As Cars Get Bigger, the Roads are Getting More Dangerous

When we think of public health dangers, we tend to think of environmental problems, contaminants, or major, widespread practices that present an immediate danger to multiple people.

We don’t think of cars. And while cars themselves aren’t immediate public health dangers, more and more, people are starting to wonder if perhaps they now are, given how large the cars that we drive have become as of late.

Cars are Getting Larger

If you’ve looked around at car shows, car lots or car commercials, you’re noticing a trend: bigger cars are in. Manufacturers are getting away from smaller sport or compact cars, and more and more, are building SUVs and trucks. So many, in fact, that Vox.com has speculated that they may be a public health hazard, because of the impact that cars of these sizes have, on the severity of car accidents.

Larger Means More Dangerous

We already know from research, a number of things about larger cars, all of which create serious dangers.

We know that larger cars and trucks often have frontal blind spots—areas in front of the vehicle that the driver cannot see, especially when the car is higher up off the ground.

And while many people buy these cars because they are safer for the occupants inside them in an accident, that safety comes at a cost—risk to everybody else, something that statistics bear out as true.

Out of every 10,000 accidents, only about 5.7 people will die, when there are normal sized cars involved. But when larger SUVs or trucks are involved, that number skyrockets, to about 37 deaths per 10,000 accidents. By some estimates, if you lower the weight of a vehicle by 1,000 pounds, you can lower the fatality accident rate by 12%. The problem is that we aren’t lowering the weight of vehicles. We’re increasing them.

Dangers to Pedestrians

It’s not just other cars that are at increased risk when larger vehicles are on the road. Pedestrians are as well.

In what should come as a surprise to nobody, the survivability rate when a large SUV or truck hits a pedestrian, is much lower than when a car hits the pedestrian. The increased height means that these cars tend to strike pedestrians in the head and chest, areas that are much more life threatening when impacted.

Why Not Make Cars Smaller?

Many people now say that large cars should be treated like smoking or carcinogens or obesity—a public health crisis that needs to be addressed.

So why don’t we just start making vehicles smaller? The answer is somewhat obvious. People like bigger cars, and politicians are hesitant to tell them they can’t have the cars that they want. The political push to make car makers do anything, is simply not there.

Neither the American people nor the car makers want to be told that their cars have to be smaller, and without them, any change will be unlikely.

Call our Tampa personal injury lawyers at Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian for help and to schedule a consultation today for help if you have been injured by an SUV, truck, or other large vehicle.

Sources:

sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212012224000017

vox.com/future-perfect/391733/gigantic-suvs-are-a-public-health-threat-why-dont-we-treat-them-like-one