[5upplied_demand]

The majority of the SUVs I see driving have exactly 1 person in them. It's ok to admit that.

We can also look at the facts, which do imply a more recent disregard (if not disdain) for pedestrians:

> Drivers hit and killed 3,304 people walking in the United States in the first half of 2024, down 2.6% from the year before but a staggering 48% above a decade ago, according to a new analysis from GHSA. [0]

[0] https://www.ghsa.org/news/early-2024-us-pedestrian-fatalitie...

[bpt3]

> The majority of the SUVs I see driving have exactly 1 person in them. It's ok to admit that.

I don't need to "admit" that, because I agree it's true.

In your rush to prove a point, you completely missed mine, which was: At least 99% of families buying SUVs to transport kids around instead of a car or minivan (which is why single occupant use didn't come up, as it wasn't really relevant) aren't intentionally firing a shot in an ideological war, they're just picking a car that works for them, they can afford, and they like.

Obviously a lot of that is subjective and has been shaped by regulation, marketing, and an interest in conformity with peers, but what will definitely not change anyone's mind is endless hostility over what is a generally benign decision.

[5upplied_demand]

You seem to have completely dismissed the factual data I provided that vehicle deaths of pedestrians have increased 48% in the past 10 years. This certainly implies that something has changed in how Americans drive and interact with pedestrians. It also perfectly correlates with a time period where SUVs went from 30% to 60% of vehicles on the road.

There is research on how car cost (with SUVs being the most expensive vehicle type) impacts driver yielding behavior [0]. There is also research on how being in a car changes your perspective of pedestrians and others not in the car [1][2][3].

[0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8758047/

[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1559-1816....

[2] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233520099_Acoustic_...

[3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227874062_Territori...