Hubris on wheels

About cars that kill for their drivers

Picture, if you will, a sprawling scene of human ingenuity, where creatures of metal and rubber move across the vast expanse of asphalt lanes. In this environment, an evolutionary struggle is unfolding—one not between the natural world but amongst the very machines we have created.

Here, the great hulking giants of the vehicular world dominate the landscape, the mighty SUVs and pickup trucks. Their mass and size, like the grand predators of old, offer protection to their occupants. Yet, much like in nature, such size comes at a price. For every life preserved within these behemoths, many more are lost, crushed under the weight of their sheer presence. The smaller creatures—compact cars, bicycles, and pedestrians—bear the brunt of this imbalance.

It may sound like the introduction to yet another documentary commented on by Sir David Attenborough. But it is not. This is a report about predation on the road.

Data show that with the increase in vehicle size, the danger multiplies. On the road, sheer mass kills more than it preserves. The Economist found that approximately 40,000 people die in car-related accidents in America every year, a figure that has risen in the past decade despite advancements in safety technology. American roads are nearly twice as dangerous per mile driven compared to other wealthy nations, and the increasing weight of vehicles is a major factor. In accidents, the heaviest vehicles are deadly to those in lighter cars and even more so to unprotected traffic participants. And the problem is worsening: in 2023, 31% of new cars weighed over 5,000 pounds (and a Tesla Cybertruck more than twice that, even beating a Hummer EV), a significant increase from 22% in 2018. Pedestrian fatalities have almost doubled since 2010.

From a different perspective, where the mightiest 1% of vehicles save one life, they cause the loss of over a dozen more lives from other traffic participants.

From yet another one, it is a similar 1%, that of the richest people, who own about half of the planet’s wealth, the same 1% of people who emit 1000 times more greenhouse gasses than the bottom 1%. It’s also the most likely group to afford a 5000++ pound $100.000,- ++ car that disproportionately depletes resources, kills its fellow road dwellers, and, more slowly, the rest of life on the planet. Hubris on wheels in a God-fearing country. What about the sixth commandment?

Even so, this behavior is followed shamelessly. As Attenborough might put it:

And yet, despite the perils, the allure of the larger, the more powerful, remains. A collective behavior, not unlike that of herd animals seeking safety in numbers, has gripped the populace. They purchase bigger vehicles, believing it to be a rational choice—much as one might opt for a taller tree to avoid the predators lurking below. But as we now see, this instinct comes with unintended consequences, a cascade of fatalities affecting all around.

Solutions, as always, lie in adaptation. More intelligent engineering, changing our habits, and taming the very beasts we’ve created could bring balance once again. For now, though, the giants roam free, and the cost is borne by us all.