[6] In the United States, SUVs and pickup trucks comprised more than 75% of new sales in 2024 compared to 38% in 2009.
[7] Among the consequences of increased car weight and size are: 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 US National Safety Council expert described autobesity as an "arms race".
[16] 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.