Longitudinal pedestrian safety trends for passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs: A 2016-2022 study of Texas.

INTRODUCTION

This study examines the relationship between vehicle design and pedestrian safety, focusing on three questions: (a) Are certain vehicle types more likely to strike pedestrians? (b) When a crash occurs, do vehicle types differ in the severity of pedestrian injuries? (c) Have design changes over time correlated with increased pedestrian injury and fatality rates?

METHOD: We used ANOVA with Tukey's HSD post hoc tests, negative binomial regressions, ordinal logit regressions, and Spearman's rank order correlations to analyze 36,579 pedestrian crashes in Texas between 2016 and 2022 and controlled for exposure via vehicle registrations.

RESULTS

SUVs were 24.0% more likely than passenger cars to strike a pedestrian. Pickup trucks resulted in the highest injury severities (30.5% of pedestrian collisions resulted in a fatal or serious (KA) injury). Full-size SUVs were particularly hazardous, being 2.08 times more likely to strike and 2.12 times more likely to seriously or fatally injure pedestrians than other vehicle types (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Vehicle height, rather than weight, was a stronger predictor of injury severity. Longitudinal increases in grille height were most closely linked with increases in pedestrian injury severity over the study period. Additionally, vehicle aging correlated with a rise in pedestrian injury severity.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: By highlighting the heightened risks posed by taller front-end profiles and aging vehicles, the study provides evidence to support design modifications and regulatory interventions aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities.