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Pickup trucks are growing bigger and more dangerous

On Behalf of | Apr 14, 2023 | Auto Accidents |

If you look at pictures of pickup trucks from 30 years ago and compare them to the trucks of today, there’s a noticeable difference. Go back even further, and the difference just becomes more pronounced. Today’s pickup trucks are larger than they’ve ever been, and they’re only getting bigger.

What studies have found is that this is a significant danger for everyone else except for that pickup truck owner. There have been cases where pedestrians are hit because drivers simply couldn’t see them over the hood of the vehicle. In accidents between two cars, someone in the smaller passenger car is much more likely to have serious injuries or even die in the accident, compared to someone in a large pickup truck.

It’s long been known that large vehicles – like semi trucks – cause an increased risk on the roads. But the problem is that this shift to giant pickup trucks means that there are a lot of passenger vehicles creating similar risks.

Why is this happening?

Interestingly, some experts have called this a cultural phenomenon. It’s just a shifting society. People want these large trucks, which are marketed with ideas like “conquering the road” or other such aggressive terms.

In other words, most people do not need these pickup trucks. It’s not as if these are practical work vehicles. Work could be done with smaller pickups in the vast majority of cases – just like it was in the 1970s. But there has been a cultural shift that means a lot of people still want these vehicles and will buy them anyway. Even if they are just commuting to their office job or going to the grocery store, they still want to have a giant pickup truck to do it.

At the same time, automakers are concerned simply with moving units. If consumers want to have large vehicles, that’s what they’re going to make. This does increase the risks on the road, and it could be part of the reason that fatal accidents have been increasing again in the United States, but automakers are happy to be selling more trucks.

What options do you have?

Have you lost a loved one in an accident caused by a negligent pickup truck driver? If you have, or if you’ve suffered serious injuries yourself, you need to know what legal options you have at your disposal.

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