Designers must make vehicles safe for everyone

2 July 2024

Designing for walkability is not just about roads. The design of vehicles — everything from their size and shape to their software — has a profound effect on the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. Through our research and testing programs, IIHS is identifying vehicle improvements that can work in conjunction with infrastructure and enforcement changes to produce a safer transportation system for all.

As important as vehicle design improvements and technology are, we can’t rely on them alone to improve safety for non-motorists.

It can take decades after a new safety feature is introduced for it to be present on nearly every car on the road. Moreover, even advanced technology will not prevent every crash, which means that safe infrastructure will always be needed. Setting and enforcing safe speed limits, designing roads to require drivers to choose safe speeds, modifying intersections and crosswalks to increase pedestrian visibility and driver awareness, and increasing the separation between pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicle traffic are needed now to fill that gap.