Many of the most significant risk factors for pedestrian collisions relate to human behavior. Intoxication on the part of a driver or pedestrian may increase the likelihood of a collision. Crossing busy roads at unsafe locations or failing to monitor surroundings are also behavioral issues that contribute to pedestrian crash risk.
However, factors completely outside of the control of an individual pedestrian also influence their likelihood of a collision and possibly how severe a pedestrian crash is if one occurs. Vehicle design features can influence the overall safety of pedestrians in parking lots and on public roads. What design features may influence pedestrian safety?
1. Collision detection systems
Late model vehicles frequently feature systems that can drastically improve traffic safety. Collision detection systems that scan the vehicle’s surroundings for people and vehicles could catch a pedestrian that a driver overlooks. The automatic braking that occurs when there is a pedestrian nearby could prevent a crash or may diminish the severity of a collision.
2. Vehicle height and front-end design
Larger vehicles are much more common than they once were. Pickup trucks, vans, SUVs and crossover vehicles are especially popular.
These vehicles tend to be much taller than sedans, which increases the chances of a pedestrian getting knocked down and hitting their head in a crash. Heavier vehicles with more vertical front ends have a strong association with increased pedestrian mortality.
3. Smaller windshields
As vehicles have grown in size, windshields have also had to expand. However, automakers have started moving in the opposite direction, as especially large windshields may shatter in a collision, causing injuries to vehicle occupants.
Smaller windshields are more likely to stay intact in collision scenarios. Unfortunately, they also create larger blind spots. Those blind spots increase the chances of a driver failing to notice a pedestrian right in front of their vehicle, especially if they are toward the edge of the front bumper.
Even if the vehicle design features are part of the reason why a crash occurs, the driver of the vehicle may still be responsible for failing to adjust their habits based on the vehicle they drive. Reviewing the circumstances of a pedestrian collision with experienced legal guidance can help people hold drivers accountable for injuring others in traffic.