Why Are So Many Pedestrians Dying?

Updated 2/21 - See the end of the post.

The other day, I got out of our car next to a Dodge Ram and realized that the hood of pickup was as high as my chest. It was rather intimidating. And it would likely be fatal to any pedestrians it hit, even in a slow speed collision. 

Pedestrian deaths have been increasing over the last several years. As this article points out, the cause is the increasing number of large vehicles on the road; in other words, SUVs and pickup trucks. Some North American car makers are no longer manufacturing sedans. People want big vehicles because it makes them feel safer, but they're killing more and more pedestrians.  

The year that Daniels was injured was the beginning of an escalation in pedestrian deaths. Between 2009 and 2019, total driving miles increased by 10 percent while pedestrian deaths in the U.S. jumped by 50 percent. It’s since only grown worse, with more pedestrians dying in 2020 than 2019 despite a decline in vehicle miles driven. But even before the pandemic-related surge in reckless driving, American roads have been getting more dangerous for non-drivers in part because of the very vehicle type that struck Daniels down.

Portland also saw an alarming spike in pedestrian deaths in 2021, disproportionately affecting homeless people.

Numerous studies and investigations have shown that SUVs and other light trucks are far deadlier for those outside the vehicle than sedans. This isn’t a novel finding: Almost 20 years ago, researchers showed that SUVs were more than twice as likely to kill pedestrians as a normal sedan.

For decades, American vehicles have been growing heavier and taller, but the trend has accelerated over the last decade. In 2016, Fiat Chrysler announced they would abandon the sedan market, while in 2020 Ford decided to no longer sell them in the U.S. either. SUVs and trucks have outsold normal passenger vehicles every year since 2018.

As Vice News recently showed, American cars are getting almost as big as World War II tanks.

Personally, I'd like to see larger vehicles heavily taxed. Pedestrian safety isn't the only problem with them; they use way more fuel than smaller vehicles, directly contributing to climate change.  

Update: This Twitter thread shows the truly obscene size of some new pickup trucks and SUVs. These vehicles should be banned, or at the very least require a commercial license to own. Make sure you watch the video that shows the invisible Corvette in front of the truck.