2024-02-16 11:00:18
Does the rise in popularity of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and their growing number on our roads cause safety issues? This is the question that one of our readers asked through notre Newsroom participatory. Verification made, our roads have never been so safe, despite the effect of SUVs… on those who do not drive one.
Indeed, according to the statistics compiled by the federal Department of Transport, all indicators point to a constant improvement in safety on Canadian roads, even if more and more of us are traveling in ever heavier vehicles.
Between 1999 and 2021, the latest year for which data is available, the number of people injured in road accidents approximately halved, from 218,457 to 108,546 while the number of deaths fell by 41%, from from 2980 to 1767.
However, the ministry’s data does not make it possible to verify what proportion of these accidents involved SUVs, but we know that the place occupied by this type of vehicle within the Canadian automobile fleet has continued to increase throughout the period. .
In fact, each year a little more light trucks are sold, the category that includes SUVs, but also vans (pickups) and minivans, while Canadians are buying fewer and fewer cars.
Through attrition, we are gradually moving towards replacing the vehicle fleet with these heavier vehicles. Even if the trend continues, SUVs and other trucks might constitute almost all new vehicle sales in the country by 2028, according to the Chair of Energy Sector Managementwho is concerned regarding the environmental effects of this change.
A question of size
Of the American researchers However, researchers associated with the independent research organization Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that the heavier the vehicle, the greater the risk of death or serious injury for people who are not themselves in the vehicle. heavy.
The occupants of an SUV involved in an accident with a small car, a cyclist or a pedestrian will therefore not be in greater danger because of their choice of vehicle, but people who enter in contact with these SUVs are more at risk.
This is the case for SUVs, but also for electric vehicles, which can be up to twice as heavy as their gasoline equivalent. Not to mention that sales of electric SUVs now exceed sales of electric cars, according to the Chair of Energy Sector Management.
A more dangerous form for pedestrians
Beyond their weight, SUVs and other light trucks would also be more dangerous for pedestrians than smaller vehicles due to their shape, according to an IIHS analysis.
Indeed, when a pedestrian is hit by an SUV, the impact of the bumper occurs higher on the person’s body. It therefore tends to bounce towards the front of the vehicle, whereas a person hit by a sedan tends to roll on the windshield and the roof of the car, which saves them a good part of the force of the impact in addition to ensuring that it does not end up under the wheels of the vehicle.
SUVs are also said to have a design that has larger blind spots than other types of vehicles, which increases the risk that their driver will not be able to see a person traveling on foot until it is too late. to avoid it, according to the IIHS.
Moreover, in the United States, the number of pedestrians involved in road accidents has increased by 80% since 2009, following having declined steadily since the 1980s, a situation that several studies attribute to SUVs.
However, this trend is not observable in Canada, where the number of pedestrians injured and killed decreased by 26% and 20% respectively between 2009 and 2021.
A changing road environment
Several factors might explain the improvement in the safety record of Canadian roads, despite the increase in the number and size of vehicles traveling on them. For example, drunk driving tends to decline across the country, according to a Public Security report.
Also, new driving assistance technologies are now incorporated into almost all new vehicles, which makes it possible to avoid numerous accidents each year, selon l’IIHS.
Land use planning might also have played a role, while hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested across the country to build safer pedestrian crossings and cycle paths.
Safer roads for your children… especially in SUVs
Our reader concluded her questioning with this question: “Are our children safe in the back seats of our vehicles? »
In 2021, 54 children aged fourteen and under lost their lives and 5,429 were injured in an accident involving a road vehicle. In each case, this represents approximately three times less than in 1999. A significant decrease, especially if we consider that the number of vehicles circulating on Canadian roads increased by approximately 10% during the same period.
So even if your environmental concerns have made you opt for a small car, your children will be much safer there than you were during your childhood, even if the presence of SUVs on the roads increases the risk. let them run.
A risk which is however not higher if you drive an SUV yourself. But on the other hand, note that the chances of you being the person who injures or kills a child in the event of an accident increase considerably with this type of heavy vehicle.
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