Autobesity, also known as car bloat and truck bloat, is the trend, beginning in about the 1990s,
of cars increasing in average size and weight. The average weight of cars sold in Europe increased by 21% between 2001 and 2022. In the United States, SUVs and pickup trucks comprised more than 75% of new sales in 2024 compared to 38% in 2009.
Negative consequences
Among the consequences of increased car weight and size are:
* Poorer
air quality
Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
, even with
electric vehicles
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
, because heavier vehicles have higher energy consumption and release more tyre and brake particles (
non-tailpipe emissions
Non-exhaust emissions come from wearing down motor vehicle brake pads, tires, roads themselves, and unsettling of particles on the road. This particulate matter is made up of micrometre-sized particles and causes negative health effects, includi ...
).
* Reduced
road safety
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...
, as heavier vehicles have greater
kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion.
In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass ''m'' traveling at a speed ''v'' is \fracmv^2.Resnick, Rober ...
, and taller vehicles are more likely to strike pedestrians in the head and torso, or even not be able to see small children who are below the driver's line of sight. Additionally, larger vehicles are more likely to hit pedestrians when turning due to poorer
visibility
In meteorology, visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It depends on the Transparency and translucency, transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the amb ...
. Vehicles with higher front ends and blunt profiles are 45% more likely to cause fatalities in crashes with pedestrians than smaller cars and trucks.
In the United States, pedestrian fatalities increased by 57% between 2013 and 2022.
* Parking issues for other vehicles, as they don't fit in typical parking spaces, often occupying multiple spaces.
* Increased consumption of
public space
A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...
, promoting more
sprawling cities and further exacerbating energy and automobile dependency.
Explanations
An individual driver may choose a large car for personal safety, though it threatens other road users. This in turn pushes others to choose large cars, a
vicious circle
A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the shor ...
. A US National Safety Council expert described autobesity as an "arms race".
Even though this is a decisive factor that some buyers do take into account, even the ones that don't actively search for larger vehicles are affected due to the increase in the number of safety features: from airbags to crumple zones. These require much more space in the vehicle, even adding areas of apparently empty space just so that the bodywork has a larger crumple zone in case of a collision.
Government actions to counter autobesity
*
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
and
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
(among others) tax vehicles by weight.
* A 2023
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
report proposes introducing a new "category B+" driving licence for cars heavier than .
* From 2024
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
will charge higher parking fees for
SUVs
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
.
* In September 2024, the US
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations.
NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
proposed a rule mandating manufacturers to test their vehicles using pedestrian
crash test dummies
Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Anchored by Brad Roberts (vocals, guitar) and his distinctive bass-baritone voice, the other band members have fluctuated over the years. Its most prominent line-up consist ...
, with an estimate of saving 67 pedestrian lives per year.
References
External links
What is Autobesity? About Words - Cambridge Dictionary blog - New words – 21 August 2023
{{Authority control
Cars
Urban planning
Automotive design
Transport culture
Public health
Health and transport
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