Large SUVs mean more pedestrian deaths in accidents

The raised height of the bonnet in SUVs – above head height of cycling children sharing roads with drivers – make these cars a questionable choice for urban transport, according to road safety experts. Photo: dpa

Big, blunt-nosed SUVs are increasing the risk of pedestrians being killed in everyday traffic, a new analysis of crashes in the United States has confirmed, amid growing campaigns in some cities for oversized cars to be banned.

Vehicles with with “especially tall front ends” (those with a bonnet heights more than 100cm) are 45% more likely to cause fatalities than lower cars with sloping bonnets, said a November report by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).