Oversized danger: pedestrian advocacy groups call for smaller trucks and SUVs

In this Wednesday, April 26, 2017, photo, Chevrolet trucks are lined up in lot at a Chevrolet dealership in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

A coalition of 60 pedestrian and cycling safety advocacy groups is calling for government regulation and auto industry changes after data showed the dangers caused by large trucks and SUVs towards pedestrians.

“We have to take care of people who are vulnerable, road users on our streets and we're just not doing a good job on that,” said Lori Newton of Bike Windsor-Essex.

Representatives from the cycling shop on Walker Road are part of a coalition supporting new research dubbed: ‘Oversized Danger — the effect of front-end vehicle height on pedestrian death risk.’

According to data published in a recent report authored by the Coalition to Reduce Auto Size Hazards (C.R.A.S.H.), (HYPERLINK: https://windsorlawcities.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Oversized-Report.pdf ) about 50 per cent of adults and 80 per cent of children die when they're truck by pick-up trucks and large SUVs.

“They are so high that they hit a pedestrian right in their face,” said Newton, noting during a collision, smaller cars usually strike pedestrians in the waist, where they have a better chance for survival.

The coalition believes it’s time to regulate the industry to effectively lower vehicle heights and slope their front-ends, so drivers can see better and cause less traumatic impact during a collision.

“They're a danger to pedestrians, they are a danger to cyclists and they're a danger to people driving normal sized cars,” said Newton. “So that that would save hundreds of lives a year.”

The Centre for Cities hosted a webinar highlighting the research Wednesday.

Newton believes the government should create a policy which holds automakers accountable. She also believes municipalities can create cost-barriers and disincentives for drivers of larger vehicles, such as charging more for a parking spot.

“Let's go after the perpetrators of the violence on our streets, because we all, at some point, are pedestrians,” she said.

Newton and others are calling on the public to contact their member of parliament and use the research as a tool for policy change around vehicle sizes.

“I do think that there is a change in the air and I do think we have a very powerful group of people who will raise their voices against this and demand policy change,” Newton said.