“Electrification is taking weight increases to another level that will lead to dangerous outcomes,” it added. The weight of the batteries that power electric cars can add hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds to vehicles.
As well as being a danger to pedestrians, heavier vehicles will lead to more fatal outcomes in collisions with other vehicles, as the occupants of lighter vehicles will be crushed more easily, the institute said.
Isabella Chu, associate director of the data core at the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, summarized that deadly geometry.
“When you increase the weight and acceleration of any car, you’re increasing the probability of a crash due to the nature of speed, and you’re increasing the lethality of any crash that does happen,” she said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/pedestrians-already-dying-record-levels-now-face-elon-musks-cybertruck-rcna128603
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