Oversized Trucks, SUVs Taking a Toll in America

Americans haven't just traded sedans for SUVs and pickups over the last several years—they may have traded away pedestrian safety, too. A New York Times investigation finds that as vehicles have bulked up since the early 2000s, deaths of people on foot have climbed sharply, and the two trends appear linked. Using federal crash data and previously untapped vehicle-dimension records, the story estimates that the shift to higher front ends has contributed to roughly 3,000 pedestrian deaths since 2016—about 200 to 400 lives a year that might otherwise have been spared. While some might point to a rise in smartphone use as a culprit, most other wealthy nations haven't seen a similar spike in pedestrian deaths.

The mechanics related to America's embrace of bigger vehicles are blunt: taller, squarer hoods now often hit people in the chest instead of the legs, sending them under the vehicle rather than onto the hood, while thickened roof pillars and oversized mirrors have widened blind spots, especially during left turns. Automakers and regulators have largely leaned on driver-assist tech to compensate, even as testing shows those systems can fail in common conditions. Meanwhile, big trucks and SUVs remain the profit engine of the US car industry. For the complete data, crash reconstructions, and human stories behind the numbers, read the full piece by Michael H. Keller, Eli Murray, Danielle Ivory, and Irineo Cabreros.