It goes without saying that a pickup truck can cause much more damage to a pedestrian or another vehicle than a smaller car can. It’s worrying, then, that the trucks you see on the road are becoming increasingly long, tall and wide for various reasons. This growth translates to an increased danger of potentially devastating accidents on the road.
Large trucks are the norm now
Consumer demand for larger and larger pickup trucks has continued to rise in this country, and vehicle manufacturers are happy to oblige the demand. The average pickup truck on the road today is much larger than any truck people used to drive back in the 70’s or 80’s. Although it is undoubtedly fun to drive a large truck, this growth comes with more than its fair share of danger for pedestrians and other drivers who share the road with them.
The most dangerous element of these trucks is not their powerful engines or wide cabs. Instead, the danger mostly comes from their tall and long hoods. The taller and longer a vehicle’s hood is, the larger of a blind spot it creates in front of the vehicle.
A dangerously long blind spot
One study done by Consumer Reports revealed that some of the larger pickup trucks on the road today have a frontal blind spot that is 11 feet longer than a Sedan and 7 feet longer than many SUVs. This means that there is an enormous area directly in front of the vehicle that the driver simply cannot see due to the length of the hood.
Small children are often the victims of this danger, since they fit perfectly within the vehicle’s blind spot and become invisible to the driver. But children are not the only victims – pedestrians crossing crosswalks can also be difficult to spot for the driver of a pickup truck stopped at a traffic light.
If you’re a cyclist or commuter, or even if you regularly go for walks around your city, you should keep an eye out for potentially dangerous pickup trucks. If you suffer an accident, do not hesitate to make use of the judicial system to seek compensation for your injuries.