Ever-rising height of car bonnets a ‘clear threat’ to children, report says | Road safety
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/11/ever-rising-height-car-bonnets-suv-threat-to-children-report
by OpticalData
Ever-rising height of car bonnets a ‘clear threat’ to children, report says | Road safety
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/11/ever-rising-height-car-bonnets-suv-threat-to-children-report
by OpticalData
26 comments
This has been known for years, it’s the primary reason SUVS* are as dangerous to pedestrians as they are – it’s also the reason I would never buy one. Once I knew their dangers, I could never buy one.
In addition, the higher bonnet results in the victim going under the vehicle rather than over the top.
*Not all SUVs
Noticed recently an increase in the number of morons driving Ford Raptors and other such idiotic vehicles that serve no purpose on British roads.
I’m particularly vexed and perplexed by the proliferation of larhe hatchback sized cars with the height or an SUV but none of the space on the inside. It’s like a reverse tardis
A raised vehicle also gives you a much longer view ahead in a lot of circumstances, giving you far longer to react to hazards.
Cars are getting bigger and bigger. Road deaths are getting lower and lower. Yet people are convinced that the current trend of larger cars are far more dangerous.
While I do believe some of the huge SUVs and Puck ups we are seeing do not belong on UK roads, cars have generally got larger and safer overall.
“The ever increasing amount of SUVs on British roads over more sensible hatchbacks for most people’s use case, and the push towards “luxury looking” models, with an added influence in increased boxy shapes generally due to trends of the American and Chinese markets, is a ‘clear threat’ to children.”
There, fixed it.
Seriously, there’s a reason why reversing cameras were mandated in the US before most other vehicle markets. The EU and APAC have learned nothing.
“But SUVs are safer for **my** child”. No they aren’t. Increasing braking distances, higher chance of rolling, mounting other vehicles/walls/barriers in an accident. **Then** add in the extra danger for others.
How is a mum supposed to drop her kids off at school half a mile away if she doesn’t have a massive Range Rover?
I drive past a school every morning and without fail it’s clogged up with mums driving the largest vehicles imaginable
I really don’t understand the proliferation of SUVs. Especially the ones that are basically just taller hatchbacks that aren’t even 4WD. Genuine off-road vehicles are fair enough, even if a lot of people buy them unnecessarily, but most of these cars seem completely pointless to me.
And surely they’re a lot heavier than a standard hatchback with no real benefit which does nothing but hurt fuel efficiency.
I’m closer to 30 than teenager and the fucking SUVs scare my 4″11 ass. Since when is a number plate meant to be at height with someone’s chest.
Swear they can just pluck something out of nothing to have a bitch and a moan about
When are we going to address headlight brightness, im not a driver but the amoount im blinded by someone elses headlights in a car these days is off the chains ridiculous
Vans based on cars are also going the same way. As lower bonnet lines are replaced with fronts resembling SUVs forward visibility and vertical fronts are reducing safety. NCAP safety scores are almost irrelevant due to following fashions in car design.
Wasn’t this a mandate from the EURONCAP guys for pedestrian survivability?
Not a fan of SUV’s but don’t these vehicles have Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) that stop this from happening? I just checked and it’s been law since May 2022 that all new cars have it. I also note from the article that 12% of new cars in 2010 were SUV’s and they are now 56% so how can you possibly determine the height of the bonnet is the main factor when a higher bonnet is more prevalent anyway.
Is this really a problem? Because I can honestly say I have heard countless people complain about the country over the last few months (as life typically is in the UK) and not a single person I’ve met or spoken to cares about an increased use of SUV vehicles on British roads. Do people really care that much about what you choose to drive?😂
And the ever rising height of bus, van and truck bonnets? Oh wait, they’ve always been high…..
https://youtu.be/YpuX-5E7xoU?feature=shared
USA/Canada centric but still relevant to the discussion. Plus, Fortnine
Best to put a scoop on the front grill to safely lift and throw children over and clear of the moving vehicle.
The Americanisation of cars in Europe is infuriating. 99% of us simply don’t need that big a vehicle.
I see people driving Range Rover’s and equally large cars in my local area for little more than the school drop off or the weekly shop – completely unjustifiable. The cars barely fit in their lanes let alone parking spaces.
This will likely sort itself out in time. Eventually the car will be so high the kids will fit under
I don’t think this is a purely consumer driven problem: Euro NCAP do testing for cars and give them a score for how well they protect vunerable road users, but the tests they do are totally inadequate for this problem. You can see an example of the tests they do here:
[https://youtu.be/poSqNG1dXGo?si=nsnI1W4CxOtFKDFy&t=91](https://youtu.be/poSqNG1dXGo?si=nsnI1W4CxOtFKDFy&t=91)
They basically consist of firing a head or leg shaped projectile at the car where they think it would first impact, there is no consideration of what happens to the person after, if they go over or under etc. Essentially a bus with a matress taped to the front would ace these tests even if you were garanteed to go under the bus in a real crash.
Even the (probably few) consumers who care about protecting pedestrians are selecting more dangerous cars because the people who are meant to tell them which ones are safe aren’t doing adequate tests.
The problem isn’t the SUV, it’s the 5’4 woman who can barely see over the steering wheel driving it. I’m 6’5 and several times I’ve managed to stop in time for a *football* rolling out in front with little to no notice.
I do think some regulation is needed here but it needs to take into account the practicalities, such as driving position, not just a blanket limitation on the height of the vehicle bonnet. For instance, you must be able to see an object 3 feet above the ground at a certain distance infront of your car.
Karen-wagons.
They’re just fucking ugly as well as dangerous.
They are more dangerous in a collision, yes.
But they also take up *so much fucking space* both on the road and off it (parking, don’t pretend for a second these cars are going any further off road than the pavement).
They’re bigger but they need more space just to maneuver so they need even more marginal space that a regular sized car.
Football mums. Middle aged women who have these giant monstrosities just to pick up the kids. We’ve nearly been wiped out by a few when we walk to school.
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