US seeks new pedestrian safety rules aimed at increasingly massive SUVs and pickup trucks

FILE – Unsold 2024 Escalade utility vehicles are parked at a Cadillac dealership on June 2, 2024, in Lone Tree, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
DETROIT – The U.S. government’s road safety agency wants the auto industry to design new vehicles including i ncreasingly large SUVs and pickup trucks so they reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it’s proposing a new rule setting testing and performance requirements to minimize the risk of pedestrian head injuries.
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The rule would cover all passenger vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less, but it’s is aimed largely at big SUVs and pickups, which have grown in size and hood height over the years, causing blind spots for drivers.
NHTSA said pedestrian deaths increased 57% from 2013 to 2022, from 4,779 to 7,522. The agency says the rule would save 67 lives per year.
Data show that nearly half of all pedestrian deaths when hit by the front of a vehicle are most common for SUVs and trucks.
The proposed rule, required by Congress in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, would set test procedures to simulate head-to-hood impact as well as requirements to reduce the risk of head injuries. Human-like head dummies that simulate children and adults would be used in testing, NHTSA said in a prepared statement.
“We have a crisis of roadway deaths, and it’s even worse among vulnerable road users like pedestrians,