> I think the "electric SUVs are bad for pedestrians" is just there to replace "SUVs are bad for the environment". Basically, this isn't a real argument, just a vibes thing

Actually both of those statements can be true. Trucks have gotten larger and more dangerous for pedestrians and so it has become more common for people to point out vehicle size as a concern in addition to environmental issues.

> the difference in pedestrian danger from large car vs. small car is minimal.

I am not an expert here but from what I have heard, this is false.

> Personally, I think the "electric SUVs are bad for pedestrians" is just there to replace "SUVs are bad for the environment". Basically, this isn't a real argument, just a vibes thing, where big trucks are conservative coded and smaller cars are liberal-coded.

It's not a vibes thing, SUVs are more dangerous to everyone on the road, doesn't matter if it's electric or petrol, they are heavier, causing more road wear, they are taller, killing pedestrians more easily; being heavier also means they carry much more energy at the same speed than a smaller car.

> and the difference in pedestrian danger from large car vs. small car is minimal.

Well, and this is a "vibes thing", all the data shows the opposite, you'll need some supporting data to make this statement.

SUVs are only better for their owners, consuming more space, more road, and more lives than other types of smaller cars...

Not everything is "wokeness" and "muh liberals", there's objectivity in the basics of motion physics, just run the numbers for weight and velocity. Check any study on pedestrian safety regarding cars with much higher ground clearing, it's pretty obvious what the data says.

In terms of absolute numbers, pedestrian deaths are low (but increased a lot in the past 15 years), but in terms of percentage, trucks/SUVs have 25-45% increased fatality rate. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tall-trucks-suvs-are-45-dea...

You may personally think that, but traffic safety data is unambiguous. The higher the front end and the heavier the vehicle, the more likely pedestrians are to die.

this feels like a very low bar

The thing weighs 8000 to 10000 lb (3629 to 4536 kg).

That’s shockingly heavy to move around 200lbs meat sacks.

> vehicle of similar weight

All...one of them: https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/money/cars/2019/10/...

This is not true - there are other factors at play. The angle of the bumper and where the bumper comes into contact with a human matters a lot - if it is below the human's center of mass, they are much less likely to be thrown under the vehicle and run over.

Weight is not the main factor. Height/shape is much more important.

From https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/06/28/suvs-killi... :

> Hampton Clay Gabler, a professor in the department of biomedical engineering and mechanics at Virginia Tech, [ ... ] described the vulnerability of pedestrians when struck by an SUV as a geometry problem of sorts because SUVs and pickups tend to be tall compared with pedestrians and have a blunter front end. That positioning is more likely to put someone’s head or chest in line to be struck during the initial impact with a vehicle. “(Not to diminish leg injuries but) serious head and chest injuries can actually kill you,” Gabler said in a telephone interview.

(It is probably true, though, that most vehicles this heavy are tall as well, so weight would still be correlated to how dangerous a vehicle is.)

Before cars it was highway robbers. Being in between places is always a higher risk location and roads are the guaranteed routes someone will go down. Cars make it safer for the people in them, the same way a stagecoach protected people up to a point.

You’re off by about 20 years - it was the 1920s when car manufacturers were able to get legislation restricting public streets to their customers[1] - but also this ignores the magnitude: yes, cars have always been a public health hazard but the manufacturers reversed a multi-decade safety improvement trend a decade or two back because it boosted their profits, and that happened only in the United States. If our roads were as safe as Germany’s, while still not absolutely safe there would be an annual death toll reduction in the tens of thousands and 1-2 orders of magnitude more for series injuries. That’s huge even if it’s not perfect.

1. https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history