Fear of traffic is regularly cited as a barrier to greater uptake of walking, wheeling and cycling, and the trend towards ever-bigger, ever-heavier SUVs will only make this worse.

A study finds that the likelihood of a pedestrian or cyclist being fatally injured is 44% higher if they are hit by an SUV or light truck compared with smaller cars. 

All motorised traffic poses a risk to vulnerable road users, but it’s bigger, heavier SUVs that epitomise the problem of road danger.