The auto manufacturing industry has done a fantastic job in convincing people who rarely, if ever, stray from the asphalt, that an SUV is the vehicle they should be driving. They are now the biggest-selling sector in the market.
Yet, it has become increasingly clear that this boom in SUV ownership is a disaster for road safety in general. Here is why.
They’re wider
Have you ever felt that the roads seem narrower than they used to? The reason is that modern vehicles, especially SUVs, are wider. This is partly to incorporate side airbags but partly to attain the beefed-up look. This means two vehicles traveling in the opposite direction are now closer to each other. It also means less room for cyclists and less room for one vehicle to overtake another.
They have higher, squarer front ends
High front ends are far more lethal to other road users than the low front ends that most vehicles had until recently. This is because they hit higher up the body of anyone they strike, which is where the head, heart, and other vital organs sit. Because these high front ends are also squarer, there is less chance of someone being flung over the hood – they are simply mown down.
They have thicker roof support pillars
In an ideal vehicle, the driver would have an uninterrupted 360-degree view. The glass windows work towards this, but never fully achieve it due to the metal pillars needed to support the roof (as well as the metal on doors). The thicker the support pillars, the more degrees of view are lost, and SUV pillars are thicker than most.
They’re heavier
All this extra vehicle adds up. Additional weight increases the force a vehicle will hit with in a crash.
SUVS raise the chance of serious injury and death for other road users. Those affected by accidents involving SUVs can get help to claim compensation for their injuries and other losses.
