Number of US-style pickup trucks on UK roads up 92% in a decade, data shows

The number of US-style pickup trucks on UK roads has almost doubled in the past 10 years, data shows.The vehicles are more environmentally damaging than ordinary cars, and more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Campaigners have said the extra-large vehicles, which are often too big for UK streets and parking spaces, are built like “battering rams”.Analysis by Clean Cities of Department for Transport data has found that registrations of the most commonly sold pickup trucks have risen by 92% in just over a decade, with close to 600,000 (590,587) now on UK roads, compared with 308,103 in 2014.This is a particular problem in urban areas, where the vehicles are not suited to narrow streets, pavements and school environments.Graphic showing the rise in pickup registrations in UK from 2014 onClean Cities is calling for increased parking charges for larger and more dangerous vehicles and applying safety standards to pickup trucks, including tests on whether a child can be seen from the drivers’ seat.Oliver Lord, the UK head of Clean Cities, said: “This boom in US-style pickup trucks is lifestyle over practicality in exchange for parking mayhem and dangerous roads. City leaders must act to discourage these menacing vehicles from our streets. How is it acceptable to have a vehicle so tall that children cannot be seen?”Hundreds of thousands of these cars are longer than a second world war tank, and the 10 most common pickup models, including the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi L200 and Nissan Navara, account for more than half a million registered vehicles.The Toyota Hilux is the second most commonly owned pickup truck in the UK. Photograph: Simon Stuart-MillerThe Ford Ranger is the UK’s most popular pickup truck, weighing between 2,200kg and 2,400kg with a bonnet height of more than a metre. Research from the US found that the vehicle’s large front blind zone can hide several children.This is followed by the Toyota Hilux, which weighs between 2,100kg and 2,300kg and has a bonnet height of 1.05 metres.These cars are more dangerous than other vehicles. Because of their height, SUVs and pickup trucks strike higher on the body than smaller cars, which means fatal head and chest injuries are more likely than survivable leg injuries, and international crash data shows that a pedestrian or cyclist hit by a pickup was 90% more likely to face serious injury than one hit by a regular car, and almost 200% more likely to be killed.In many cases, children cannot be seen over the bonnets of these extra-large cars; their height often exceeds 1 metre meaning an average six-year-old can stand in front of the car undetected.Jemima Hartshorn, the founder of Mums for Lungs, said: “These pickup trucks are built like battering rams and pump out pollution like chimneys. For children, that’s a deadly combination – invisible at the front of the vehicle and breathing in the fumes from the back. No parent wants their kids in daily danger, yet we’re allowing these trucks to become normal on our streets.”