NHTSA finds that hybrids are more likely to hit pedestrians and bicyclists than non-hybrids

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US has been busy at work, and they’ve found some interesting numbers for you to think about, especially with the whole hybrid craze going on. Keep in mind though that it is state level statistics, and that more research is required to get a national number.

.6 percent of non-hybrid vehicles (3,578 of 559,703) were involved in pedestrian accidents. .3 percent (1,862) were involved with bicyclists.

By comparison, .9 percent (77 of 8,387) of hybrid vehicles were involved in pedestrian accidents, and .6 percent (48) were involved with bicyclists.

Now, while the percentages for the hybrids are higher, the numbers are lower, but keep in mind that there are a hell of a lot less hybrids than there are non-hybrids. The NHTSA will be conducting more research into this topic before making conclusions. I suspect the higher percentage is probably because of how quiet hybrids are at low speeds, since they run solely on the electric motors in that situation.

Source: Autoblog

Tagged

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.