Large vehicles are significantly more likely than other vehicles to hit pedestrians while turning, an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study released Thursday revealed.
Pedestrian crash deaths increased 59 percent from 2009 to 2020, with 6,500 pedestrian fatalities occurring that year. When analyzing these crashes, IIHS found that SUVs, pickups, vans and minivans cause a large percentage of crashes at intersections.
The odds of fatal crashes involving left turns occurring versus no turn is about twice as high for SUVs, nearly three times as high for vans and minivans and almost four times as high for pickups than the odds for cars, IIHS said in a press release.
Pickups also had 89 percent higher odds of crashing and killing a pedestrian during right turns at intersections than cars. For SUVs, the odds were 63 percent higher.
While there is not enough data to prove the reasoning, the higher odds are likely due to blind spots created by the vehicle design, IIHS Senior Research Transportation Engineer Wen Hu told Automotive News.
The main problem is likely the A-pillars, the struts connecting the vehicle’s roof and body located on either side of the windshield. Automakers have not done enough to make sure these do not obscure the driver’s view, Hu said.
“These findings point to potentially problematic visibility of pedestrians,” she said. “There needs to be more data and study to examine the A-pillar design.”
She said design solutions include hood airbags and more sloped front ends.
The study also found that SUVs were 51 percent more likely than cars to hit and kill a pedestrian walking alongside the road. This data might be skewed, as large vehicles are more common in rural areas where walk-along-the-road crashes are also more likely to occur, but IIHS said it accounted for this.
While automakers can do a lot to improve the safety of these vehicle designs, Hu said drivers can also do their part by driving slower and more cautiously.
