Clean transport and energy advocate Transport & Environment (T&E) has found that drivers of the largest SUVs and pick-up trucks are unable to see children as old as nine, raising road safety concerns.

In 2024, the bonnet of the average new car in the EU, UK and Norway was 83.8cm high, up from 76.9cm in 2010.

SUVs, which made up 56% of European vehicle sales last year, have higher bonnets than traditional hatchbacks and saloons, contributing to reduced visibility.

T&E tested a variety of vehicles, finding that drivers of the RAM TRX pick-up truck, which was not widely sold in the UK but was imported in limited numbers, were unable to see a child as old as nine crossing in front of the vehicle.

Land Rover Defender drivers were unable to see children as old as 4.5 years old, while drivers of hatchbacks such as the Volkswagen Golf did not have such a problem.

James Nix, vehicle policy manager at T&E, said: “Higher bonnets are a danger to pedestrians, cyclists and people in regular cars.

“It’s impossible to see children standing in front of some of the highest fronts.

“The growing trend towards SUVs means this problem will only get worse unless we set limits.”

A Belgian study, which analysed 300,000 collisions with pedestrian, cyclists, and vulnerable road users, under 50kph, found that a 10cm increase in bonnet height (from 80cm to 90cm) increases the risk of death by 27%.

The study attributed this to the way higher bonnets typically strike above a person’s centre of gravity, forcing them under the vehicle, and often hitting organs, while lower bonnets typically strike in the leg area, and deflect the pedestrian.

Bonnet heights are not currently regulated, however the EU currently requires bonnets to absorb the energy of a pedestrian impact, which has raised bonnet heights due to the requirement for space above the engine.

30 organisations have called on the EU to limit bonnet heights to 85cm by 2035, while T&E recommended that authorities should increase parking and tax charges for larger and heavier vehicles, encouraging drivers to move to smaller cars for road safety and environmental reasons.

Barbara Stoll, senior director of the Clean Cities Campaign, said: “A child is killed every day on our roads, yet cars are being made so large that children are invisible from the driver’s seat. How is that acceptable?”