Civil Engineering ETDs

Publication Date

Fall 11-14-2024

Abstract

We observed pickup trucks, SUVs, and passenger cars and their two most popular vehicle models across Texas from 2015 through 2022. For each vehicle type and model, we obtained all reported pedestrian crashes, counts of registered vehicles, and vehicle design characteristics. Results suggest that older vehicles are more likely to seriously injure or kill a pedestrian than newer ones. They also indicate that SUVs were more deadly, after controlling for exposure using the number of registered vehicles, than other vehicle types. Of the models studied, the full-size SUVs proved to be particularly dangerous for pedestrians, being 2.08 times more likely to strike and 2.12 times more likely to seriously/fatally injure pedestrians than other vehicle types. Taller vehicles were more likely to result in more serious pedestrian injuries, and vehicles that saw increases in grille height over the study period were more likely to concurrently experience increases in pedestrian injury severity.

Keywords

Pedestrian, Safety, Vehicle design, SUV, Pickup truck, Vehicle type

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Civil Engineering

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Civil Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Nicholas Ferenchak, Ph.D., P.E.

Second Committee Member

Lisa Losada-Rojas, Ph.D.

Third Committee Member

Anjali Mulchandani, Ph.D.

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