SUV buyers undeterred by warnings of risk to pedestrians, UK study finds

Drivers who are told about the safety risks posed by SUVs to cyclists and pedestrians are very unlikely to be deterred from buying one, a new study has found. The findings indicate that if governments want to reduce the number of large, dangerous vehicles on the roads, it is likely to require financial penalties, according to the psychologists at Swansea University who led the research. A series of studies have shown that sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and similarly oversized domestic vehicles such as pickup trucks are more dangerous than standard cars for pedestrians and cyclists. Much of the risk comes from their higher and blunter front ends. A meta-study of existing safety research earlier this year found that if an adult pedestrian was struck by an SUV, they were 44% more likely to be killed than if the vehicle was a smaller car. This rose to 82% higher for children. To test how much this affected people’s buying decisions, the study took a UK-wide sample of more than 2,000 people, including drivers and nondrivers, and split them randomly into two groups. Half of the sample was shown one of three mocked-up SUV adverts, which included a warning that the vehicle concerned posed a “significantly higher risk of fatality” to pedestrians and cyclists. The others were shown the same adverts, but without the safety warnings. Both groups were asked questions about their awareness of the risks from SUVs before and after viewing the adverts. …