Posted on 03/17/2022 6:16:43 AM PDT by devane617
Drivers of bigger vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs are more likely to hit pedestrians while making turns than drivers of cars, according to a new study.
The research released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety points to the increasing popularity of larger vehicles as a possible factor in rising pedestrian deaths on U.S. roads. The authors also questioned whether wider pillars holding up roofs of the larger vehicles make it harder for drivers to spot people walking near the corners of vehicles.
“The link between these vehicle types and certain common pedestrian crashes points to another way that the increase in SUVs on the roads might be changing the crash picture,” said Jessica Cicchino, a study author and vice president of research for the institute.
Although the study mentioned previous research showing blind spots caused by the “A-pillars” between the windshield and the cabin, the authors said more study is needed to link the blind spots to the increased deaths.
(Excerpt) Read more at mypanhandle.com ...
“It can’t be pedestrians staring at their cell phones....”
...Or drivers.
The GOVERNMENT demands made on car manufacturers have consequences. We have become so safe from accidents and pollution that we can’t see out of our cars to avoid accidents and simple things like pedestrians.
It used to be that SUVs and trucks gave us better visibility. Then we replaced all of our lower glass with metal. Now we can’t see any way but up? Gee, how did THAT happen?
Duh.
Maybe it depends where you live. Not true here in MD. Maybe in TX, where there does seem to be a puffed up sense of great worth, the uber-males are in p/u’s and arrogant. I don’t know, just a guess. In MD there are not that many p/u’s but there are plenty of jackasses driving BMWs and other cars.
AKA the Law Of Gross Tonnage.......
I have driven my 1 ton 1976 Chevy truck over 250,000 miles. Never hit anyone.
Must be caused by white privilege, male supremacy and climate deniers.
/s
Or education?
I’ll grant you that, I can only speak for my neck of the woods.
I love trucks. But I can’t stand most pickup truck drivers around here. Granted, the older folks who drive trucks are usually perfect gentlemen, but the young bucks are punks.
Get bigger mirrors.
The was a great scene in “Sons Of Anarchy” about that very thing.
EXACTLY.
Your 2nd sentence is what I stated somewhere in my long rant in #32.
I’ve been saying it a long time, partly as a car nut who learned with and drove REAL cars as a teen that are much bigger than the econoboxes called “cars” now and still shorter than the trucks now.
My sight lines in those huge ‘70s Lincolns were FANTASTIC. No huge fat deep pillars anywhere. Today, you can’t see squat no meter what size vehicle….and the trucks are taller, sometimes leading to extra natural visibility trouble seeing shorter objects.
They have those in Wisconsin.
I like trucks too. I’ve driven one all my driving life, along with my big Lincolns. The earlier days there was no trouble seeing, though again trucks can have a disadvantage being tall and hence blinding to some shorter and smaller objects. The Lincoln type was the perfect car.
I saw one woman writing a letter while she was driving on the interstate in Atlanta.
Um, yes: Our comments both dovetail.
What I listed is what is occurring merely in my own county; I assure you that it’s commonplace and that the ‘statistics’ don’t bear pertinent details.
We are being regulated on both ends of the spectrum to higher body counts, and the explosion of so-called ‘pedestrian safety corridors’ does not help. The argument in my state is primarily fueling the “devehicularization” of clogged cities, and despite all the push toward ‘Vision Zero’ pedestrian injuries/fatalities continue to rise.
I taught driver safety for a time, and my classes were the genesis of “the bob”...a necessary forward/back upper body movement when looking in each direction and I framed it this way:
Regardless the fault of vehicle designers and pedestrians themselves, we play the cards we’re dealt: No driver ‘chooses’ to cope with the fallout of injuring/killing a pedestrian, and should not so with decisions which result in such tragedy.
Otherwise I agree totally with your comments.
Funny that they don’t mention idiots who hang all sorts of crap from the rear view mirror creating their own special blind spots.
More studies are needed. Send money!
This is just common sense.
A decent suggestion. I’ll consult the people who built the Hubble space telescope.
In my part of Florida, most people in p/u’s seem to have a load of stuff in them and are driving them slowly and carefully to some destination. IOW, they’re actually using them to do work.
Why would people be walking in the street?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.