Drivers of high fronted cars are unable to see children as old as nine, tests find.
The bonnet height of new cars in Europe is increasing by half a centimetre a year, on average, driven by the growth in SUV sales, new research finds. The trend is part of the recent phenomenon of ‘carspreading’ where supersized SUVs crowd out space in towns and cities and are more dangerous in a crash. In tests conducted for the report by T&E, drivers in the highest fronted vehicles could not see children as old as nine standing in front.
New car bonnets were 83.8 cm high, on average, in 2024 – up from 76.9 cm in 2010, according to the report which covers the EU, the UK and Norway and is the first to analyse bonnet heights at European level. The rise coincides with the steady increase of SUV sales from 12% of the European market in 2010 to 56% last year. European and national laws do not limit bonnet height. (....)