Modern 'cars' aren't safer for those outside them
A mention in David Slack's (brilliant) More than Feilding Substack led me to an opinion piece by Auckland (National) List MP Paul Goldsmith opposing reducing speed limits 'because cars are safer' and he included the Auckland CBD in his argument. I wrote to him...
Pedestrians are more likely to die when struck by SUVs or pickups than when struck by cars (Monfort & Mueller, 2020; Roudsari et al., 2004). A big reason for this is the height and shape of these vehicles’ front ends.Most struck pedestrians and bicyclists are hit by the front of a passenger vehicle. An adult pedestrian is likely to be struck in the legs and may be thrown onto the hood of the car (Crandall et al., 2002). In contrast, when a pedestrian is struck by a taller vehicle such as an SUV or pickup truck, particularly one with a more vertical front end, the impact is higher on the body. In this case, the person is likely to be knocked down and run over.https://www.iihs.org/topics/pedestrians-and-bicyclists#vehicle-designTop 10 sales by model (2022, passenger and SUV):
He recently responded, but I think missed the point entirely...
Dear Robin
Thanks for writing and for your comments. I’ve copied in our current transport spokesperson, for his information.
Of course, there may be some safety gains by forcing people to drive at 30kph – even more if we insisted on 20kph, but we constantly have to weigh that against the benefits of being able to get around more efficiently.
But thank you for taking the time to write.
Paul G
