The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs (The New York Times)

For decades, American roads were steadily getting safer for pedestrians. But around 2009, the trend reversed and the number of pedestrians killed each year has risen by about 75%.

This surge in pedestrian deaths has baffled researchers. Most other wealthy countries haven't seen similar increases, suggesting that possible culprits like cellphones don't tell the whole story.

Other likely causes of deadly crashes, such as impaired and distracted driving, have attracted immense attention from the public and policymakers. But the trend toward ever-larger vehicles has received much less scrutiny, even after federal researchers in 2022 cautioned regulators that it was endangering pedestrians.

After analyzing federal and industry records, including never-before-examined data on vehicle dimensions, The New York Times found that the rise of large pickups and SUVs is an important factor.

Estimates show that about 200 to 400 pedestrians a year wouldn’t have died if vehicles had remained approximately the same size over the past 25 years. That represents about 10 percent of the recent increase in pedestrian deaths.

There are two reasons bigger vehicles are deadlier: They have taller hoods. And they tend to have larger blind zones.

More vehicles than ever have hoods that exceed the average American’s center of gravity, which is generally around the belly button.

The hood of an average passenger vehicle today is about three feet high. Anyone shorter than 5-foot-6, or about half of American adults, would frequently be rammed to the pavement. So would most children.

Not only are the high hoods on larger vehicles more lethal, but their bulkier frames can also block drivers’ views of pedestrians.

Read “The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs” to learn more.