Children Face Nearly Double the Risk of Death When Struck by SUVs Compared to Cars, Study Finds
A study has revealed that pedestrians and cyclists face a 44% higher risk of death when struck by an SUV or similarly sized vehicle compared to a conventional car.
This figure increases to 82% for children, according to research conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London.
Researchers analyzed data from over 680,000 road collisions spanning the last 35 years.
They examined the severity of injuries sustained by pedestrians or cyclists hit by standard vehicles versus light trucks, including SUVs, small vans, and pick-up trucks.
Light trucks accounted for a third of all new car registrations in the UK last year, a significant rise from 12% a decade ago.
Generally, SUVs are taller, wider, and heavier than traditional cars and are less fuel-efficient.
The study underscored earlier findings indicating that a primary reason for the heightened risk associated with SUVs is their taller front end, which leads to impacts occurring higher on a person’s body.
This causes adults to be struck in the pelvis rather than the knees, while children are impacted on the head instead of the pelvis.
A blunter front also increases the likelihood of a person being thrown forward, potentially resulting in a second impact with the vehicle or being rolled over, the report highlighted.
Researchers reviewed 24 studies, including 16 from the US, with contributions from countries like France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The authors estimate that about 20% of car crashes in Europe and 45% in the US involve an SUV.
Replacing all SUVs with standard cars could reduce pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in car accidents by roughly 8% in Europe and 17% in the US, they stated.
Anna Goodman, an assistant professor at LSHTM and the study’s senior author, noted: “Worldwide, we’ve witnessed a significant surge in the sales of increasingly larger vehicles.”
“Previous research indicates that this trend notably hampers progress towards net zero targets.”
“Likewise, our findings suggest that the rise of larger vehicles threatens the road safety advancements achieved through other initiatives.”
“Cities and nations globally are beginning to implement measures to discourage the use of these large vehicles, and our study reinforces the road safety rationale for this.”
This research is published in the journal Injury Prevention.
Tanya Braun, director of external affairs and fundraising at the charity Living Streets, remarked: “It’s evident that SUVs put people, particularly children, at greater risk while they navigate our streets.”
“Nearly 50 child pedestrians are killed or injured in England each day, and each of those tragedies is heartbreaking.”
“We urgently need enhanced measures to safeguard pedestrians.”
“We are urging the (British) government to invest in infrastructure for active travel and secure zones around schools that have proven effective in protecting children from vehicles like SUVs.”
Environmental activists have reportedly deflated tyres on thousands of SUVs in the UK in recent years.
The Tyre Extinguishers stated that their supporters have taken action in various cities nationwide to “make it impractical” to own these vehicles in urban settings.
