A study suggests the death rates in crashes of large vehicles has dropped significantly in recent years, according to recent news reports.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that crashes in large trucks and cars dropped 64 percent from 2008-2009 compared to 2000-2001.
The study was conducted on one to four year old vehicles.
A safer design is credited with lowering the fatality rate. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration encouraged car manufacturers to make SUVs and trucks more crash friendly to small cars in 2003. The new standards required electronic stability control and more steady vehicle structures that prevent rollovers.
The study also suggests that smaller cars becoming safer may have something to do with the statistic, but mainly credits large car changes. For example, large cars’ bumper now match up with smaller cars. Previously, the bumpers were so high off the ground that they ran into the sheetmetal of doors in crashes.
As a Los Angeles car accident lawyer, I’m glad to hear that car makers are continually working on improving safety for all drivers, not just those who are behind the wheel of the car they manufacture. However, statistics show that the risk of fatality is still higher in an accident with a large car, so I hope they will continue to work on the issue. As a truck accident attorney in Los Angeles, the issue is one that is very important to me.