Oversized danger: pedestrian advocacy groups call for smaller trucks and SUVs
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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Some structural damage' from wildfire near Fort Nelson, B.C., mayor confirms
More than one home has been damaged or lost due to a massive wildfire outside of the B.C. community of Fort Nelson, the mayor confirmed Wednesday.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver says he got a cellphone ticket for using his points app in the drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
B.C. YouTuber ordered to pay $350K for 'relentless' online defamation campaign
An 'unrepentant' YouTuber has been ordered to pay $350,000 in damages as compensation for a 'relentless' campaign of defamation waged online against a business owner and his company, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things 'full circle'
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia.
'Endless Shrimp' just one misstep for Red Lobster as it eyes bankruptcy protection
While it's unclear what these closures might mean for the 27 restaurants in Canada, Red Lobster is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. this month.
B.C. man shot sex worker in the back during drug-fuelled birthday, court hears
A man from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been sentenced to four years behind bars after shooting a sex worker in the back during a drug-fuelled 43rd birthday.
'Inhumane conditions': 68 dogs pulled from Winnipeg home
Nearly six dozen dogs were seized from a home Wednesday morning by the Winnipeg Humane Society. It is the largest known seizure of animals in the city’s history.
Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Of the $40-million Aiden Pleterski was handed over two years, documents show he invested just over one per cent and instead spent $15.9 million on "his personal lifestyle." The 25-year-old Oshawa, Ont. man was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering on Tuesday.
Driver said he smoked pot oil, took medication before Florida crash that killed 8 Mexican workers
A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday.