Pedestrians and cyclists are far more likely to die if they’re hit by an SUV rather than a traditional hatchback or saloon car, a new study claims.
Analysis produced by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London found that the likelihood of death is 44 per cent higher if vulnerable road users are hit by 4X4-style vehicles over standard cars.
And this figure rises to 82 per cent for children, the report warned.
Researchers gathered data from more than 680,000 road collisions over the past 35 years – a period of time that has seen SUVs dramatically rise in popularity.
A third of car registrations in 2024 were SUVs, firmly cementing these jacked-up bulky vehicles as Britain’s favourite car type. Wind the clocks back a decade to 2014 and SUVs made up only 12 per cent of registrations.
The report is the latest in a wave of negative studies blasting the rising SUV trend, with campaign groups already calling them out for being overly polluting, too large for our roads and parking spaces, and damaging to our terrible road surfaces.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London have found that the likelihood of death to cyclists and pedestrians is 44% higher if hit by SUVs rather than normal cars
LSHTM and Imperial compared the severity of injuries suffered by pedestrians or cyclists struck by standard cars with light truck vehicles, which include SUVs, small vans and pick-up trucks, with the research published in the journal Injury Prevention.
SUVs are generally taller, wider and heavier than other car types, and they are favoured by many Britons for their higher driving position.
However, it is this height and raised body that is responsible for the higher death rate when a pedestrian or cyclist is hit by one.
The study highlighted previous research showing that a key reason for the increased risk from SUVs is that they have a taller front end, which means a person is struck higher on their body.
Instead of an adult being hit in the knees, they’re struck in the pelvis, while the point of collision on a child is typically the head.
SUVs also tend to have squared-off grilles and bumpers. This blunter front end also means a person is more likely to be thrown forward, which could result in the vehicle hitting them a second time or rolling over their body, the report added.
The likelihood of death rises to a shocking 82% if a child is struck by an SUV
Researchers analysed 24 studies – including 16 from the US – with others from countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands.
They estimate that the proportion of car crashes involving an SUV are around 20 per cent in Europe and 45 per cent in the US.
If all SUVs were replaced by standard cars though, the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed in car crashes would decrease by around eight per cent in Europe and 17 per cent in the US, the authors said.
Anna Goodman, assistant professor at the LSHTM and senior author of the study, explains that the ‘huge increase in the sale of ever-larger cars’ is not just ‘substantially undermining net zero goals’ but threatening road safety.
‘Our findings indicate that this proliferation of larger vehicles threatens to undermine all the road safety gains being made on other fronts,’ she said.
‘Cities and countries around the world are starting to introduce measures to discourage the use of these large vehicles, and our study strengthens the road safety rationale for this.’
Tanya Braun, director of external affairs and fundraising at charity Living Streets, told PA that the charity is urging the Government to step in to protect people: ‘It’s clear that SUVs make people, especially children, less safe while walking on our streets.
‘Nearly 50 child pedestrians are killed or injured in England every day, and every one of those deaths is a tragedy. We urgently need more measures to protect pedestrians.
‘We’re urging the Government to invest in active travel infrastructure and safe zones around schools that are proven to help keep children safe from vehicles like SUVs.’
Responding to the report, road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, said any suggestion that SUVs should be banned from the road due to the increased risk they pose to vulnerable road users is wrong.
It director of policy and standards, Nicholas Lyes, said: ‘The clamour for larger SUVs is associated with demand for roomier vehicles and something sturdier to deal with the UK’s potholed roads.
‘The safety standards of these vehicles are generally excellent for occupants, but the risks are far higher for pedestrians and riders.
‘The most important factor in reducing collisions is to ensure people in control of the vehicles are better skilled, rather than outright bans.’
The height of SUVs and their blunt front ends pose greater threat to road users hit, as the height hits people in the pelvis rather than knees like lower cars, and the squared-off front end throws people forward
The rise in SUV registrations – how many are on our roads?
Last year, SUVs became Britain’s best-selling type of new car for the first time on record, official sales figures reveal.
