Between automatic emergency braking and 360-degree camera systems, cars have never been safer. And yet the number of Americans killed by vehicles every year is on the rise.
Driving the news: Increasingly large SUVs and pickup trucks are to blame, according to the Economist, which found that if the heaviest 10% of cars on U.S. roads were 1,000 pounds lighter, car crash fatalities would fall 12% and about 2,300 lives could be saved every year.
- Last year, 31% of new cars in the U.S. weighed over 5,000 pounds, compared with 22% in 2018. The number of pedestrians killed by cars has nearly doubled since 2010.
- Electrification is making trucks (and all cars) even heavier. The Ford F-150 Lightning can weigh as much as 6,900 pounds, 40% more than its gas-powered equivalent.
Zoom out: North Americans just love big cars. A typical car is 25% lighter in Europe and 40% lighter in Japan compared to the U.S., but in Canada, SUVs and pickups have made up 86% of all cars sold over the last 13 years as automakers move away from compact cars.
Big picture: This week, the U.S. government’s road safety agency proposed new testing standards for truck hoods aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries. Large truck hoods — which can affect drivers visibility — have been shown to increase fatalities by up to 44%.—LA