As cars grow in size, pedestrian risk increases: new research
New research has found that as vehicle sizes grow, so does the risk to pedestrians. For every 10cm of vehicle height, the odds of a pedestrian death rise by 11 per cent.
As vehicle sizes continue to grow, new research suggests that pedestrians are facing an increased risk of injury or death. The study of over 10,000 crashes has found that for every 10cm of vehicle height, the odds of a pedestrian death rise by 11 per cent.
According to the research, the shift towards larger vehicles, such as SUVs and utes, has contributed to a rise in pedestrian deaths in Australia. In 2005, sedans were the most popular car model, with a height of less than 1.5 metres and a weight of nearly 1.7 tonnes. Fast forward to 2015, and medium SUVs had become increasingly popular, with a height of 1.7m and a similar weight to the sedans of a decade prior.
The study found that utility vehicles, such as utes, were the highest selling cars last year, with some models reaching heights of almost 2m and weighing up to 3 tonnes. Associate Professor Milad Haghani, one of the researchers behind the study, says that one of the main reasons for the increased risk is the point of impact on a human body.
"If the point of the crush is to the upper part of the pedestrian's body, and also if the pedestrian doesn't end up on the bonnet and instead ends up on the ground hitting their head on the concrete, those are elements that can increase the likelihood of fatality," he says.
The research also found that women were disproportionately impacted due to their average height being shorter than men, putting their head and torso at a critical point of impact. Dr Haghani explains that a crucial finding was that the fatality risk remained, even in lower-speed crashes.
"These are otherwise survivable crashes that are turning fatal as a result of vehicle design," Dr Haghani says.
The study suggests that if cars were to remain at the heights and weights of the early 2000s, it could save around 9 per cent of lives lost. The researchers propose a range of solutions, including removing tax concessions, revising import safety regulations, and introducing specific licence conditions for large vehicles.
Carla Hoorweg, chief executive of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), says that improving safety is about ensuring vehicles have the right crash-avoidance technology to prevent a collision in the first place.
"Where we see vehicles falling short is that they tend to have the technology, but it doesn't work in the breadth of scenarios of vulnerable road user dummies," Ms Hoorweg says.
Victoria Police Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Mick Hermans says that too many pedestrians are being killed or seriously injured, and that a range of factors are at play.
"We tend to see a mix of both drivers and pedestrians at fault in fatal pedestrian collisions, with drivers most likely to fail to give way to pedestrians, while pedestrians are opting to cross a road mid-block rather than at a designated crossing," he says.
The National Transport Research Organisation has called for a review into the safety standards of large utes, and ANCAP is working on its next three-year vehicle safety protocols, which could include factors such as bonnet height and car design.