Vehicle height increases risk of fatal injury to pedestrians – US study

The faster a vehicle is moving when it strikes a pedestrian, the more likely it is to inflict serious injuries. Exactly how much more likely depends in part on the height of the vehicle, with taller vehicles compounding the risk from higher crash speeds, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety based on US crash data shows.

IIHS researchers analysed pedestrian crashes to develop injury risk curves showing how speed affects crash outcomes. They found that the effect of crash speed on injury risk was magnified for vehicles with taller front ends. 

To estimate injury risk at different impact speeds, IIHS researchers examined 202 crashes involving pedestrians ages 16 or older. The records came from two databases — one of crashes that took place between 2015 and 2022 in Michigan and another of crashes that occurred in 2022 in California, New Jersey and Texas.

A 2023 study by VIAS Institute in Belgium also showed risk of death increasing with higher bonnet height. 

ETSC has been advocating for action to end imports of US-market pickup trucks that are being sold in their thousands in the EU despite not complying with the full array of EU vehicle safety standards.  The vehicles are being brought in and certified using a procedure for specialist vehicles known as ‘Individual Vehicle Approval’ instead of being type-approved properly for the EU market.  Earlier this month Ford announced that it would be selling its US-market F-150 large pickup truck in Belgium.