Mom always said cars were dangerous. Turns out, walking is worse.
Growing up, we all got the same lecture: Be careful driving. Cars are dangerous. Don’t speed, don’t do donuts in the Walmart parking lot, and for the love of all that is holy, don’t text and drive.
Well, turns out, Mom should’ve been more worried about walking.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the fatality rate for pedestrians is 36 times higher per mile traveled than for drivers. That’s right: statistically speaking, walking across a suburban strip-mall parking lot is like playing Frogger on Nightmare difficulty.
Safe as houses.*
*YMMV.
What?! How Did We Get Here?
The reason is simple: our vehicles have been bulking up faster than a bodybuilder on mail-order supplements. The average American car is now an SUV-shaped tank with a hood so tall it could legally be classified as a small billboard.
According to research from the Frontier Group, the obesity epidemic among cars isn’t just making parking lots feel smaller… it’s actively endangering pedestrians. Larger vehicles mean worse visibility, higher impact points in case of pedestrian contact (good luck to you shorties under 6 feet tall), and significantly higher fatality rates in crashes.
And yet, automakers have every reason to keep making vehicles bigger. Thanks to a loophole in fuel economy regulations, trucks and SUVs have looser efficiency standards than sedans, making it easier for manufacturers to comply by just… building bigger. Not to mention, bigger trucks = bigger profit margins.
2025 Hummer EV, anybody? Conspicuous consumption is green. Same shade of green as a dollar bill, funnily enough!
Maybe Let’s Not Let Car Companies Write Their Own Rules?
Now, far be it from us to suggest that automakers have too much influence over regulations, but when the best way to hit government fuel economy targets is to make vehicles heavier, maybe… just maybe… something has gone terribly wrong.
At this rate, by 2040, the safest way to cross a street won’t be a crosswalk, it’ll be a jetpack.
So, What’s the Solution?
We could demand better urban design, pedestrian-first infrastructure, and fewer regulatory loopholes for massive vehicles. Or, we could just embrace the data, give up walking entirely, and start driving everywhere.
- Crossing the street? Drive.
- Walking the dog? Drive.
- Going to the mailbox? Drive.
It’s simple math, people: cars are safer than feet. And if that doesn’t make sense, don’t worry: the automakers will be more than happy to explain it in their next round of lobbying.
