BellingenNSW<p>The deadly 3,000kg car bloat trend</p><p>Australians are obsessed with SUVs and huge utes, but experts say they are making our roads deadlier</p><p>"Also in recent years, Australia has spectacularly failed at its mission of bringing down road deaths and serious injuries. Speed – and their proclivity to be driven faster – and overall height make larger vehicles far more likely to kill or cause serious injury when hitting pedestrians, cyclists, motorbikes and smaller cars."</p><p>"Newstead warns how this mentality can lead to an arms race to larger cars for those wanting to bolster their own safety. Crucially, if a driver can’t make eye contact with a pedestrians, “they are going to drive as though they aren’t there”"<br>&gt;&gt;<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/13/australian-suv-huge-ute-obsession-roads-more-dangerous" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/australia-news</span><span class="invisible">/2025/mar/13/australian-suv-huge-ute-obsession-roads-more-dangerous</span></a><br><a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/vehicles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>vehicles</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/cars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cars</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/SUVs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SUVs</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/speeding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>speeding</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/RoadViolence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RoadViolence</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/drivers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>drivers</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/pedestrians" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pedestrians</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/CarBloat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CarBloat</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/CarMinds" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CarMinds</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/cyclists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cyclists</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/families" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>families</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/SchoolDropOffs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SchoolDropOffs</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/SacrificeZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SacrificeZone</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/MobilityDesign" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MobilityDesign</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/failure" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>failure</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/FossilFuel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FossilFuel</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>climate</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.au/tags/regulation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>regulation</span></a></p>