Study: SUVs, MPVs, and pick-up trucks are more dangerous to pedestrians when turning

Amidst their increasing prevalence, a new study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that SUVs, MPVs, pick-up trucks, and vans are substantially more likely than cars to hit pedestrians when making turns.

This finding further strengthens the institute's 2020 study that shows SUVs are more fatal to pedestrians than regular cars, if this study is a little more attuned to specific situations.

“We already know that larger vehicles cause more severe injuries when they strike pedestrians,” says IIHS Vice President of Research Jessica Cicchino, one of the study’s authors. “The link between these vehicle types and certain common pedestrian crashes points to another way that the increase in SUVs on the roads might be changing the crash picture.”

In their newest study, IIHS looked into the most common sort of single-vehicle, single-pedestrian accidents that happen at or near junctions and other places. Next, they compared how these larger vehicle types fared in these collisions compared to regular cars.

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The findings show that the odds of a crash killling a pedestrian at junctions involving a left turn (versus no turn) with these larger vehicles compared to cars were:

• About 2x as high for SUVs
• About 3x as high for vans and MPVs
• About 4x as high for pick-up trucks

Meanwhile, the odds that a crash that killed a crossing pedestrian involved a right turn by the vehicle were also 89 percent higher for pick-up trucks and 63 percent higher for SUVs than for cars.

Other than junctions, SUVs and pick-up trucks were associated with 51 percent and 25 percent greater odds than cars killing a pedestrian walking or running along the road, versus a fatal head-on crash with a crossing pedestrian.

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All in all, this serves up vital points to study. “It’s possible that the size, shape or location of the A-pillars that support the roof on either side of the windshield could make it harder for drivers of these larger vehicles to see crossing pedestrians when they are turning,” says IIHS Senior Transportation Engineer Wen Hu.

“Improving vehicle design, along with addressing road infrastructure and vehicle speeds, can play an important part in reducing pedestrian crashes and fatalities,” Hu says. “Our findings suggest that looking at the problem through the lens of vehicle type could also be productive.”

Some general vehicle-design solutions that have already shown promise include AEB systems that can detect and avoid pedestrians or reduce impact speed; hood airbags; hoods that automatically pop up on impact; and more sloped front ends.

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