar1440 4mo ago

Between this and the Headlight situation, it's bad out there. One of those issues where the two-party politics are really toxic and prevent any action. Realistically, we need a new license class for vehicles >3T. This would mean anything from the biggest F-150 on up. It doesn't have to be any harder to get than a motorcycle cert, but we should put some burden on the driver to show that they know how to handle a big vehicle. That and a common sense rule on headlights could get pedestrian deaths back where they were a decade ago.

tim333 4mo ago
Just a 100% tax on monster vehicles and maybe some subsidy for normal cars / evs would sort it.
- ilinx 4mo ago
  Why not address the actual problem: ability to drive responsibly? Otherwise you’re just creating another privilege for the wealthy. Licensure is already an established practice. Edit: I do want to clarify that I’m not entirely opposed to taxing them if needed. There should be fewer of those vehicles on the road. I’d just rather explore ways that don’t further exacerbate wealth inequality.
- forgotTheLast 4mo ago
  Just make car registration fees proportional to the odds of killing or injuring someone: Cost ∝ mass² × blind spot ratio You could also add another mass⁴ term to compensate for road damage.

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

jmclnx 4mo ago

It is like an arms race :) people who went to large SUVs got better views and a greater false sense of security. Soon everyone was driving the same size SUV. So what happens, people way bigger, the everyone is buying bigger. Rinse and Repeat. Something has to be done to stop this.

wookmaster 4mo ago

My country proves time and time again ego and profits matter more than lives. It’s always so depressing watching it all happen and if you try and point out the cost it’s hand waived away or seen as a personal attack.

josefritzishere 4mo ago

The size of these SUVs is getting absurd.

brg 4mo ago

As part of a large research organization, I was involved in multiple studies about increased traffic fatalities. This work began in 2020, and was part of a larger epidemiological effort. Our findings contradict the headline, but are in agreement with the body of text. The most significant causal factor we found was the rise of mobile device ownership and usage. In fact, mobile device usage is the reason for the inflection of year over year decrease in traffic fatalities in 2012. The article states that 10% of the fatality increase can be attributed to vehicle size. This is far below the actual increase, and while a contributing factor, not the primary one.

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]