Why Pickup Trucks are Unsafe for Teens
Television commercials for pickup trucks tend to show images of a dozen bags of cement, two tons of hay or huge loads of lumber being dropped into the bed of the gleaming vehicle while Bob Seger tunes (“Like a Rock”) play in the background. Meanwhile, the big, tough truck owner watches with all-knowing confidence that no job is too big for his four-wheel working machine.
Once on the road, this truck runs like a cheetah chasing dinner through the African Savannah. The high performance engine, over-sized tires and steel-reinforced body combines speed and solidity. Plus, since the truck is so big, should any other vehicle have the misfortune of crashing into this armored tank of a truck, the pickup driver will experience a small bump, surviving this accident completely unscathed.
At least that’s what the pickup manufacturers want us to believe. Unfortunately, as with many things that intuitively seem to be true – big financial enterprises can’t go broke is one recent example – those big, hulking pickups are not as safe as they seem. This is especially true when they are driven by a young male.
A Study Proves That (Surprise!) Teens are Reckless Drivers
A recent study conducted by the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (http://www.engr.utexas.edu/) found that teenagers driving pickups are twice as likely to be severely injured in a crash as those driving other types of vehicles. This includes the much-maligned sports utility vehicles. The research, conducted by UT professor Chandra Bhat and two graduate students, used traffic data from approximately 7,000 crashes throughout the United States from 2005 and 2007.
Among the reasons given for this include the fact that teen drivers, in general, are more accident prone and inclined to drive aggressively. This will come as no surprise to the parents of children who are in this age group, especially those who have the dubious honor of paying the higher-priced automotive insurance rates which are based on the perfectly logical premise that this age group has an inordinate number of vehicular crashes.
Another, more subtle, finding of this research was that driving a pickup typically increases aggressive driving tendencies. Plus, the research found that pickups, in general, don’t fare as well as other vehicles in crash tests. They have a greater tendency to rollover and are more difficult to control and correct. So much for the theory that a large pickup truck is safer than a mid-sized sedan!
The author of the study was quoted in the Dallas Morning News as saying that “The sensation seeking, risk-seeking, adventure-seeking behaviors enhance when pickups are in the hands of teenagers, which leads to more aggressive driving.” This means that a driver of a pickup will likely be more severely injured in an accident than someone in another type of vehicle.
Other results from the research noted that a pattern of aggressive driving by young adults continues until roughly the age of 20. Also, drivers tend to be most aggressive during the morning rush hour. Plus, drivers that are ages 16 and 17 are 368 percent more likely to drive aggressively than those who are 65 and older.
Why Get a Pickup for the City?
There is some irony in the fact that this study was conducted in a state (Texas) where one in four registered drivers drive a pickup. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nebraska and the other states with wide-open spaces are important markets for companies that manufacture pickups. In fact, many of these companies create specific truck products, brands and marketing campaigns that are tailored to these states.
While a pickup is useful and probably even mandatory for a farmer or rancher in a rural area, a teenager in an urban environment such as Dallas has no practical need for these extra horse powered, giant vehicles except to fulfill an urge to feel more masculine. In fact, given their penchant for crashes, professor Bhat suggested that the best vehicle for a teen driver is a mid-size sedan with advanced safety features such as electronic stability control and front and side airbags.
The tendency toward aggressive driving along with distractions such as texting and cell phone use are causes for alarm for both parents and the innocent drivers who have the misfortune of sharing the road with these teens. Since young drivers account for 6.5 percent of the driving population but are responsible for about 13 percent of the fatal crashes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) this youthful need for speed, and in the case of pickups, size, is costing the driving public a great deal – both in terms of dollars and deaths.
