How cities can stem the tide of pedestrian deaths from large cars and SUVs

Deadly traffic incidents have declined in most developed countries in recent years. But in the US they’re becoming more common. Deaths in motor vehicle crashes rose more than 33 percent from 2011 to 2021. Since 2010, pedestrian deaths nationwide have climbed a shocking 77 percent, compared with a 25 percent increase in all other types of traffic fatalities.

Light trucks injure pedestrians more severely than passenger cars in crashes, and the size of cars and trucks sold in the US continues to swell. Some current models, such as the Toyota Rav4, are one-third larger than they were 15 years ago.

Based on my experience researching urban planning and street design for the past three decades, I know that US cities are primarily vehicle-centered rather than human-centered. Rules established in the 1920s govern how people use vehicles in public streets, and other governmental controls tell manufacturers how big those vehicles can be.

Today, these sets of rules have created public spaces where it is safer to be inside a vehicle than outside.

The US has not moved as quickly as other countries to prioritize the safety of people outside of cars, especially as cars have grown larger and heavier. As a consequence, Americans are paying the price in lives lost, skyrocketing public health costs, and reduced mobility.

Larger, heavier, and deadlier

Data clearly shows that since 2008, cars and trucks sold in the US have been continually getting bigger. The Department of Transportation’s corporate average fuel economy standards have constrained overall gasoline consumption but have also led to an increase in vehicle size.

That’s because these standards have two sets of rules: one for cars and a looser set for light trucks. As a result, automakers have built more sport utility vehicles and light trucks, as well as cars designed to meet light truck standards, like the Subaru Outback. For almost a decade, they have increasingly moved away from producing small cars and sedans.

Modern auto showrooms are dominated by sport utility vehicles, minivans, and pickup trucks. According to 2022 data from the US Environmental Protection Agency, three-quarters of new vehicles produced in the US are light trucks.

Those large vehicles create severe safety hazards on neighborhood city streets for children or adults who might be walking or cycling. Because these vehicles are taller, they are more likely to strike people at higher points and produce head or neck injuries rather than leg injuries. Their larger frames worsen visibility for drivers, especially when a vehicle is turning.

As a result, transport agencies, journalists, and public safety advocates are increasingly identifying large vehicles as a significant impediment to creating communities with safer streets.