Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
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Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#2This article is a great example of how correlation might be suggestive of causation, but is not itself causation.
Are pickup trucks inherently more dangerous than other vehicles? Or are pickup truck drivers more dangerous than other drivers? Or are pickup trucks more likely to be driving on more-dangerous roads than on less-dangerous roads?
Unfortunately I wasn't able to read the article due to the paywall, but I didn't see any mention of controlling for confounders in the abstract.
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#3> Findings suggest larger vehicles are involved in pedestrian and pedalcyclist crashes with more severe injuries that result in higher hospital charges.
I've commuted 10s of thousands of miles by bike the last 30 years, mostly in an urban environment. This doesn't surprise me. I can't read the whole article, and the excerpt doesn't offer any data or speculation about the causes of this. So, with some experience, I'll speculate. I'm happy to have real data instead!
So, why? Well, my first thought is that the impact surfaces of those vehicles are much higher off the ground. Rather than being tossed up onto a hood, people might be more likely to be hit directly.
Also, the visibility in tall vehicles is worse. For the driver of a sedan, my whole bicycle and torso are eye-level for them -- I'm easier to see. To a Suburban driver, my head and maybe shoulders are at eye level. I've ridden next to [ostensibly] passenger vehicles where the drivers are above my head level; they'd have to look _down_ to even see me.
And even aside from the height, modern vehicles have narrower windows and larger pillars. This alone makes a big difference. As a contrast, compare an old car with a modern one. The old Benz has at least 150% the visibility. It's like driving inside a fishbowl.
* A 1980s Mercedes wagon -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W123#/media/File... * A modern Chevy Suburban -- https://www.chevrolet.com/suvs/suburban
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#4> Passenger cars were the striking vehicle in most fatal pedestrian and pedalcyclist crashes, though they were underrepresented relative to the proportion of all crashes in which they were involved. Though pickup trucks were the striking vehicle in just 5.6% of pedestrian and pedalcyclist crashes, they were involved in 12.6% of fatalities. SUVs were similarly overrepresented in fatalities relative to the proportion of their involvement in all crashes. SUVs struck 14.7% of the pedestrians and pedalcyclists investigated here, but were involved in 25.4% of the fatalities.
> In fact, passenger car sales in the United States dropped at an annual rate of 2.4% from 2008 to 2018 alone, while pickup truck sales increased at an annual rate of 6.4% (Davis & Boundy, 2020). In 2008 light trucks were about 40% of light vehicles produced, in 2018 they were nearly half (Ibid).
Based on this, I would put SUV's/Trucks conservatively at say 45% of US vehicles.
Based on this,
their combined pedestrian/pedalcyclist crashes are 5.6 + 14.7 = 20.3%
their combined fatality is 12.6 + 25.4 = 38%
With these numbers, given that the crashes are lower in proportion to their overall numbers, I would say that Light Trucks/SUV's are less likely to be involved in a crash with pedestrians/cyclists but when a crash does happen it is worse. However, they do not seem to be a disproportionate cause of pedestrian/pedalcyclists fatalities compared to passenger cars.
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#5Americans are driving bigger and bigger vehicles, which cause even deadlier accidents with smaller vehicles and pedestrians. It's a big problem.
Here's a good video on the problems with Americas increasingly large vehicles:
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#6> Findings suggest larger vehicles are involved in pedestrian and pedalcyclist crashes with more severe injuries that result in higher hospital charges. I've commuted 10s of thousands of miles by bike the last 30 years, mostly in an urban environment. This doesn't surprise me. I can't read the whole article, and the excerpt doesn't offer any data or speculation about the causes of this. So, with some experience, I'll…
Agree with your speculation. Here's another one.
Even WHEN THE DRIVER sees you, some subconsciously ignore you. I'v had people look straight at me, keep driving then looking shocked when they finally realise and hit the brakes.
I can only surmise they perceive traffic in terms of threats. When you're in a bigger car, threats are reduced.
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#7Something I've wondered about is how do some of the newer vehicle designs fare when it comes to pedestrian safety? Presumably getting hit by a Tesla Cybertruck or Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle would be pretty bad, but are they just as bad as a giant pickup truck? My intuition says yeah, probably. But there might be some nuance, like maybe the Canoo has better-than-average visibility so hitting pedestrians is less likely.
I'm kind of surprised cars don't have external airbags at this point.
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#8This article is a great example of how correlation might be suggestive of causation, but is not itself causation. Are pickup trucks inherently more dangerous than other vehicles? Or are pickup truck drivers more dangerous than other drivers? Or are pickup trucks more likely to be driving on more-dangerous roads than on less-dangerous roads? Unfortunately I wasn't able to read the article due to the paywall, but I did…
I've never seen a Camry roll coal on a bicyclist but I've seen it half a dozen times by pickup truck drivers
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#9Americans are driving bigger and bigger vehicles, which cause even deadlier accidents with smaller vehicles and pedestrians. It's a big problem. Here's a good video on the problems with Americas increasingly large vehicles: https://youtu.be/aIy5uv5-VrE
> Americans are driving bigger and bigger vehicles..
vehicles have gone up in size globally. this might be driven primarily by the whims and desires of the US market, but it's by no means isolated to the United States.
Re: Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedal-cyclist injury severity
#10> Findings suggest larger vehicles are involved in pedestrian and pedalcyclist crashes with more severe injuries that result in higher hospital charges. I've commuted 10s of thousands of miles by bike the last 30 years, mostly in an urban environment. This doesn't surprise me. I can't read the whole article, and the excerpt doesn't offer any data or speculation about the causes of this. So, with some experience, I'll…
Agree with your speculation. Here's another one. Even WHEN THE DRIVER sees you, some subconsciously ignore you. I'v had people look straight at me, keep driving then looking shocked when they finally realise and hit the brakes. I can only surmise they perceive traffic in terms of threats. When you're in a bigger car, threats are reduced.
This effect also applies to motorcycle riders who are often "seen but ignored".