TIL the number of pedestrians killed by drivers in the U.S. rose by 70 percent between 2010 and 2023
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39388453
xposted but original link (wapo) has been replaced w/archive.is
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It's a subset of hating cars generally, but it is also an infrastructure that is not pedestrian friendly, never really was, combined with aging road systems that were created with a different speed/size/flow rate than they support now. Add in possibly the fact that there simply are more people now, both in cars and on foot/bicycles than before in this problematic situation.
i remember reading about how SUV design kills by throwing people under the car instead of pushing upwards and onto the car.
I had a car/bike collision once and I've found myself on the hood. I had bruises but i walked off. If the car was a SUV, i would have ended up in the hospital.
Makes sense. How the collision takes place determines the damage. Then there's the truck models that can't even see in front of them and wouldn't know they ran over someone.
I drive an MX-5 in the Midwest. I have to drive super aggressively just to avoid getting sideswiped by a goddamn monster truck. It's been close dozens of times and I've only had it a year and a half. It's often not the truck drivers fault (other than owning that giant hunk of shit).
Cars are also heavier.
Cars were heavier in the 1970s and before. The fuel crisis put everyone on a diet. A good study would reveal the actual cause of this, but I suspect it is the SUV boom - they're tall, boxy, and have very poor visibility rhese days.
@BlasterM @LodeMike "a pedestrian or cyclist is 44% more likely to be killed if they’re struck by an SUV rather than a passenger car. The situation is even worse for younger victims – a child struck by a SUV is 82% more likely to be killed than a child struck by a passenger car." https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriewinkless/2025/05/07/suvs-make-traffic-worse-and-are-more-dangerous-than-cars/
Cars meaning smaller motor vehicles including SUVs