How to make SUV and truck drivers pay for the damage they cause
letters to the editor
April 6, 2023
About the publisher: In response to the excellent editorial on the threat posed by oversized SUVs and trucks to pedestrians, I’d like to mention the same regarding oversized vehicles versus sedans in crashes.
As with the horrific injuries inflicted on pedestrians by SUVs and trucks, drivers of small and medium-sized cars are unfairly injured in crashes involving large vehicles. The insurance industry needs to dramatically increase personal injury and liability requirements for all major cars.
It’s time the drivers of these great vehicles pay a price for the human suffering they cause.
Craig Fisher, Toluca Lake
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About the publisher: You ask why the federal government doesn’t do anything about the dimensions of new cars. Isn’t it because of the economic consequences?
The slowdown in the production and purchase rate of these products will have a huge downstream effect.
Like the editors of the Times, I’d like things to change, but that could take a long time.
Lynn Balsamo, Santa Monica
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About the publisher: I drive a Mazda Miata. As a single, childless person, this is all I want or need and it’s fun to ride.
But not in this city.
I am almost laughed at by motorists who run a red light. I was recently hit by someone desperately trying to go left around me as I made a left turn. If he was in one
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Those SUVs, it wouldn’t have just been a broken fender and axle, it would have put me in the hospital or worse.
No one needs a vehicle the size of a military tank.
Mickey Fielding, Baldwin Hills.
About the editor: I know many people who have enlarged their vehicles. You don’t think about pedestrians; Her motivation is her own safety.
Everyone sees drivers speeding, running red lights or behaving in other dangerous ways every time we dare. Being hit in a larger vehicle adds an element of protection, it is believed.
Perhaps mandatory warning sensors on the front of high-profile vehicles for objects below the driver’s line of sight could help prevent some pedestrian accidents.
Alan H. Simon, Sherman Oaks
Source: LA Times

Roger Stone is an author and opinion journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He is known for his controversial and thought-provoking views on a variety of topics, and has a talent for engaging readers with his writing.