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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

#141

Post by Johnny555 »

olyjohn wrote: post #130
Johnny555 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want to sit high Isn't that the advantage? In a world where SUV's and trucks are more popular than sedans, sitting higher gives a sight advantage (and probably safety advantage in a side collision with one of those high cars). I drive a midsized sedan most of the time, but when I drive the RV (which has a higher seating position than many SUV's), I love…

Seating height doesn't help you see over cars when everybody else is also in a crossover at the same height as you.

But it helps you see car brake lights ahead through the back window of the SUV in front of you

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

#143

Post by Hamuko »

sschueller wrote: post #95
jetrink wrote: post #54

My proposed regulation is to introduce a hazardous vehicle license for large trucks and SUVs. Everyone is automatically granted one alongside their normal drivers license, but if you're caught driving recklessly (weaving through traffic on the highway, aggressively tailgating, speeding through residential or urban areas), you lose it and you have to drive a normal-sized car. Perhaps there's a way to earn it back thro…

In Europe vehicles like the Humer electric can't even be driven with a regular license because of its weight (3500kg is the limit). It's basically a large truck and requires a much more involved license.

The EV Hummer is probably impossible to get registered as anything other than a truck, but there's some trickery you can do with regular pick-up trucks. I found at least one F-150 on sale that is registered as a van and you can drive it with a regular passenger car (B) license instead of a light truck (C1) license. Shockingly, the van F-150 isn't even prohibitely expensive in tax: just 531€ per year. Although with 1.70€ to 1.90€ per litre of 95E10, you'll probably just deposit all of your savings at the pump instead.

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

#144

Post by sf_rob »

I got in an argument with the Ford CMO on Twitter about this. He said that the F150 has maintained the overall footprint for years, which is true. However, if you super-impose an image of older F150s and newer ones (which I did) you find that the hood is much more "cubic" leading to a higher edge and much worse viewing angle. I believe this is entirely stylistic.

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

#145

Post by sickofparadox »

cameldrv wrote: post #97
sickofparadox wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's government regulations that made trucks get this big, most people simply buy what is available in the form factor they like. Trucks are the most popular form factor in the United States (with pickups a close second)[1], and the manufacturers keep making the cars bigger because of the poorly written CAFE laws[2]. I, and I suspect most Americans with pickups, would prefer to purchase one the size of a '90s F-150 a…

You can still get something like a 90s F-150, but it's now called a midsize truck. The main difference is that the bed will be smaller and the interior will be larger. There are even some smaller unibody trucks like the Maverick coming on the market. What you can't seem to get is something like a first generation Tacoma or 90s S-10 without 4WD that's low to the ground. All of the newer trucks have very high bed sides…

They're a step in the right direction for certain, I have what would now be a mid-size pickup myself, but even the Ford Mavericks are pretty big compared to these 90s cars.

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

#146

Post by Symbiote »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #55

There is another angle here besides the immediate impact (pun intended) of getting hit by a big truck. I'm nearly 60, but I can remember what it was like learning to drive back in 1980. Before SUVs and huge pickup trucks became common, and before tinting windows to near opacity became a thing, it was possible to see road conditions three cars ahead -- you simply looked through the windows of the car or cars in front…

It's even more noticeable cycling. An adult on a bicycle has their head just above roof level of an ordinary car, which is excellent as it gives a view of cars coming the other way.

I go through the area where all the really rich people live, and it's easy to see over their sports cars, luxury sedans etc.

Continuing through the wannabe-rich area, my view is then blocked by SUVs and similar.

(Whether this is important depends mostly on how well separated car and bicycle traffic is.)

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

#147

Post by [deleted] »

jetrink wrote: post #54

My proposed regulation is to introduce a hazardous vehicle license for large trucks and SUVs. Everyone is automatically granted one alongside their normal drivers license, but if you're caught driving recklessly (weaving through traffic on the highway, aggressively tailgating, speeding through residential or urban areas), you lose it and you have to drive a normal-sized car. Perhaps there's a way to earn it back thro…

[deleted]

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

#148

Post by gardenhedge »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #55

There is another angle here besides the immediate impact (pun intended) of getting hit by a big truck. I'm nearly 60, but I can remember what it was like learning to drive back in 1980. Before SUVs and huge pickup trucks became common, and before tinting windows to near opacity became a thing, it was possible to see road conditions three cars ahead -- you simply looked through the windows of the car or cars in front…

Just stay well enough back from the car in front of you and you'll be fine..

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

#149

Post by baggachipz »

stcredzero wrote: post #96
infecto wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I do believe people often buy trucks for the looks and emotional feeling, I equally feel that your projection itself is just as dangerous as the idea behind it.

Yeah, contemptuously painting a diverse group of people with a broad brush as pernicious -- History has something to say about this mental move.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

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

#150

Post by filoleg »

matsemann wrote: post #79
filoleg wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God, this is pretty much my mother. She couldn’t care any less about “ruggedness” or that “tough guy” image. Her only argument ever is “safety.” I am not in it to change her mind. But whenever she brings this topic up and I show her the actual safety ratings for different vehicles, it’s almost as if her brain shuts down. She would say something along the lines “uh oh idk, maybe, who knows, it doesn’t feel as safe,” a…

Every year, loads of kids die because a family member runs over them by accident in the driveway, a parking lot etc. With these huge cars, you don't properly see around them, and 360 cameras and sensors will not make up for all of that. So yeah, "safety".

A lot of those car manufacturers just don’t care, and it isn’t exclusive to large cars either (though the damage they can do is obviously much higher, making them more dangerous to pedestrians).

I like sports cars, so I tried test driving a Camaro about 5 years ago. You would think that visibility on a rather small and fast 2-seater would be at least better than on an average SUV.

It was singularly the worst car I’ve ever driven in terms of visibility, compared to even most SUVs. Not even joking, it feels like driving a military tank, but just faster and smaller, with the field of view being extremely reminiscent of seeing the road through a thin horizontal slit. It’s not like it got worse over time either, because I remember the 2013 version was at least just as awful. Way to ruin a fine car with that tank-slit visibility.

This specific case didn’t even have anything inherently to do with the type or size of the car (unlike with some giant trucks), so it made me extremely mad. It was quite literally for nothing.

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