A third of new cars entering the road last year were ‘Chelsea Tractors’, dethroning superminis which have been the most popular car type in the UK for decades.
SUVs accounted for 33 per cent of all registrations in 2024, up from just 12 per cent a decade earlier, according to Britain’s auto trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
SMMT sales stats also show that eight of the ten most commonly bought new cars last year were crossovers or 4X4s.
This built on 2023, when SUV sales surpassed a million, with registrations of the bulky vehicles increasing by around a fifth between 2022 and 2023 to the point where one in three motors are now sports utility vehicles.
Jeep coined the term ‘Sports Utility Vehicle’ (SUV) in the brochure for its 1974 Cherokee, which became the first mainstream off-road vehicle in the US
The late Queen and Prince Philip were frequently photographed driving themselves around in their Land Rovers and Range Rovers
| CAR SEGMENT | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini (city car) | 3.6% | 3.4% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 1.8% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Supermini | 35.9% | 35.7% | 35.2% | 32.4% | 29.5% | 30.8% | 29.7% | 31.2% | 31.2% | 30.4% | 29.8% | 27.5% |
| Lower medium (small family hatchback/saloon) | 26.0% | 26.1% | 27.2% | 27.3% | 28.7% | 27.9% | 27.4% | 28.0% | 27.3% | 27.7% | 28.2% | 26.7% |
| Upper medium (large family hatchback/saloon) | 9.2% | 9.2% | 9.5% | 9.5% | 9.6% | 8.1% | 7.3% | 6.4% | 6.4% | 7.0% | 6.1% | 6.1% |
| Executive | 5.3% | 4.9% | 4.8% | 4.8% | 4.8% | 4.6% | 4.1% | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Luxury saloon | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Dual purpose (SUV) | 11.0% | 11.8% | 13.5% | 16.3% | 18.1% | 21.2% | 24.3% | 25.4% | 26.9% | 27.0% | 28.6% | 32.6% |
| MPV | 6.7% | 6.7% | 5.0% | 4.7% | 4.4% | 3.1% | 3.2% | 2.4% | 1.6% | 3.8% | 3.6% | 3.9% |
| Sports cars | 2.1% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 0.9% |
| Source: SMMT |
Why are SUVs so popular?
SUVs offer a large cabin with lots of space for the family, a big boot, towing capacity and higher ground clearance to provider drivers a better view over the road.
As such, sales of this category of car has jumped almost tenfold in the 2010s.
And manufacturers have been feeding this increased demand.
This is Money carried out market analysis of the top 10 car manufacturers by sales in the UK last year and it’s clear that car brands are focusing on delivering an SUVs to meet appetite.
Volkswagen, Britain’s favourite car firm with 166,304 passenger vehicle registrations in 2024, has a choice of 10 different SUVs across its model line-up of 23 cars – 44 per cent of its availability.
BMW (125,265 registrations in 2024) is second in the order by manufacturer – a third – 11 out of 33 – of its models are SUVs.
Third in the charts is Audi (122,431); the luxury German maker currently offers 11 different SUV options across 24 models – 46 per cent of its new-car availability.
Rounding out the top 10 makers by UK registrations is Kia, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and MG.
Most car manufacturers were found to have model line-ups heavily bias towards SUVs and crossovers.
The Toyota Aygo city car (left) was replaced in 2021 with the Aygo X (right). Ride height was slightly elevated and the design given boxier looks to make it seem more SUV-like
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, told This is Money: ‘Manufacturers respond to consumer demand and, increasingly, drivers are attracted to ‘dual purpose’ [SUV] vehicles given their practicality, comfort and good view of the road.’
The switch to battery electric cars is also accelerating SUV demand.
Hawes added: ‘Importantly, around two in five of these vehicle models are zero emission as their body type lends itself well to electrification with longer battery range that can reassure consumers concerned about charging accessibility.
‘This has led to the average CO2 emissions of new SUVs more than halving since 2000, helping the segment lead the decarbonisation of UK road mobility.’
