New research out today shows children are over 80% more likely to die if they are hit by an SUV than by a smaller car.
Pedestrians and cyclists, meanwhile, are 44% more likely to die if they get into a collision with an SUV.
This is according to road collision data analysed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the Imperial College in London.
Owner of Crofton Motors in Dublin Joey Donnelly told Lunchtime Live that the increased severity of SUV crashes is largely due to the vehicles’ height.
“An older car 20-years ago, if it hit a pedestrian walking by, it would tend to hit him at shin level or knee level and they'd end up on the bonnet,” he said.
“They would be injured, yes, but the catastrophic injuries were significantly less.
“Whereas now a big high vehicle is hitting you in the midsection of the chest and obviously then increasing the risk of you going under the car or the risks that increase in being catastrophic in terms of injuries.
“Especially when you’ve got small little kids involved, it’s extremely difficult in those high vehicles to see small children.”
Mr Donnelly said many of these fatal accidents involving children take place in the driveway of their own home.
Photo by However, he acknowledged that there are many benefits to an SUV that appeal to customers.
“It’s a much nicer driving position,” he said.
“Also, for a certain cohort of the market, getting in and out of vehicles when they were very low down to the ground, they’d be quite uncomfortable to get in and out.
“Anybody who has a back problem or a hip problem knows that the joy of having a small SUV or an SUV where you can just turn your back, sit your bum on the seat and roll your legs in.
“That is actually a huge factor in car purchasing, would you believe.”
According to Mr Donnelly, more and more people who traditionally would have had manual cars are now driving automatic.
He said anecdotal evidence leads him to believe the difference in power between the two means that some drivers have a harder time controlling their car when they switch over.
Main image: A row of SUVs in a carpark. Image: Jonathan Weiss / Alamy Stock Photo
