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Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US? (www.construction-physics.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/urbanism@slrpnk.net
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[–] 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The one thing that wasn't mentioned is stopping distance of heavier vehicles is longer than lighter vehicles. So if a driver sees a pedestrian and brakes from the same speed and distance is a heavier vehicle they will strike the pedestrian at a higher speed with more mass. This trends up as the average weight of the vehicles trend up over time, which includes both SUVs/trucks and EVs. That would explain the increase in sedan deaths alongside other types of vehicles.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah even sedans have gotten substantially larger and heavier with time. So that could help explain that aspect of it.

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago

    For some specific models like the Camry they did not significantly increase in weight but massively increased in lethality so it isn't only weight, but weight is likely to be a part of it.

    The other thing I would blame is how distracting so many car features are distracting now, and a lot of people become reliant on automated warnings that are going to alert them a lot later than if they were just paying attention. The screen in the console being flashy plus not really paying attention is quite the combo but if I understand correctly it wouldn't get counted as distracted driving like with a phone.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago*

    Vehicles aren't actually much heavier than they have been for some time. If you look back through the most popular cars in the US by year, you'll see a lot of land yachts. Every once in a while, you'll see something actually small, like a VW Bug, but then it's right back to big ass metal box.

    The 1980s did see a lot of smaller cars, but it didn't take long before the US went back to heft.

    Conversely, tires and brakes have improved substantially over the years. The stopping distance of modern cars is actually very, very good. This is somewhat negated by a move towards low rolling resistance tires, particularly on hybrids and EVs.

    The height issue on trucks is a way bigger problem. Easy for an adult to be hidden in front of it, to say nothing of kids.

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