The International Energy Agency calculated in 2024 that if SUVs were a country, they would be the world’s fifth largest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China, USA, India and Russia
What other issues have been raised about SUVs?
The popularity and scale of SUVs has seen it become a target for green campaign groups, road safety movements and other road users who are seeing a deterioration of our highways.
Here’s the three main criticisms (away from road safety) aimed at SUVs in recent years:
1. Increasing pollution
A report by the International Energy Agency in 2024 claimed large, heavy passenger vehicles were responsible for ‘over 20 per cent of the growth in global energy-related CO2 emissions’ in 2023.
‘If SUVs were a country, they would be the world’s fifth largest emitter of CO2,’ it stated.
UK local authorities are considering implementing additional parking charges and bans on models deemed too large for bays and too polluting. Too big for a space? Your SUV gets fined
2. They’re getting too big for the road and parking spaces
Green think tank Transport & Environment (T&E) last year reported that, due to the popularity of large SUVs, new cars are getting 1cm wider every two years.
It found that the average new car has swollen to 180.3cm – or 200cm with its wing mirrors out – but took aim at ‘mega SUVs’, which measure in at 220cm wide, for bullying other road users, particularly cyclists, off the street.
As well as the threat to other road users, SUVs are a nightmare for owners because you can be fined £150 if your SUV doesn’t fit in an allocated parking bay, and it can even mean you get banned from car parks.
A freedom of information request carried out by Autocar last year found that a number of councils have added rules around vehicle length to their own car parks in addition to the more commonly seen weight and height restrictions.
Other councils are already stipulating that SUVs to pay more to park in council car parks, while a number of councils such as Cardiff and Bristol are looking into higher parking permits for SUVs.
Cardiff could require drivers to pay more for a residential parking permit if they own an SUV, while Bristol could charge on-street, off-street and residential parking ‘based on ‘weight, emissions and size-based pricing’.
Already many London Boroughs, as well as cities like Bath, have emissions-based parking that means drivers of higher polluting cars (many of which are SUVs) have to pay more to park.
Reading Council is currently looking into a sliding scale of parking charges, which would see SUVs have to pay double to park on-street and via a permit – because councilors are concerned about how polluting these larger vehicles are.
Transport & Environment says the wider cars are not only unable to park in on-street bays, they are leaving less room for other road users
3. Contributing to the rise in potholes
Cars are also getting heavier and it’s SUVs that are responsible for tipping the scales.
The average weight of new car models has risen by nearly 400kg – the equivalent to adding the bulk of a grand piano.
Due to the increasing weight of SUVs campaign groups are pushing for increased taxes to cover the cost of pothole repairs.
The Clean Cities pressure group commissioned a YouGov poll in April, which said that 54 per cent of motorists favoured increased taxes on sports utility vehicles to cover the cost of repairing potholes.
The survey found that just 19 per cent of respondents were opposed to imposing extra taxes on SUVs.
Oliver Lord, UK head of the Clean Cities claimed that a two-ton off-road vehicle caused 16 times more road damage than a one-ton car.
The range-topping Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, which costs from £63,125, is just one SUV that sits in the highest VED banding since April 1
Should SUVs face higher taxation?
New SUVs have recently been hit with increased Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates from 1 April.
Labour doubled VED showroom tax rates for petrol and diesel models (and most hybrids), which will see SUV buyers stung thousands of pounds in the first year of ownership as higher polluting cars have to pay more higher first-year tax.
The Land Rover Defender 90/110 V8 petrol, Land Rover Range Rover V8 petrol/RR Sport SV, Maserati Levante V6 petrol, Porsche Cayenne, Porsche Macan S/GTS, Ineos Grenadier, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio are just some of the SUVs that will cost an eye-watering £5,490 to tax, This is Money revealed.
But environmental campaigners want road tax rules to go further to specifically target SUVs.
Nick Molden, founder of environmental research company Emissions Analytics, has called on transport ministers to implement a taxation formula based on the combination of a vehicle’s weight and the distance it is driven.
