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Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

arstechnica.com

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Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#21

Post by olyjohn »

baggachipz wrote: post #6

Yeah but the drivers get to cosplay as Rugged Men™. The only thing that'll reverse the trend and stop this from getting worse will be government regulation. Then come the cries of "Now they're taking our trucks!"

Please don't ignore that every other person also has moved from driving cars to crossovers that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want to sit high, and that's what sells crossovers. The hoods are higher in them too and we can't discount this and blame it all on big trucks.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#22

Post by beretguy »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #14
baggachipz wrote: post #6

Yeah but the drivers get to cosplay as Rugged Men™. The only thing that'll reverse the trend and stop this from getting worse will be government regulation. Then come the cries of "Now they're taking our trucks!"

Every time I see someone behind the wheel of the absolute largest SUV a company offers, it's a small woman. Even as far back when SUVs first became a thing, I noticed that the smallest moms at school at the biggest SUVs. They love the "might" that a huge vehicle gives them.

So… Rugged Women™, then.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#23

Post by SECProto »

somedude895 wrote: post #7

Did we really need a study for this? What's next? A study to find out whether a hammer to the head or torso is more lethal than a hammer to the legs? What a total racket to spend money on something like this.

If one wanted to make a regulation regarding hood height, having a study like this as evidence would be critically important. Gut instinct alone wouldn't suffice

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#25

Post by practicemaths »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #14
baggachipz wrote: post #6

Yeah but the drivers get to cosplay as Rugged Men™. The only thing that'll reverse the trend and stop this from getting worse will be government regulation. Then come the cries of "Now they're taking our trucks!"

Every time I see someone behind the wheel of the absolute largest SUV a company offers, it's a small woman. Even as far back when SUVs first became a thing, I noticed that the smallest moms at school at the biggest SUVs. They love the "might" that a huge vehicle gives them.

TBF Trucks and SUVs are relatively easier to drive in certain regards.

Such as being able to see over parked traffic when making a turn.

And I've found driving taller vehicles more comfortable for my back coincidentally.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#26

Post by kube-system »

082349872349872 wrote: post #2

Interestingly, agricultural tractors have evolved to have better sightlines. Could that be because for these machines, the pedestrian deaths are usually members of the tractor drivers' family? https://www.profi.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2020/06/2... vs https://bigiron.blob.core.windows.net/public/items/72b53c753...

Agricultural tractors aren't made with any consideration for pedestrian safety. The reason they have good visibility is because that makes them easier to use, and there is no other competing reason not to surround the driver with a lot of glass.

Passenger vehicles have other requirements that complicate this:

1. They must be attractive enough to sell in volume to the end buyer

2. They require large A-pillars to absorb crash impacts

You could make an SUV that looks big fish bowl, but it would be difficult to simultaneously achieve safety targets and be a commercial success.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#27

Post by trgn »

riversflow wrote: post #17
Swizec wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Could that be because for these machines, the pedestrian deaths are usually members of the tractor drivers' family I have a different guess after seeing tractors in use as a kid: Driving tractors is a high precision affair. You're moving around expensive equipment that you don't want to bump. You're plowing next to all sorts of hazards you don't want to fall into. You have to park within an inch of attachments befo…

Also, tractors are built to do work, not keep their occupants safe in a crash.

> not keep their occupants safe in a crash.

perfect expression of the tragedy of the commons. Until there's top down government intervention, people choose to be either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#29

Post by kayodelycaon »

mtoner23 wrote: post #18
porphyra wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children keep getting killed by their own parents' SUVs though...

Some SUVs even have front cameras now to help see children

Mine also has cameras and radars on the sides. Makes parking easier and backing out safer. The radars can see speeding cars in the parking lot before I can. :)

Re: Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

#30

Post by riversflow »

porphyra wrote: post #5

Vans are a lot better for both transporting people (more spacious compared to SUVs) and goods (easier loading and protected from the weather compared to pickups), plus of course having vastly better visibility. It always seems odd how trucks and SUVs are seen as status symbols in the US whereas in, say, Hong Kong, it is the MPV that is the status symbol. I suppose certain tax and emissions regulations in favor of tru…

Vans are not better for goods as a universal rule, they are better for certain classes of goods. I do not want a yard of manure/dirt/gravel dumped in my van, but thats a common use of a pickup in my neck of the woods. Like extremely common.

> Hong Kong

Hot take: The Americas just aren't developed to the level of Eurasia, and we should stop pretending like they are.

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