published
Large off-roaders are very dangerous for other road users in lighter vehicles. This is the conclusion of a data analysis.
If two vehicles with a greater weight difference collide, the risk of death or serious injury in the lighter car is increased many times over. (archive image)
REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
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The number of SUVs on Swiss roads has doubled since 2010.
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Statistical data now confirms that the heavy cars pose a danger to other, lighter road users.
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Now politicians want to take action.
An arms race is taking place on Swiss roads. SUVs in particular are becoming increasingly popular. In 2010 around 20,000 cars weighing more than two tons were sold. In 2020 there were almost twice as many in this weight category.
But the heavy off-roaders are very dangerous for other road users in the lighter vehicles. How dangerous, that shows now for the first time in the “Sonntagszeitung” published analysis of the Tamedia data team with figures from the Federal Officees for roads (Astra) for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Deadly weight difference
If two vehicles with a weight difference of 100 to 500 kilograms collide, the risk of death or serious injury in the lighter car is already 50 percent higher – compared to the occupants in the heavier vehicle. If the difference is more than half a ton, the risk of death or serious injury in the lighter cars is even three times higher.
The results also startle the specialists. Every year, the RoadCross Foundation advises hundreds of people following traffic accidents and does preventive work. The organization is now demanding in the Sunday newspaper an additional tax or levy for the owners of heavy vehicles – to compensate for the external costs of fatal accidents.
According to RoadCross, this income is to be used in accident prevention. Politicians are also reacting: Zurich Greens National Councilor Marionna Schlatter says in view of the results: “The state must act. For example, by limiting the weight or the large dimensions of the cars.”
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(chk)
