Taller Vehicles Amplify Danger of Speed in Pedestrian Crashes
Researchers have long understood that speed is a major factor in pedestrian fatalities. Now, new evidence suggests that vehicle height further exacerbates these risks. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reveals that taller vehicles present a greater danger to pedestrians, even at lower speeds.
A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows higher speeds are worse for pedestrians regardless of vehicle height — but those risks are amplified for vehicles with taller front ends.
According to the IIHS study, higher speeds increase the likelihood of serious pedestrian injuries, regardless of a vehicle’s height. The risks are significantly intensified, however, when taller vehicles are involved.
“We looked at how the risk of a serious injury or fatality increased as the speed in a crash went up,” said Jessica Cicchino, senior vice president for research at IIHS, in an interview. “And we saw that it increased much faster for taller vehicles than it did for shorter vehicles.”
This finding comes as SUVs and light trucks, which often have front ends exceeding 40 inches in height, continue to dominate the U.S. vehicle market. Safety advocates point to this trend as a contributing factor in the rise of pedestrian fatalities, which have increased by over 75% since 2009, when they reached their lowest point.
In response to these trends, calls for improved safety standards are growing. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., sponsored a bill that would mandate federal safety standards for hood height. She noted to NPR in August that the bill aims to “expand” vehicle safety protections to include pedestrians and cyclists.
Federal regulators are also taking action. In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a rule to address pedestrian safety through enhanced vehicle design. Sophie Shulman, NHTSA’s deputy administrator, stated that the agency is addressing a “crisis of roadway deaths, and it’s even worse among vulnerable road users like pedestrians.” The proposed rule seeks to design vehicles to better protect individuals both inside and outside vehicles from serious injury or death.
Each year, car crashes kill more than 40,000 people in the U.S., with over 7,000 of these fatalities being pedestrians. While these numbers increased during the pandemic, they have seen a slight decrease in the past two years.
Researchers at IIHS examined over 200 crashes involving pedestrians aged 16 and older. Their analysis, which used data from Michigan (2015-2022) and several other states (2022), showed that serious pedestrian injuries occur at lower speeds in the U.S. compared to Germany, where taller vehicles are less common.
Cicchino suggests that the commonly used 25 mph speed limit in residential areas in the U.S. might be too high, particularly in densely populated urban areas. She emphasized the need to reassess appropriate speed limits in areas with high pedestrian traffic, particularly with the increasing prevalence of taller vehicles.
