Pickup trucks and SUVs cause more fatal car accidents

It may seem like there are endless options when vehicle shopping. You might have considered a lot of different things when looking for your own car, like Bluetooth capability, stereo systems and even crash avoidance technology. You probably also considered its size, but maybe not for the right reasons. When it comes to car accidents, your smaller vehicle is at a big disadvantage.

You already know just how unsettling it is to drive by larger vehicles. It does not matter whether you are passing an 18-wheeler on the interstate or SUV in your neighborhood, you know that they can do some serious damage. Pickup trucks are also a threat.

SUVs are better, but still a problem

Manufacturers design SUVs quite a bit differently than in the past. Even as recently as the 1990s, designers created heavy SUVs with very high front ends. While this might have looked cool, it ended up killing a lot of drivers. Those high front ends completely bypassed car structures for absorbing energy. It got so bad that from 1989 to 1992, the number of car drivers killed by SUVs was 132% higher than deaths caused by other car drivers.

Improved designs did bring the number of fatalities down. Manufacturers started making lighter SUVs with lower front ends. However, this does not mean they are totally safe, either. When looking at accidents between cars and SUVs and accidents between just cars, SUVs still killed 28% more car drivers.

You should worry about pickup trucks

While the number of car driver fatalities went down for crashes involving SUVs, they actually went up for pickup truck accidents. In fact, when compared to minivans and passenger cars, pickups are nearly three times more likely to be in fatal accidents with cars.

Companies did make an effort to redesign pickup trucks too, but they were not very successful. Both light and heavy pickups still weigh significantly more than cars, and these trucks are also notorious for having high front ends. In a collision between a pickup and a car, the driver of the smaller vehicle is at a clear disadvantage.

Holding drivers accountable

Drivers are responsible for making safe, reasonable decisions while behind the wheel. This means doing things like following the speed limit, obeying traffic signs and keeping smartphones out of their hands. There are sadly many drivers in Florida who do not seem to care about these things.

Car accidents happen every day, but you might not have realized the gravity of fatal collisions until your loved one died. Now you cannot even focus on grieving because you are consumed with handling the aftermath. However, even if you feel alone, you do not have to go through the process of getting help all by yourself. Instead, be sure to work with an experienced attorney who helps you feel confident when pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit.