It makes a big difference where one is hit. Being hit in the head by a head-height truck grille is a lot different from being hit in the shins by a 1964 Datsun. There's also the small matter that nobody driving this truck can see anything at all for ten feet to the front.
You are contending that there is no difference in pedestrian fatalities between vehicles? And also that it isn’t harder to see children in an unnecessarily tall vehicle?
Is a truck an unnecessarily tall vehicle or is replacing sedans with taller hatchbacks we pretend are SUVs an unnecessarily tall vehicle? Because one is tall for a reason and the other is tall purely due to consumer preference.
What reason are pickup trucks tall for, other than assuaging the drivers doubts about their own masculinity? You can get just as much construction work done with a Toyota Tacoma or even a Mercedes utility van.
Gaming EPA fuel efficiency regulations. Making them taller/wider essentially saves the manufacturers money because those regulations aren’t very well designed.
If you get hit by any vehicle you're going to have a bad time. This vehicle is not an exception.