SUVs with high front ends are more prone to accidents involving pedestrians, especially children. However, such cars are increasingly being sold in Europe.
The height of the bonnets of new cars in the UK and other parts of Europe is continuously increasing, posing a „clear and growing threat to public safety, especially for children,” according to a report cited by The Guardian.
The higher front end of cars significantly raises the mortality rate when pedestrians are hit. The analysis also found that drivers of the tallest cars could not see children up to nine years old at all when the little ones were directly in front of the vehicle.
Large Cars, a Lethal Threat to Pedestrians
In accidents, SUVs with high bonnets are more likely to hit vital organs in the center of adults' bodies and children's heads.
Striking pedestrians above their center of gravity means they are more likely to be knocked forward and down and then run over by the car. In contrast, low bonnets tend to hit pedestrians' legs, giving them a greater chance of falling onto the vehicle and being deflected sideways.
The report by the Transport & Environment (T&E) group used data from Euro NCAP, the safety assessment program for new vehicles, and sales data to assess the increase in bonnet height.
T&E also requested the School of Design at Loughborough University to test the visibility of children in high-fronted cars. It was found that the driver of a Ram TRX could not see children up to 9 years old standing directly in front of him, while a driver of a Land Rover Defender could not see children up to four and a half years old.
An increase of 10 cm in bonnet height, from 80 to 90 cm, increases the risk of death in an accident by 27% for pedestrians and cyclists, according to a Belgian study involving 300,000 victims.
Children are much more likely to be killed as pedestrians in collisions compared to adults, the report shows.
The T&E report found that the average height of the bonnets of new cars sold in Europe increased from 77 cm in 2010 to 84 cm in 2024.
How the average height of bonnets of new cars in Europe has increased:
*height in cm for cars sold in the UK, EU, and Norway
UK, Invaded by "Giants"
The UK has a particularly high number of cars with the tallest bonnets. This is due to higher sales of Land Rover models, which, along with Jeep, are the only car brands with average bonnet heights over 100 cm. Researchers have accused Land Rover of "taking advantage of the intimidation conveyed by high-fronted vehicles and ignoring the associated dangers."
The UK accounted for 15% of total new car sales in Europe in 2024 and 39% of sales of cars with bonnets over 100 cm. Land Rover models represented 85% of the 63,000 cars with bonnets of 100 cm or higher sold last year in the UK.
The increase coincides with the rise in SUV sales, from 12 to 56% of total cars in the same period. SUVs are also 20% more polluting on average, and this sales increase cancels out the CO2 emission reduction from electric vehicles and fuel efficiency improvements.
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There is no legal limit on bonnet height in the UK and Europe. Researchers argue that a limit should be introduced by 2035, set at around 85 cm.
"Every day, a child is killed on our roads, yet cars are built so large that children are invisible from the driver's seat. How can this be acceptable?" said Barbara Stoll, the chief campaign director of the Clean Cities campaign organized by T&E.
Cars No Longer Fit in Parking Spaces
Most modern cars are equipped with AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking), a safety system that detects collision risks and, if the driver does not act, automatically brakes to avoid or reduce the severity of the impact.
The T&E report shows that the AEB system could prevent some accidents, but "a car with a good AEB system and a bonnet height between 60 cm and 75 cm will always be safer than a high-bonnet vehicle with the same AEB."
The increasing number of SUVs also makes European cars wider, according to a 2024 T&E report, with half of new cars being too large to fit in standard parking spaces.
Paris and Lyon in France, as well as Aachen in Germany, are among the cities that charge higher fees for parking larger cars. In the UK, local councils in Cardiff, Bristol, Oxford, and Haringey in London are considering similar measures, and last week, the London Assembly called for height limits on bonnets.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recorded record SUV sales globally in 2024 and a record 1 billion tons of CO2 emissions. If SUVs were a country, they would rank fifth in the world's most polluting nations, IEA emphasized.
T.D.