If you drive most days in Australia, you’ve probably seen that oversized American utes are becoming a permanent mainstay in the country, with numerous brands such as Chevrolet, Ram, Ford and Toyota offering large pick-up trucks in their domestic line-ups.
Though these cars comply with Australian design and safety standards, one road safety body is calling on authorities to amend safety standards for large utility vehicles due to potential safety risks.
According to the chief executive of the National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO), Michael Caltabiano, the ride height and weight of these cars are a cause of concern among vulnerable road users.
“The car’s cabin sits so high up that it’s hard to see other road users,” Caltabiano told Drive.
Additionally, the NTRO executive said that US safety data reveal a unique infrastructure problem associated with these vehicles in crashes.
“The big utes [when they crash] will actually penetrate through roadside barriers. They’re bigger, they’re higher, they’re heavier, and they travel at the speed of a passenger vehicle,” he said.
Caltabiano, who’s a qualified road pavement engineer, said Australia’s current road infrastructure is not equipped to handle the growing size of Australia's vehicle fleet.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that change is required. We need to do the work to establish what the future should look like. We can’t keep changing the vehicle fleet and keeping the infrastructure the same,” he said.
“The [country’s] vehicle fleet is now fundamentally different. Vehicles are bigger, wider, higher, stronger and more powerful than they’ve ever been before, and the network is being built in exactly the same standards as it was 20 years ago.”
The NTRO executive also said these vehicles are a factor in the country's road deterioration.
“When roads crack as a consequence of all the [vehicle] loads, then we get rapid deterioration because passenger cars, now of the new nature, are heavier and wider vehicles and they accelerate the deterioration caused by the heavy vehicle fleet,” Caltabiano explained.
While American-style pick-up trucks sold in Australia are equipped with mandatory safety features, Caltabiano said it’s not enough to just comply with national safety standards.
“We definitely need to do more. The technology isn't universal, so different brands have different technologies that fit. It’s not good enough to just have cameras anymore, you’ve got to have cameras that are integrated into the operation of the vehicle,” he said.
“[Some of] the big trucks don’t have that technology fitted, and yet they’re the ones that vulnerable road users are most at risk from.”
As part of ANCAP’s large utility vehicle program – introduced in November 2025 – the independent safety body assessed the most popular large utes in the country.
ANCAP – which referenced US safety data – reported that fatal pedestrian crashes involving American pick-up trucks "are more likely to occur during a turn than those involving cars".
Among the models tested by ANCAP, the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado – in its LTZ Premium and ZR2 variants – recorded the lowest crash avoidance score of 27 per cent.
According to the independent safety body, the large ute lacked a range of safety features that addressed vulnerable road users.
“The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is fitted with a camera-only AEB system that detects vehicles and pedestrians. It is not capable of detecting cyclists, and provides only limited detection for motorcyclists,” ANCAP reports.
“The absence of reverse AEB, cyclist detection, and more advanced speed or monitoring systems leaves notable gaps in its safety package,” it said.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
