[badc0ffee]

It's not just ginormous SUVs with this problem, though, right? You're not going to see a 18 month old out the back window of your compact hatchback if they're too close to your car. Especially now that windows seem to be tinier than they used to.

[Aurornis]

No, it's common to all vehicles. You can't see small children behind a small passenger car, either.

Blaming trucks and SUVs for everything is a favorite pasttime of internet comments, but all vehicles benefit from backup cameras and collision detection sensors.

[nsbk]

The US averages 23 pedestrian deaths per million people per year. The EU averages 8. The US fatalities have increased by 50% since 2013, while in the EU have decreased by 25% in the same time frame.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7408a2.htm

[Aurornis]

What does this have to do with the comment you're replying to?

The US was ahead of the EU in requiring backup cameras on new vehicles.

The majority of pedestrian accidents aren't involved with backup cameras.

Are you just trying to turn this into a US vs EU argument?

[pasquinelli]

i think they're talking about the types of cars popular in the us vs. the eu.

[Aurornis]

They're talking about pedestrian accidents. If they had some deeper connection to make, it wasn't communicated.

[Bombthecat]

While I think it's more because of the speed difference in cities. In EU you just can't drive fast, because it's crowded. In the USA you have way more space to drive speed limit

[testdelacc1]

What’s really crazy was Trump forcing the UK to change road safety rules so they could sell more American pick up trucks in the UK.

So pedestrian deaths would start rising again.

[badc0ffee]

I'm having trouble imagining American pickup trucks fitting on the road in the UK. Aren't the lanes and the cars all much narrower?

[testdelacc1]

You’d think people would buy cars that fit the streets. And yet I see more than a few people with American pickup trucks on the streets.

[drnick1]

> The US averages 23 pedestrian deaths per million people per year. The EU averages 8.

Americans drive significantly more miles per year, and larger/more comfortable cars are in part needed because Americans spend far more time in their cars than Europeans.

Euro governments are also increasingly anti-car, which means citizens are loosing their freedom to travel as they wish and unreasonably taxed, policed, and treated like cash cows for the "privilege" of driving.

[myko]

> which means citizens are loosing their freedom to travel as they wish

Most of my European friends brag about how they can get anywhere via train and how much more comfortable it is to travel that way. When I visit Europe I have to agree. Just haven't really seen this viewpoint, though I do think I would feel this way as an American if I moved to Europe to some extent (though I'd be extremely happy to have viable mass transit).

[ikr678]

Collision detection sensors do the job just fine without a screen though.

I have a 2016 vehicle with no console screen and they have saved me from hitting all sorts on things, and are sensitive enough to detect minor obstacles like long grass.

[londons_explore]

I think the difference is that a 3 year old barely-walking child tends to wander behind moving cars far less often than an 8 year old playing football.

[kube-system]

1-4 year olds are the age group most likely to be injured in this type of incident.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5406a2.htm

I suspect older children are more likely to be able to be aware of their surroundings and have better gross motor skills to react.

[discreteevent]

That could be true but the 8 year old gets out of the way. I can remember two incidents on the news where a toddler was killed in a driveway. Tragic.

[stetrain]

Right, backup cameras make sense even for sedans and other small cars. The high-hood trucks and SUVs in the US are the reason we'll probably get mandatory front cameras eventually as well.

[Zigurd]

It's a little ironic that the truck that diverged from the trend for high butch looking hood lines for no real reason is... Cybertruck. We kill pedestrians in the name of macho.

[XorNot]

The front camera is the best thing I added to my 2004 Prius. The hood on that car is very good for visibility, but with the birds eye cameras I can roll it up within centimeters of things in front of me (there's a slight risk that you can absolutely poke the nose under stuff but at that point it's quite obvious out the windshield too).

[globular-toast]

Why are infants materialising out of nowhere behind cars? There must be something else going on here.

When I reverse, there can't possibly be something behind my car, because I've just driven forwards over that area. When I begin to reverse, I'm looking all around behind and I'll be able to see if an infant, or dog or whatever, runs into the path I intend to take.

A lot of people tend to drive forwards into parking spaces then reverse out. I've no idea why, because it's far easier to reverse in then drive forwards out. And I reckon much safer too. If people are sitting in their cars for extended periods then beginning to drive in reverse, I can see this being a problem. But there are also vehicles that you wouldn't be able to see an infant in front of the car either.