SUVs increase the risk for cyclists and pedestrians

Safe for the occupants, dangerous for weaker road users: The trend towards SUVs and vehicles with high, steep fronts means an up to 45 percent higher risk of a fatal collision, according to current studies based on an analysis of 18,000 accidents. “We know of these studies from Belgium and the USA, the results are consistent,” confirms traffic safety expert Florian Schneider from the Road Safety Board (KfV): Particularly high bonnets and blunt profiles with a vertical front are deadly.

Pickup trucks, SUVs and delivery vans with a front height of around one meter have a 45 percent higher risk of death in accidents, and SUVs with a height of almost 80 centimeters also have a 44 percent risk. Since 2009, the proportion of fatal accidents involving collisions with pedestrians has increased by 80 percent. “In the last 30 years, the average vehicle has become ten centimeters wider, 25 centimeters longer and more than 20 centimeters higher,” Schneider quotes the study results and at the same time shows understanding for the car industry: “They have to build what sells,” says he. The trend is towards the most aggressive, massive vehicle fronts possible, which suggest dominance and sovereignty. “Of course, the assistance systems in the cars have also become better, for example the emergency braking assistant should help prevent a collision,” says Schneider.

Because the weight of cars has increased by a third over the past 20 years, braking distances have hardly shortened. “Cars with a lower front and an angled radiator grille would be safer,” says Schneider. If a cyclist (or pedestrian) is unlucky enough to be hit by a three-year-old car, the risk of serious injury is 70 percent higher than with a new car – a consequence of better technology in assistance systems and brakes.