Traffic safety risks from SUVs

IIHS research shows that SUVs are more likely to cause serious crashes for cyclists. Photo: Carscoops.

According toCarscoops, a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows the significant danger that large SUVs can pose to cyclists.

Led by Sam Monfort, the IIHS study looked not only at the rate and severity of injuries to cyclists from cars and SUVs, but also at how those injuries occurred.

Sam Monfort and colleagues looked at 71 bicycle-related crashes in Michigan, all involving cyclists over 15 years old and a car or SUV.

“SUVs tend to push cyclists down into the road, making them more likely to be run over rather than thrown onto the hood. This may be due to the SUV’s high front end, which places the point of impact on the cyclist’s upper body,” said Sam Monfort.

In all the crashes the IIHS team looked at, lower body injuries were common. However, head injuries were a common feature in serious crashes.

Head injury rate is a commonly used measure of how dangerous a crash is for bicyclists, the IIHS says.

The point of impact with a cyclist is different between a regular car and an SUV. Photo: Carscoops

Based on a standardized test used to assess injuries by body region, Sam Monfort's team found that the average rate of head injuries in crashes involving SUVs was 63 percent higher than in crashes involving cars.

The study also found no significant difference in injuries to other body regions in crashes involving cars and SUVs. However, total body injuries were 55% higher in crashes involving cyclists and SUVs than in crashes involving cars.

To understand why head injuries are so high in SUV crashes, Sam Monfort's team looked at 44 separate incidents in which the SUVs involved ran over the victims.

Information from the study by Sam Monfort et al. also indicates that SUVs tend to injure cyclists with their wheels or chassis, after having pushed the victim to the ground.

Data collected from eight crashes showed that SUV wheels and chassis systems were the primary contributors to 82% of head injuries to cyclists.

According toCarscoopsThe results of the study are of particular concern in the United States, where people are increasingly opting for larger vehicles such as SUVs. This has also raised concerns about the safety of cyclists when sharing the road with large, high-chassis cars.

In 2020, 932 cyclists were killed on US roads, a 50% increase from 2010 figures.