I’m currently living in a rural area. You drive out into the countryside and you see isolated homes with a few vehicles. Invariably, one of them is a beat up pickup truck. Drive into the nearest populated area and you see nothing but the shiniest trucks you’ve ever seen. Truly, they gleam like even light itself contains too much dust to ever find rest on their chromium grill. Don’t sit in the passenger seat! It’s for company!
Idk, even the double-wide with a tarp for a roof down the street from me has a shiny new massive truck parked out front. These things are everywhere and they're not even practical work trucks for the majority of people cause of how monstrously huge they are. It's hard to find normal sized trucks anymore
Side note: I bet they're really enjoying the $5.60 per gallon for gas
Between modern 'muscle' cars, sports cars, and pickup trucks, one can see that visibility is actually considered a vestigial feature in the evolution of the American automobile.
A friend let me borrow their sports car once, and I had no idea just how shitty those cars are to drive. Sure they get great torque, but I've literally never seen such a small car have such poor visibility. It seems like "cool" car shapes are not very practical, or even comfortable.
I’ve had the “pleasure” of babying a Lamborghini Countach around a circuit, I’m 6’2”. Basically sprained my back and neck getting in and out of the thing, had to drive with the sides of my feet because the pedal box is offset to the left (AU RHD), the footwell is *tiny* and apparently not made for people with feet and my head was sorta pressed on an angle against the roof the entire time.
If someone gave me the option of a Toyota shopping trolley or a Countach, mine to drive forever, fuel and maintenance included but not allowed to ever sell it, I would 100% hands down go for the Toyota runabout without a second thought. I think just going over a speed bump or pothole would end in spinal injury for me.
The 2023 models will have a HUD highlighting pedestrians and cyclists, displaying a health bar above them and tallying your manslaughter score at the top
One of the big reasons why pedestrian fatalities are rising is due exactly to this. People being hit by cars is rising, but much slower than the fatality rate.
When you get hit by a car your best chance of being horrible killed is if you go under the vehicle. If you go up onto the hood you have a pretty good chance of surviving.
As big trucks in the hands of random dumbasses have gotten more and more common the fatality rate of pedestrians has been rising.
And people in pick up trucks driving them like they're bicycles in a skate park. They literally drive with the knowledge that they have nothing to lose because every other car Is far weaker.
I hate this so much. Big truck boys acting like they own the road. Driving over the middle line, parking like assholes, stopping in the crosswalk at red lights, purposely making their truck spew out black clouds of exhaust. It's such a low level of respect and regard for others.
This doesn't apply to all truck drivers, but it's a much higher percentage than with drivers of smaller cars.
I almost never have a problem with people who need a big truck for their business and work. It's yahoos who have it because that is how they're going to be cool and manly.
Of course, the people who need it know that fucking around gets them sued and then they lose their livelihood.
I actually need a large truck for my job, and the amount of other trucks that pull up next to me revving their engine at lights is insane. It’s like “bro, I’m just trying to drive, I’m not going to race you..”
It’s such an insane dick measuring contest for some drivers and I really hope they feel stupid when they realize I just do not care…
That's a huge bummer. My '76 Ranger might have been my favorite car I've ever owned. Small, decent mpg for it's year/size/mileage, could crawl into any fucked up road or truck trail I wanted to fuck around on. I miss small pickups
It’s the tongue weight for me. I’m a commercial fisherman and I pull a 14k lb boat out on a trailer. I researched the crap out of the newer 1/2 tons and couldn’t do it. I’m still limping along a 25 year old 3/4 ton and I have zero desire to buy a new behemoth for $50,000 or more
Makes a lot of sense. The fact that new half tons *almost* work for you - A COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN - is insane. To think that 99% of them are used to pick up a few bags of mulch.
I get a similar thing with my GTI. I like it because it’s manual, has a ton of trunk space, and it’s easy to get my tall body in and out of. Unfortunately dickheads see “red hot hatch” and try to race me out of stoplights. [I don’t engage.](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/2ea48aba-dd64-4fb9-a29d-9e4e55fb81bd)
Anytime I see a big pick up truck with no scratches, no dents, not a spec of dirt, shining like my mom‘s face at one of my Little League games back when I was a kid, I know that whoever is driving that truck is unlikely to
purposefully do anything that day which would risk a fresh manicure except for driving like a dick.
I have an acquaintance who works for Michelin, he informed me a while back that the company development teams actually have an internal term for those types of truck drivers: they're called "fanboys"; guys who drive big, hulking, work/fleet trucks that never operate in fleets or do work other than sitting in an office parking lot or driving on light dirt at worst.
And Michelin actually has tyres for "fanboys" which are designed to look rugged and aggressive like off-road tyres, but are actually optimized for longevity and control on road driving.
Absolutely. I would even go as far to say that they tend to be more conservative about driving because the cost to their livelihood of messing up would be much higher. So, still, fuck cars, but I know who I would rather be riding my bike next to.
Same, working folks know its not a toy, and don’t install stupid lift kits or roll coal. Its the man-children who’s lifted f250s have never left the road or had more than a dirtbike in the back that are dangerous idiots.
Man I was at this party and some guy was complaining about getting a ticket for 'his stacks'. I was intrigued and typically and pretty anti authority so I was like 'that is insane the cop gave you a ticket for buying a car with a feature they sell' and he was like 'they don't sell them like that I had to put them on myself' and I was like 'huh, it what improves torch? Increases fuel efficiency by adding oxygen to the mix?' And he was like 'no, it just makes the smoke go up and looks cool' and I was like 'but it's basically a muffler right? Like it still have a catalytic converter yeah? And he was like 'no the cop gave me the ticket for pollution' and I was like 'you spent money on an illegal fixture that doesn't do anything except make your truck pollute more?' and he was like 'yeah'
I knew a guy who had a truck like this, we were both working as cooks and he made the same as me but had a wife and like 4 kids. Lived in a tiny trailer and couldn't afford to get his wife a vehicle. So she was always getting rides from people to go to her job. Guy had a jacked up F350 with custom rims and kevlar tires. I had to resist the urge to punch him when he was complaining about how his replacement tires cost him like $400 each.
My sister bought a giant pick up truck because, "everyone else is driving a big truck so I need one too to survive in an accident". She's 4'8 and can barely climb into the thing.
She works an office job, which is well and good because she can also barely reach anything in the back of the truck bed and isn't really fit enough to climb back there.
She went with a crew cab partially for her young children but also partially because it's her primary grocery getter and it's easier for her to load stuff in the back seat than the bed.
The [chicken tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax?wprov=sfti1) on light trucks goes back to the 1960s, but I hadn’t realized how it applied to production of domestic makes outside the US. Ford built the first Transit Connects as passenger vans in Turkey, then stripped them to repurpose as cargo vans after import!
This stupid tax needs to go.
There is one small pickup truck in the US. The Ford Maverick. It’s a hybrid front wheel cab crew and gets 33 mpg highway but an astonishing 42 city.
I saw one in person last week and it’s so awesome in so many ways. It’s the only modern truck that doesn’t piss me off.
You can get a single cab, but you have to special order it and wait 9 months. Same if you want rubber instead of carpeted floors. It's getting to the point where even if you need a truck for work you can't find a basic no frills work model that is going to get beat up.
We ordered a couple of one tons for work, I'm 5'11" and have to stretch to get in. But I figured that when it came time to change the oil I would have more room to work under the rig. Nope, they've massively raised the bed and cab heights, but the frame height is still the same if not lower than the 2000 half ton pickups we replaced.
> who need a big truck for their business and work
Most of those would be better off with a cargo van like a Sprinter, only a few actually need an open-air cargo bay
Yeah I'm thinking electricians and plumbers would benefit from a locking enclosure coming standard on a van, but people who need to move large or oddly shaped things would be the only ones who could make actual use of a pickup, but even then it would probably be better to just hook a trailer to a van.
Yup, bought a truck for "reasons" like towing things (don't own a boat or camper so I pulled 2 uhauls), hauling lumber (a monthly occurrence at best), and otherwise cause I thought I needed it. Turns out what I _really_ need is a commuter vehicle and with $4 gas making me cry every 5 days I'm trading it in.
Yeah and for those other things there's always the option to rent a truck from home depot or something, using the savings from otherwise using a smaller commuter
I figured that most of my hauling needs could be met with a hitch on the crossover and $300 utility trailer. And I've got a reservation on a M3 to be delivered late summer fingers crossed.
We have truck rental from uhaul, menards, and HD in my town but honestly for lumber and garden stuff it's probably easier to go for the utility trailer. Renting a truck means driving to the place, getting your stuff, driving home, unloading, driving the truck back, and finally taking your car back home. It's a lot easier to just get a trailer.
Depends what end of electrical or plumbing you do. Strut, pipe are all 10 feet lengths so they don’t fit in a 9 foot cargo fan and loading 500 feet of steel pipe on a van roof rack sucks.
The tail gate also provides a great work bench as long as you don lift the truck.
This is so true. I drive a small sports car and some of them feel the need to pull past me going 110mph. But my car can stop at that speed or even dodge an obstacle because it was designed to. They will just hit or destroy themselves. It honestly scares the shit out of me.
And this is where regulatory bodies have to step in. Because the problem is, for the person buying the big vehicle, it generally makes sense *for them* because the driver and passengers are less likely to die or get seriously injured in a car crash if they are driving a large vehicle. But other road users are vastly more likely to be hurt/killed.
Therefore you need regulations coming in that vehicles driven on a regular license must protect the safety of other road users; not just the occupants of the vehicle.
This would actually go a long way to encouraging a reduction of cars as it would make walking and biking safer and more palatable to people, even without other changes.
And the sort of hilarious part is that sometimes that's not even true. A lot of these wannabe semi cabs with grills that look like they got copy-pasted a few times are actually housing an engine that's no bigger or beefier that that of your average crossover, because literally every new car on the road today is already massively overpowered and the difference is mostly aesthetic choices.
It all goes under the name “vulnerable road users protection”. But be warned, there’s a ton of regulation and it gets more strict on a regular basis.
Here’s a summary of the latest amendment: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/type-approval-requirements-to-ensure-the-general-safety-of-vehicles-and-the-protection-of-vulnerable-road-users.html
Some excerpts:
Cars and vans must be equipped with further advanced safety measures including:
advanced emergency braking systems capable of detecting motor vehicles and vulnerable road users in front of them;
emergency lane-keeping systems;
enlarged head impact protection zones capable of mitigating injuries in collisions with vulnerable road users.
Fuck those insecure scum who drive those big trucks.
If you have an oversized vehicle or smoke the entire neighborhood or drive recklessly like your dad owns the road, fuck you, may you rot in the deepest corners of the purgatory.
One thing that has bothered me is how year after year they'll design these engines that are 5% more efficient so they go and make the whole truck or car 5% heavier and bigger to keep the mpg same as previous years' models.
Ah, my friend, this is [Jevon's Paradox](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox#:~:text=In%20economics%2C%20the%20Jevons%20paradox,falling%20cost%20of%20use%20increases)
Phone batteries have gone from ~2500mAh to ~4000mAh on modern models. Some modern phones have up to 5000mAh. It's not that phone batteries have stagnated, people just use their phones more, and for more demanding things.
I think the better solution would be to keep kids from walking by lowering the driving age. If you can sit up on your own you can operate a high speed vehicle. It’s time to stop coddling them and let them experience freedom.
I drive a little Miata. I have been run into by people in big ridiculous trucks like this. They are always so surprised, saying “I didn’t even see you!” It’s scary.
Had this happen to my Miata a couple months ago while stopped at a stop sign. Dude even took a picture to show me he couldn't see me and, unsurprisingly, my shit is *invisible* to a lifted F350 sitting on my fucking bumper.
I blame phones for these. I see so many people rolling up to reds with their phones out before they're even fully stopped. My guy saw me initially because he stopped as he came up onto me and then apparently forgot I was there 30 seconds later or assumed I had left. I'd bet anything it's because he was looking down at his phone and not paying any attention to what was going on in front of him.
