Proposed U.S. ruling targets large trucks, SUVs for pedestrian safety (original) (raw)

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Proposed U.S. ruling targets large trucks, SUVs for pedestrian safety

The NHTSA's proposal would conform to global standards but focus on "uniquely American" vehicles—and introduce pedestrian crash-test dummies

Published Sep 19, 2024 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 3 minute read

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The IIHS said that blunt front vehicle ends increase the risk of pedestrian fatalities

The blunt nose of a Land Rover SUV at a crosswalk being used by pedestrians Photo by IIHS

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If you’ve often thought that many modern trucks and SUVs have become too big for their own good, it looks like you’re not alone. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a rule that would require new vehicles to be designed specifically to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries.

That would involve more than just adjustments to the vehicle’s size, of course, but NHTSA noted the proposed ruling aligns with a global regulation and with “focused enhancements to ensure that uniquely American platforms, such as pickups and large SUVs, would provide the proposed level of pedestrian head protection.”

NHTSA noted that in 2020, pickup trucks and large sport-utilities accounted for nearly a quarter of all passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. It added that in 2022, 88% of pedestrian fatalities were in single-vehicle crashes – in other words, someone struck by a vehicle – and from 2013 to 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased by 57%. Studies also show that pedestrian deaths caused by being hit by the front of the vehicle are most common for “multipurpose passenger vehicles” at 49%, followed by 37% struck by a car.

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If passed, the rule would create a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS), intended to reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries to children and adult pedestrians. While NHTSA has primarily addressed safety issues with tech features, including mandatory rearview cameras and as-yet-voluntary emergency front braking, this will mark one of the few times, if ever, that it has focused directly on vehicle design.

The proposed standard requires test procedures that simulate a head-to-hood impact, with corresponding performance requirements that will minimize the risk of head injury. The head-forms used for testing would represent “a diverse range of pedestrians,” from small children to adults, and would mark the first time pedestrian crash-test dummies would be used in the U.S. in a large-scale, official capacity. NHTSA said it estimates that 67 lives will be saved each year through the new standard. The federal agency will accept public comment on the proposed rule for two months before moving to the next steps.

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The 2021 Tesla Model Y undergoing pedestrian safety systems testing via the IIHS

The 2021 Tesla Model Y undergoing pedestrian safety systems testing via the IIHS Photo by IIHS

The proposed ruling mirrors that of a study done by the U.S. non-profit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in 2023, which found that blunt vehicle front ends increase the risk of pedestrian fatalities.

That study found that pickup trucks, SUVs, and vans with a hood height of more than 40 inches (1,016 mm), no matter how their front ends are shaped, are approximately 45% more likely to cause pedestrian fatalities than vehicles with a sloping front profile and hood height of 30 inches (762 mm). However, if the vehicle with the 30-inch hood also has a blunt or vertical front end, it’s 26% more likely to kill a pedestrian. The shape of the hood is also a factor, with flat hoods posing more of a risk than a vehicle with a sloping hood.

The IIHS noted that over the past 30 years, the average passenger vehicle has become longer, wider, about 8 inches (203 mm) taller, and is heavier by some 1,000 lbs (454 kg). The report noted that “on some large pickups, the hoods are almost at eye level for many adults,” and that taller vehicles tend to cause more severe head injuries.

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Jil McIntosh picture

Jil McIntosh

Jil McIntosh specializes in new-car reviews, auto technology and antique cars, including the two 1940s vehicles in her garage. She is currently a freelance Writer at Driving.ca since 2016

Summary

· Professional writer for more than 35 years, appearing in some of the top publications in Canada and the U.S.

· Specialties include new-vehicle reviews, old cars and automotive history, automotive news, and “How It Works” columns that explain vehicle features and technology

· Member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) since 2003; voting member for AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Awards; juror on the Women’s World Car of the Year Awards

Education

Jil McIntosh graduated from East York Collegiate in Toronto, and then continued her education at the School of Hard Knocks. Her early jobs including driving a taxi in Toronto; and warranty administration in a new-vehicle dealership, where she also held information classes for customers, explaining the inner mechanical workings of vehicles and their features.

Experience

Jil McIntosh is a freelance writer who has been writing for Driving.ca since 2016, but she’s been a professional writer starting when most cars still had carburetors. At the age of eleven, she had a story published in the defunct Toronto Telegram newspaper, for which she was paid $25; given the short length of the story and the dollar’s buying power at the time, that might have been the relatively best-paid piece she’s ever written.

An old-car enthusiast who owns a 1947 Cadillac and 1949 Studebaker truck, she began her writing career crafting stories for antique-car and hot-rod car club magazines. When the Ontario-based newspaper Old Autos started up in 1987, dedicated to the antique-car hobby, she became a columnist starting with its second issue; the newspaper is still around and she still writes for it. Not long after the Toronto Star launched its Wheels section in 1986 – the first Canadian newspaper to include an auto section – she became one of its regular writers. She started out writing feature stories, and then added “new-vehicle reviewer” to her resume in 1999. She stayed with Wheels, in print and later digital as well, until the publication made a cost-cutting decision to shed its freelance writers. She joined Driving.ca the very next day.

In addition to Driving.ca, she writes for industry-focused publications, including Automotive News Canada and Autosphere. Over the years, her automotive work also appeared in such publications as Cars & Parts, Street Rodder, Canadian Hot Rods, AutoTrader, Sharp, Taxi News, Maclean’s, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes Wheels, Canadian Driver, Sympatico Autos, and Reader’s Digest. Her non-automotive work, covering such topics as travel, food and drink, rural living, fountain pen collecting, and celebrity interviews, has appeared in publications including Harrowsmith, Where New Orleans, Pen World, The Book for Men, Rural Delivery, and Gambit.

Major awards won by the author

2016 AJAC Journalist of the Year; Car Care Canada / CAA Safety Journalism award winner in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013, runner-up in 2021; Pirelli Photography Award 2015; Environmental Journalism Award 2019; Technical Writing Award 2020; Vehicle Testing Review award 2020, runner-up in 2022; Feature Story award winner 2020; inducted into the Street Rodding Hall of Fame in 1994.

Contact info

Email: jil@ca.inter.net

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilmcintosh/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JilMcIntosh

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