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IRISH CAR BONNETS are growing taller by half a centimetre each year, with some SUVs so high that a four-year-old child standing directly in front is invisible to the driver.
Once associated with farming, but now a mainstream choice for commuting and school runs, SUVs are putting pedestrians and cyclists at greater risk in the event of a collision, a new report warns.
Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based NGO, has conducted the first analysis of European bonnet heights, revealing the upward trend. It called today for legislation to cap bonnet heights.
Over a quarter of Irish cars sold last year had car bonnets of 90cm or taller, T&E told The Journal.
When bonnet heights rise from 80cm to 90cm, the risk of death in a collision increases by 27% for vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and scooter riders.
That’s according to a major study by Belgian researchers in 2023 which also found drivers of regular cars are at greater risk of serious injury in collisions with vehicles with high bonnets.
T&E also commissioned research from Loughborough University in the UK on the visibility of children standing in a central position to the front of vehicles with different bonnet heights.
An average-height driver behind the wheel of a Land Rover Defender – a model that has been heavily marketed in Ireland – cannot see an average-height 4.5-year-old child directly in front of them, making pulling out of a driveway or parking space particularly risky.
By contrast, the driver of a small family car such as a Volkswagen Golf would be able to see a child of this height, 1.1m, at the same proximity.
Newer cars are likely to have automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems, but these may not activate in certain weather and light conditions, T&E said, adding that a vehicle with a lower bonnet and AEB will “always be safer” than one with a higher bonnet and the same system.
At 115cm high, the Land Rover Defender is one of seven Jaguar Land Rover models with bonnets taller than 1m, with three models from Jeep also in this category.
Almost 900 of these extra tall SUVs were registered in Ireland last year, an increase of more than 30% on new sales in 2023, data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry shows.
Three of the four bestselling new car models in Ireland last year were so-called crossover or compact SUVs. The top-selling Hyundai Tucson has a bonnet 89cm high, as does the Kia Sportage, while the Toyota RAV4′s bonnet is higher again at 93cm.
James Nix, vehicles policy manger at T&E and author of the report, said higher fronted vehicles push the burden of risk and of reduced safety from those drivers to all other road users.
This stops parents from letting children walk or cycle and leads to a vicious cycle of families making more journeys by car.
Over half of primary school and over 40% of secondary school children in Ireland travel to school by car, census data shows.
Nix likened ever higher bonnets to an “arms race” by car manufacturers that is harming public space and the public good.
Marketing of SUVs creates a vicious cycle whereby other drivers may feel they need a bigger vehicle too to feel safe on the road.
Ian Lumley of environmental NGO An Taisce said bulkier vehicles were also bad for the climate, requiring more fuel.
T&E noted research indicating that whereas low bonnets tend to hit pedestrians’ legs, giving them a greater chance of falling towards the vehicle or being deflected to the side, higher bonnets strike adult pedestrians above the centre of gravity, increasing the likelihood that they will be knocked forward and down and be driven over.
Higher bonnets are also more likely to strike adults’ vital organs.
T&E argues that without policy change, the current trend of increasing bonnet height will mean a significant proportion of all cars will have bonnets higher than 90cm in the coming years.
Neither national nor EU laws regulate bonnet height. T&E is now calling on the European Commission to impose a cap of 85cm.
T&E says this height would give some protection to 95% of adult female pedestrians involved in crashes, as they would be struck below their centre of gravity, increasing their risk of survival.
The NGO is also calling on the EU to introduce child visibility tests for vehicles to reduce blind spots, and for the dimensions of cars to be included on vehicle registration certificates to inform consumer choice.
T&E also urged national governments to put higher vehicle and road taxes, as well as parking charges, on bigger cars.
Between 2012 and 2024, average bonnet height for newly sold cars in Ireland rose from 77.52cm to 83.67cm. (They’re getting fatter too.)
Jaguar Land Rover and Stellantis, manufacturer of RAM and Jeep cars, have been approached for comment.
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