Bigger and Heavier: Are Massive Pick-Ups Safe?

You may have recently heard about the annual increase in the popularity of trucks and pickups in the USA. While many view this trend as dangerous, we will examine the actual implications of the growing average vehicle size compared to other vehicles and pedestrians.

Early Studies

In 2003, the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine conducted an extensive study that analyzed 18,175 fatal car-to-car collisions and 21,980 fatal light truck-to-car accidents, where only one driver per incident lost their life.

Car-to-Car Collisions

Factors related to driver behavior account for approximately 60% to 80% of the variation in the likelihood of a fatality. This means that variables such as driver age, experience, and seatbelt use significantly impact the chances of a deadly outcome in a crash. Additionally, the difference in vehicle mass—how heavy one car is compared to the other—explains around 20% of the variations in fatality odds in these types of crashes. In other words, while vehicle size plays a role, human factors are still the primary contributors to fatal accidents.

Light Truck-to-Car Crashes

The study included both cases where a car was struck and where a light truck was struck. However, about 80% of the fatalities occurred in cars, underscoring a major shift in risk distribution. This highlights that car drivers are more vulnerable when involved in crashes with larger vehicles like light trucks.

In the study Pounds that Kill: The External Costs of Vehicle Weight (2011), authors analyzed data from 4.8 million car accidents reported in eight states. They found that in any given accident, the chance of a fatality is 0.19%, which means 1 in 500 crashes results in a death.

However, if the vehicle involved is 1,000 pounds heavier, the risk of a fatality increases by 47%. This means that the chance of a fatality goes up to about 1 in 357 crashes. In other words, a heavier vehicle makes the risk of a fatality more likely.

The risk is even greater when the heavier vehicle is a light truck, such as an SUV, pickup truck, or minivan. The study also estimates that the total external costs due to fatalities from vehicle weight alone amount to about $93 billion each year.

Height Issues

Recent research published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reveals that vehicles with elevated front ends and blunt profiles are 45% more likely to result in pedestrian fatalities compared to smaller vehicles. Among vehicles with a hood height between 30 and 40 inches, those with a blunt front profile are 26% more likely to result in pedestrian fatalities than those with a sloped front design.

The research also highlights that elevated front ends strike pedestrians higher in the torso, causing them to be pushed forward and downward. This often results in more severe injuries, particularly to the head.

Notably, some of the top-selling vehicles in America, like full-size pickups, have front ends reaching up to 55 inches, creating large blind spots that are particularly hazardous for children and wheelchair users.

Pickups and SUVs Continue to Grow in Size

Compared to two decades ago, today’s trucks and SUVs are notably larger, and this increase in size has made them significantly more dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists, and individuals using assistive devices. To illustrate, pickup trucks and SUVs are now two to three times more likely than smaller vehicles to cause fatal injuries to pedestrians during a crash.

Recent research from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has highlighted several key statistics:

  • The share of pedestrian fatalities involving trucks, vans, and SUVs has risen from 22% to 44% since the mid-1980s.
  • Pickup trucks, in particular, are now nearly 1,256 pounds heavier—an increase of 32%—compared to their weight in 1990.

The Ford F-250 Model

In the last decade, the Ford F-250 has consistently grown in size, becoming a key model in Ford’s F-Series pickups, which remains the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. The latest model now stands approximately 55 inches high at the hood, a height comparable to some sedan roofs.

If a person of average height—around 5 feet 6 inches—were to be struck by this F-250, the impact would likely occur above the chest. This would mean that the face, head, and neck would be directly impacted. Given the truck’s weight, which can reach up to 7,500 pounds, such a collision could be extremely hazardous and cause severe injuries.

Let’s remember, an increase of just 4 inches in front-end height can raise the risk of pedestrian fatalities by 22%, as impacts are more likely to hit critical areas such as the chest or head.

Pedestrians & Cyclists 

It is estimated by academic papers that replacing larger vehicles with smaller cars in 2019 could have averted approximately 460 pedestrian deaths in the U.S. that year. Also, it was projected that capping front-end vehicle heights at 4.1 feet could reduce pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. by 509 each year.

Simulations have revealed that high-front vehicles cause pedestrians to hit the ground at greater speeds. Additionally, these computer models show that SUVs exert nearly twice the force on the brain as sedans when traveling at the same speed, which drastically raises the likelihood of severe injuries, even before the head makes direct contact.

Cyclists injuries in collisions with SUVs are significantly more serious than those involving cars, with a marked increase in the severity of head injuries in SUV-related crashes.

Driveways: A New Crash Site

In Utah, 495 vehicle-pedestrian injuries were identified over a period of eight years, with 128 of these accidents occurring in driveways. The study reveals a concerning trend: larger vehicles, such as SUVs, trucks, and vans, were involved in a disproportionate number of these incidents. This is primarily due to their extensive blind spots, which hinder drivers’ ability to see pedestrians, particularly in the confined areas of driveways. Tragically, children under the age of 5 have been the most frequent victims of this troubling trend.

An International Trend

Although this might seem like a trend unique to the United States, we can observe that in Europe, the size of cars is also increasing. Of the 11 vehicles evaluated in Euro NCAP’s final tests of the year, only three weigh less than two tons, and only one—the Smart #3—is classified as a small family car.

Nevertheless, there are certain incentives to choose alternative models. For instance, in Paris, parking rates for vehicles that exceed a certain weight are significantly higher, with fees tripled to discourage the use of heavier cars.