The effect of front-end vehicle height on pedestrian death risk

Justin Tyndall

Economics of Transportation, 2024, vol. 37, issue C

Abstract: Pedestrian deaths in the US have risen in recent years. Concurrently, US vehicles have increased in size, which may pose a safety risk for pedestrians. In particular, the increased height of vehicle front-ends may present a danger for pedestrians in a crash, as the point of vehicle contact is more likely to occur at the pedestrian’s chest or head. I merge US crash data with a public data set on vehicle dimensions to test for the impact of vehicle height on the likelihood that a struck pedestrian dies. After controlling for crash characteristics, I estimate a 10 cm increase in the vehicle’s front-end height is associated with a 22% increase in fatality risk. I estimate that a cap on front-end vehicle heights of 1.25 m would reduce annual US pedestrian deaths by 509.

Keywords: Transportation; Safety; Health; Traffic fatalities; Externalities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 R41 R42 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: The Effect of Front-end Vehicle Height on Pedestrian Death Risk (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecotra:v:37:y:2024:i:c:s2212012224000017

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecotra.2024.100342

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