The height of the hoods of new cars in Europe is increasing by an average of half a centimeter per year, due to the growth in sales of SUVs, a new study shows. This trend is part of the phenomenon of “carspreading” - increasingly large SUVs take up more space in cities and are more dangerous in crashes. In tests conducted for the report by Transport&Environment (a partner organisation of the Environmental Association „Za Zemiata”), drivers of cars with the highest bonnets were unable to see children aged up to nine years standing in front of the car.
According to the report, which covers the EU, the UK and Norway and is the first to analyse the height of car bonnets at a European level, the height of new cars was on average 83.8 cm in 2024, an increase from 76.9 cm in 2010. The increase coincides with the steady growth of SUV sales from 12% of the European market in 2010 to 56% last year. European and national laws currently do not limit the height of bonnets.
In collisions, cars with high bonnets tend to hit adult pedestrians above their centre of gravity, often first hitting vital organs. Lower hoods are more likely to hit the legs, reducing the risk of serious injury. A study based on crashes involving 300,000 road users in Belgium found that increasing the height of the hood by 10 cm (from 80 cm to 90 cm) increased the risk of death in an accident by 27% for pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
High hoods also reduce drivers' visibility to other road users. Tests commissioned by Transport&Environment (T&E) showed that the driver of the highest front-end model on EU and UK roads, the Ram TRX, could not see children up to nine years old standing directly in front of the car. A driver of a Land Rover Defender could not see children up to four and a half years old. Blind spots in front of a car can completely obscure children, especially when parking or turning at junctions, increasing the risk of collisions and accidents.
“Higher bonnets pose a danger to pedestrians, cyclists and people in regular cars. It is absolutely impossible to see children standing in front of some of the highest front end models. The growing trend towards SUVs means this problem will get worse unless we put limits in place“, says James Nix, vehicle policy manager at T&E.
A pan-European problem
More than 30 civil society organisations have called on the EU to limit the height of bonnets on new cars by 2035 as part of a package of reforms to curb the ever-increasing size of cars. The analysis recommends a maximum height of 85cm, the safety of which should be examined in further research. This is a simple and effective way to reduce harm and limit the growth of oversize vehicles. The long deadline until 2035 will help minimise disruption to existing manufacturing and design for car companies.
T&E and the Clean Cities Campaign, in which For the Earth is involved, said national and local authorities should also make parking taxes and charges fairer by linking them to the weight and size of vehicles. In most of Europe, weight is the best available indicator for differentiated parking charges until lawmakers make size data more accessible.
Every day a child dies on our roads, and cars are becoming so big that children are invisible from the driver's seat. How is this acceptable?” asks Barbara Stoll, senior director of the Clean Cities campaign. “Thankfully, more and more mayors are standing up to the car boom and advocating for what citizens really want – safe, green streets without huge cars. Cities need to take more visionary and faster action to curb oversized SUVs, reclaim public space, and put safety and people first.”
Dragomira Raeva, Head of Clean Mobility Projects and Campaigns in the EU “For the Earth“ commented: “The mayors of the major cities in Bulgaria must mobilize and address this growing threat on our streets without delay, and Sofia should lead a targeted campaign and implement policies as the capital and the city with the largest number of young people. This could be done with a higher parking fee for SUVs following the example of Paris and Lyon, with restrictions on their entry into certain guard areas or for movement during a certain time slot. This is an issue for the safety and lives of our children, which cannot simply be ignored at the local level before EU regulations are introduced."