After a decade and a half rise in pedestrian deaths, the US government is finally starting to take some action to stop huge pedestrian-killing SUVs.
Cars have been getting safer and safer over time, but the same has not applied to pedestrian safety. While theoretically many of the safety improvements on cars ought to help protect those outside the car (emergency braking, crumple zones, etc), statistics have shown this has not been the case. Currently, pedestrian deaths are at a 40-year high in the US.
There are multiple culprits here, including insufficient infrastructure for non-car road users (cyclists, pedestrians, etc.), and distracted driving due to the suffusion of technology into our lives. But most of all, the culprit is gigantic vehicles. And vehicle sizes have ballooned for multiple reasons in recent years, both due to automaker profits and consumer preference (which are in turn led by automakers who preferentially advertise larger or more polluting vehicles), and a perception of safety despite the significant danger that huge vehicles bring to the road.
It’s gotten so bad that even Jim Farley, CEO of Ford – which sells the F150, the most popular large vehicle in the US (and one of the deadliest) – said that America needs to “get back in love with smaller vehicles.”