Even if we assume smartcar--pedestrian collisions are just as dangerous for pedestrians as pickup--pedestrian collisions, a smartcar--smartcar collision is going to be a lot less dangerous for the occupants than a smartcar--pickup or pickup--pickup collision at equal speeds.
Not disagreeing with your overall point, but vehicle size and weight still contribute an awful lot to the >40000 vehicle fatalities in the US each year.
Statistically, the majority of pedestrian deaths each year occur on high speed roads, with cars doing 45-55 mph. The v^2 part of the equation is going to dominate. We should get average speed down in areas where pedestrians are, and take steps to ensure that pedestrians are nowhere near the places we allow cars to go highway speed.
About half of all pedestrian deaths are caused by drunk driving, so that's another relatively low hanging fruit we could aim for if we really had the political will to do so.
I used to be against speed limit like this, but when I realize it's MPH instead of KPH and starts converting, I realize that the speed is quite extreme from what I'm used to. My motorcycle-addled road already feels quite dangerous if the riders goes to 60 kph (<40 mph) and no car reach 50 mph. Now I understand some seemingly draconian suggestion that people here says to curb this behavior. People say that Asian roads are dangerous but our average speed is much lower to compensate.
But other comment suggesting to lower it to 20mph (or 10??) is egregious. It's standard for a pendulum to swing from an extreme to an extreme I guess.
20mph on a residential street is perfectly reasonable. Urban roads on the other hand are usually more like 30-35mph where I live, which is also perfectly fine.
I guess this is using American convention where people are expected to go 1.2x or 1.3x the speed limit. Although funnily residential roads I know doesn't need speed limit for this, solely because of road quality.
No, it's in Europe and you're not "expected" to go over the limit at all.
If you want to step on it, leave the city. Most non-access roads in non-built-up areas are 50mph, and more for motorways. Some major urban thoroughfares are also 45mph.
Not disagreeing with your overall point, but vehicle size and weight still contribute an awful lot to the >40000 vehicle fatalities in the US each year.