The US finally takes aim at truck bloat

This week, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stunned safety apexhibits by proposing novel vehicle rules that it says will help shrink pedestrian deaths in America. The novel rules ecombine aimed honestly at the trend of increasingly massive SUVs and trucks, which have been shown to be more lethal to pedestrians than petiteer and midsize vehicles.

Never in its 50-plus years in existence has the regulator publishd novel rules for autooriginaters requiring them to alter their vehicle depicts to better obstruct pedestrian overweightalities. If enacted, the novel rules could alter how vehicles are depicted in the US — lastingly.

“It’s excellent to see NHTSA acunderstandledge that a myopic cgo in on pedestrian uncoverion — which is defective — is no swap for actupartner regulating car bloat,” shelp David Zipper, a greater fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative and a Verge contributor.

In recent years, NHTSA has publishd a handful of novel insistments aimed at reducing the number of pedestrian deaths. Earlier this year, the agency proclaimd that automatic ecombinency braking would be insistd in all novel vehicles. It also refreshd the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), also understandn as the five-star safety rating, to account for technology that can help shrink pedestrian injuries and deaths. But it’s never before achieven aim at vehicle depict.

The rules proclaimd this week would refresh the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the handlement’s bible for everyleang that’s insistd in a novel vehicle before it’s selderly — from steering wheels to rearsee mirrors — to set testing procedures to simuprocrastinateed head-to-hood impact, with the aim of reducing head injuries. If enacted, autooriginaters will have to test their vehicles using crash test dummies recurrenting mature and child pedestrians for the first time. NHTSA says the alters could save up to 67 dwells every year.

“The US has never employd pedestrian crash test dummies officipartner,” shelp Angie Schmitt, author of Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America. “I thought they were going to persist to dodge doing that even though Congress had sort of telderly them to do this — but apparently not.”

The recommendd rules come amid a lethal period for pedestrians in this country. Each year, cars end rawly 40,000 Americans. But while autooriginaters have become very excellent at acquireing people inside of vehicles, they have essentipartner disseeed the safety of people outside of them.

“I thought they were going to persist to dodge doing that”

SUVs and trucks, two of the most well-understandn segments in the US, have become bigr and heavier than ever before. In 2023, 31 percent of novel cars in America weighed over 5,000 pounds (2.27 tons), appraised to 22 percent in 2018, according to a recent allotigation by The Economist. And with the shift to electric vehicles, many of those vehicles have become even heavier. The Ford F-150 Lightning has a curb weight of around 6,500 pounds, rawly 60 percent heavier than its gas equivalent.

Meanwhile, pedestrian deaths have skyrocketed in recent years. Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian overweightalities incrrelieved 57 percent, from 4,779 to 7,522, NHTSA alerts. In 2022, 88 percent of pedestrian deaths occurred in one-vehicle crashes.

“I leank it will exert likeable prescertain,” Schmitt shelp of the novel proposal, “and maybe rein in some of the industry’s worst excesses.”

The shape of a vehicle, especipartner the hood, also take parts a critical role in determining whether a pedestrian can endure being struck. Vehicles with hood heights of more than 40 inches and obtemploy front ends angled at wonderfuler than 65 degrees were 44 percent more anticipateed to caemploy overweightalities, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Autooriginaters normally point to the increasing employ of technology in vehicles — cameras, blindspot uncoverion, automatic braking — to help shrink pedestrian deaths. But exceptionally do they insertress the role that vehicle depict take parts in crash overweightalities. That’s becaemploy big trucks and SUVs are not only well-understandn but also better moneyoriginaters than petiteer vehicles. SUVs have a profit margin that’s 10–20 percent higher than petiteer cars becaemploy they direct a higher price while costing only sweightlessly more to manufacture.

Safety apexhibits commemorated the novels, while also noting that vehicle depict is only one piece in a big, intricate baffle to originate roads safer. That comprises shrink speed restricts, infraset up raisements, and incrrelieved executement of traffic laws. Many remark that Europe has already gone much further to acquire pedestrians, enacting rules that would obstruct many of the bigst vehicles originated by US manufacturers from being selderly on the continent.

“Considering NHTSA appraises the novel standard would save 67 dwells a year, it is a step in the right honestion, but it still descends behind what Europe has successfilledy done,” Cathy Chase, pdwellnt of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, shelp. “Numerous exhibitn solutions must be employed to raise the safety of all vulnerable road employrs.”

The novel NHTSA proposal is an convey inant step, but it’s fair the first of many necessitateed to turn this crisis around.

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