Mondays with Mike: Don’t be a crash test dummy

During and since the covid lockdown, I noticed what I thought was an increase in reckless, Mad Max behavior by car and motorcycle drivers. Until recently, one might have put it down to my tendency to fret about things. But apparently, it was real. From the Wall Street Journal:

Fewer people were on the roads in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to fewer crashes overall in 2020. But the fatality rate of those incidents increased to the highest level since 2007, with the rate of deaths for every 100 million miles traveled by vehicle rising by 21%, according to an NHTSA report released Wednesday.

 In other words, there were fewer crashes but they were more deadly. Also from the article:

And that trend looks likely to continue. NHTSA projections for 2021, released in February, showed the fastest increase in car fatalities in nearly half a century. The projections indicated that 31,720 people died in vehicle crashes over the first nine months of 2021, compared with 28,325 fatalities over the same period in 2020.

With fewer cars on the road driving fewer miles, “What the hell happened?,” you might ask. From the same article:

Although the number of crashes, injuries and miles traveled decreased, fatalities increased by 6.8% in 2020 from a year earlier. Ms. Fischer attributes the numbers to drivers being more reckless on roads with fewer vehicles.

In 45% of fatal crashes, drivers were speeding, intoxicated or not wearing a seat belt, the NHTSA report said.

Something I also have noticed, anecdotally, is that drivers were more reckless on surface streets, with bands of motorcyclists riding wheelies down Michigan Avenue and DuSable Lakeshore Drive, and people in hot cars just laying on the gas between stoplights. I’ve also seen fewer traffic stops by police, a trend—that once again, anecdotally—seems to be changing. I’ve seen three in our neighborhood in the last week.

So as if that isn’t enough happy news, there’s this factoid from WSJ about 2020 fatalities:

Pedestrian fatalities also increased by 3.9%, reaching their highest number since 1989, according to the NHTSA. Bicyclist fatalities increased by 9.2%, their highest number since 1987.

So after decades of trending positively, we’ve gone backwards.

When it comes to pedestrians death, there apparently is something at work besides reckless behavior: Automotive design of modern cars. I’ve complained more than once about a Zipcar or rental car that limits how much that I, as the driver, can see. Modern cars are something of a marvel—backup cameras, traction control, self-driving. They’ve gotten worse in one way for sure: The user/driver interface is wholly non-standard. Everything from simply starting the car to operating the radio to controlling the temperature is different from manufacturer to manufacturer and even model to model within a make.

Okay, maybe that’s cranky old Mike saying “get off my lawn, cars were better then.” But the data backs me up on another pet peeve about modern vehicles: They restrict the drivers vision too much, and no number of cameras makes up for that restriction.

From StreetsblogUSA:

SUVs and pick-up truck drivers are three to four times more likely to hit a pedestrian when they make a turn than the drivers of smaller cars, a new study finds — and researchers think it’s because federal regulators aren’t scrutinizing the common design features that make it impossible for megacar drivers to see walkers passing right in front of them.

Fatal crashes involving pick-up truck drivers, meanwhile, are four times more likely to involve a driver making a left — and when it comes to right-turn crashes, they’re still 89 percent more likely. Right-turning SUV drivers are 63 percent more likely to strike a person than the drivers of smaller vehicles.

So there’s a reason I curse at SUVs more than sedans after all.

It’s not just that they’re larger and higher (though those factors likely play a role): It’s that modern designs are making it harder for drivers to see pedestrians and other things that well, they need to see to drive responsibly.

From the same article:

Image: Evo Magazine via Behance. Click to read possible solutions to the pillar problem.

In particular, the researchers behind the study cited the design of a vehicle’s A-pillars — the vertical struts on either side of the windshield that connect the roof to the body of the car — which create a pair of potentially deadly blind spots for drivers. The larger the megacar, the wider and more visually obstructive its A-pillar, a feature which automakers say is necessary to prevent rollover crashes, though experts argue they could achieve the same occupant safety goals by making A-pillars out of stronger materials, while still keeping them skinny.

Combined with the squishing of the roof and windshield for aerodynamic purposes, the larger pillars cause serious blind spots—the most extreme version from the cited study being the Ford F-150, which obstructed the equivalent of preschoolers under four feet tall.

Much of this is due to safety concerns—the bigger pillars provide more crash protection—but there are ways to improve crash protection without compromising safety. Check out this article for great images that illustrate what’s happened over the years. There will likely be more study and eventually new design requirements.

Until then, be hypervigilant as you drive or walk.