> 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.
The article is definitely missing some basic numbers such as what the composition of the current fleet is. In my observation, "flat" cars are definitely no longer the norm anymore. Also, the size of SUVs seems to have gone down since 2009. There are more small/medium sized SUVs in general but far fewer Yukons/Sequoias than there used to be. One thing that has obviously gone up since 2009 is driver distraction.
> 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.
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