It’s very clear that pickup trucks are getting larger. Much of this is measurable. If you compare the size of a standard pickup today to one from 10 years ago, there’s been a notable change. If you compare a pickup from 2023 to one from 1950, you’ll see an even greater change. One report claims that trucks have increased in weight by around 24% – and that only goes back to 2000.
But there’s also anecdotal evidence. Simply standing next to an oversized pickup truck shows just how large it is. Many people find that their shoulder only comes up to the top of the hood. They are dwarfed by this vehicle, and they wonder if trucks like this can really be safe. Much of the time, they’re not.
2 main hazards
These oversized pickup trucks are creating numerous hazards on the road, the first of which is that sight lines are limited. These trucks have incredibly large blind spots. A child or even an adult could be completely hidden in the blind spot. Many accidents happen between pickup trucks and pedestrians where the driver of the truck doesn’t know someone is there until they hit them with their vehicle.
The second hazard is that larger vehicles transfer more force into smaller vehicles during a collision. For this reason, people in smaller vehicles are more likely to be killed or to suffer significant injuries. A person who is driving an oversized pickup truck is statistically making it more likely that someone else will be injured or killed if they get involved in a crash.
Right now, though, these pickup trucks are still legal and widely used. As such, anyone who has been injured or lost a loved one needs to know how to seek financial compensation from the offending driver.