Dalli to Suv. New York State believes large cars are dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users. The main culprits are SUVs, the most dangerous in the event of an accident, especially if it is an accident.
The numbers help this analysis: it seems that in the Big Apple, for a couple of years now, the records of traffic-related deaths have been beaten, where there is a population of more than 20 million inhabitants (also counting the area subway), for this the New York State Senate wants to intervene.
A few days ago a senator presented a bill to curb road accidents, a project with SUVs in the crosshairs. What do you propose? To increase, by law, the ADAS, acronym for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. That is, driving assistance. Such as lane keeping, blind spot warning or the fatigue and distraction detection system. And maybe even ISA, the intelligent speed assistant that automatically adapts the vehicle’s speed to the speed limits of each road (although it can be deactivated).
As far as we are concerned, the ISA will be mandatory in Europe in two years, and will join the rest of the mandatory ADAS from this year. In the US they are optional, fitted as standard only on high-end models. It is easy to understand how the price of cars would rise. But, in the name of safety, there is no price tag. Suv accusers believe visibility is worse with more blind spots due to their size – the larger the vehicle, the greater the blind spot.
The argument risks creating litigation, however, because in the United States the powers to regulate vehicle safety standards belong to the federal government and not to local ones. So New York State would have no jurisdiction to enforce this law, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should initiate the reform. How will it end? With SUVs in the dock, paying for everyone.