The US finally takes aim at truck bloat

This week, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stunned information advocates by proposing caller conveyance rules that it says volition assistance trim pedestrian deaths successful America. The caller rules look aimed straight astatine the inclination of progressively monolithic SUVs and trucks, which person been shown to beryllium much deadly to pedestrians than smaller and midsize vehicles.

Never successful its 50-plus years successful beingness has the regulator issued caller rules for automakers requiring them to alteration their conveyance designs to amended forestall pedestrian fatalities. If enacted, the caller rules could alteration however vehicles are designed successful the US — permanently.

In caller years, NHTSA has issued a fistful of caller requirements aimed astatine reducing the fig of pedestrian deaths. Earlier this year, the bureau announced that automatic exigency braking would beryllium required successful each caller vehicles. It besides updated the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), besides known arsenic the five-star information rating, to relationship for exertion that tin assistance trim pedestrian injuries and deaths. But it’s ne'er earlier taken purpose astatine conveyance design.

The rules announced this week would update the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the government’s book for everything that’s required successful a caller conveyance earlier it’s sold — from steering wheels to rearview mirrors — to acceptable investigating procedures to simulate head-to-hood impact, with the purpose of reducing caput injuries. If enacted, automakers volition person to trial their vehicles utilizing clang trial dummies representing big and kid pedestrians for the archetypal time. NHTSA says the changes could prevention up to 67 lives each year.

The projected rules travel amid a deadly play for pedestrians successful this country. Each year, cars termination astir 40,000 Americans. But portion automakers person go precise bully astatine protecting radical wrong of vehicles, they person fundamentally neglected the information of radical extracurricular of them.

SUVs and trucks, 2 of the astir fashionable segments successful the US, person go larger and heavier than ever before. In 2023, 31 percent of caller cars successful America weighed implicit 5,000 pounds (2.27 tons), compared to 22 percent successful 2018, according to a caller probe by The Economist. And with the displacement to electrical vehicles, galore of those vehicles person go adjacent heavier. The Ford F-150 Lightning has a curb value of astir 6,500 pounds, astir 60 percent heavier than its state equivalent.

Meanwhile, pedestrian deaths person skyrocketed successful caller years. Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian fatalities accrued 57 percent, from 4,779 to 7,522, NHTSA reports. In 2022, 88 percent of pedestrian deaths occurred successful single-vehicle crashes.

“I deliberation it volition exert affirmative pressure,” Schmitt said of the caller proposal, “and possibly rein successful immoderate of the industry’s worst excesses.”

The signifier of a vehicle, particularly the hood, besides plays a captious relation successful determining whether a pedestrian tin past being struck. Vehicles with hood heights of much than 40 inches and blunt beforehand ends angled astatine greater than 65 degrees were 44 percent much apt to origin fatalities, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Automakers often constituent to the expanding usage of exertion successful vehicles — cameras, blindspot detection, automatic braking — to assistance trim pedestrian deaths. But seldom bash they code the relation that conveyance plan plays successful clang fatalities. That’s due to the fact that large trucks and SUVs are not lone fashionable but besides amended moneymakers than smaller vehicles. SUVs person a nett borderline that’s 10–20 percent higher than smaller cars due to the fact that they bid a higher terms portion costing lone somewhat much to manufacture.

Safety advocates celebrated the news, portion besides noting that conveyance plan is lone 1 portion successful a large, analyzable puzzle to marque roads safer. That includes little velocity limits, infrastructure improvements, and accrued enforcement of postulation laws. Many enactment that Europe has already gone overmuch further to support pedestrians, enacting rules that would forestall galore of the largest vehicles produced by US manufacturers from being sold connected the continent.

“Considering NHTSA estimates the caller modular would prevention 67 lives a year, it is simply a measurement successful the close direction, but it inactive falls down what Europe has successfully done,” Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said. “Numerous proven solutions indispensable beryllium employed to amended the information of each susceptible roadworthy users.”

The caller NHTSA connection is an important step, but it’s conscionable the archetypal of galore needed to crook this situation around.