snooggums

For some specific models like the Camry they did not significantly increase in weight but massively increased in lethality so it isn’t only weight, but weight is likely to be a part of it.

The other thing I would blame is how distracting so many car features are distracting now, and a lot of people become reliant on automated warnings that are going to alert them a lot later than if they were just paying attention. The screen in the console being flashy plus not really paying attention is quite the combo but if I understand correctly it wouldn’t get counted as distracted driving like with a phone.

The one thing that wasn’t mentioned is stopping distance of heavier vehicles is longer than lighter vehicles. So if a driver sees a pedestrian and brakes from the same speed and distance is a heavier vehicle they will strike the pedestrian at a higher speed with more mass. This trends up as the average weight of the vehicles trend up over time, which includes both SUVs/trucks and EVs. That would explain the increase in sedan deaths alongside other types of vehicles.