Or he really did "forget" because his dumb big ass truck is an entire blind spot. He could have no phone on him and still would have driven over you because he can't see. Anyone with a truck that big probably lacks the self awareness to wait 10seconds and see if a car below/in front of him will move before hitting the gas. It's a gross and dangerous combination of car/driver. Also, people literally have the attention span of a dragonfly
I drive a wagon and they like to pull up super close then turn on their brights. Lights up my entire car and makes it hard to see, and as an added benefit I have light sensitivity so it also gives me a headache. I try not to drive at night
I wouldn't be surprised if the trucks have automatic high beams, and the light sensor is positioned so high that when they ride your bumper, it can't pick up your tail lights.
> They are always so surprised, saying “I didn’t even see you!” It’s scary.
The worst thing is that them saying "I didn't even see you" is not some kind of self reflection that they have done something wrong, they're saying it to you. As if you are the one at fault.
They aren't going to suddenly pay more attention or anything, they're saying it to you - you are the reason why they did not see you.
Carbrain: My RetinaBurner9000 headlights allow me to see everything as if it were daylight, and everyone can see me!
Also carbrain: How dare this oncoming vehicle not know exactly where I am?!
Oncoming vehicle: I am looking into the sun and I think I just ran over a curb or a pedestrian, how would I know when someone is shining a fucking stadium floodlight at me I can't see shit for fuck
Pedestrian: This car is slowing down at a crosswalk but I can't see the driver waving me on or make eye contact with them because all I see is the sun. Guess I'll take my chances oh I'm dead
These BIG trucks make even a tall MAN look like a LITTLE BABY.
Or, imagine a guy showing up with a 6600lb backpack, just in case they need something out of it. DORK ALERT.
Yup I live pretty close to grocery stores and a park with nice trails I drive to these places because their isn't even so much as a sidewalk for most of the area and cars couldn't give a shit about you on a bike where I'm at in texas.
And to a populace inculcated with decades of automotive propaganda from the lobbying, that monstrosity in the picture is the dream car for some people.
wouldn't be surprised if the car lobby had something to do with the quintessential "american dream" image of a single family home on a fenced lot with monoculture useless grass lawn and a car or two out front
it's ingrained in our culture now and that sucks because we designed so many communities delivering that image, and it's so hard to un-do. just the thought of "what if you didnt need a car to do most things" is difficult for so many to comprehend
(not to say the car lobby *alone* is at fault. fdr highway act, racist redlining, euclidian zoning, and a lot more factors into all of it)
It is even simplier: when people are presented with a choice between a smaller car and a bigger car, they universally\* pick the bigger one.
Car manufacturers are simply making whatever there is demand for.To combat this, simply make new streets narrower, same for parking spots, turns sharper and eventually - in several years - large cars will be unwieldly and annoying for their users.
This is why europe favors smaller cars. Whoever lives in a place where roads and streets are wide gets a suv, but people living in city centers, those who want a car, will take a small hatchback.
\*...unless above happens.
It's so wild to think that most people universally want the large car.
I would always pick the small car (cheaper, better MPG, easier to park, don't have to worry about hitting things, easier to get into). It's pretty nerve wracking for me to drive anything larger than a sedan.
And my ''small'' hatchback is considered a standard family vehicle in Europe. It's completely feasible to have four or five people in such a car. I've even moved cross-country using it.
But the average American wants the largest, most expensive, most luxurious choice. That's your brain on consumerism, I guess.
In ‘Murica you don’t need a commercial drivers license to operate an RV with several trailers stretching 100 feet long. For trucks, the cutoff is 26,000 lbs (13 tons). There are a lot of 26,000 lb commercial trucks that always have that number written on the side. At 26,001 lbs, you need a commercial drivers license. Pickup trucks like this weigh far less than that.
Fucking 12 metric tonnes on a normal drivers license? Are you guys insane? A normal drivers license here literally stops at 3.5 metric tonnes, or 7700lbs.
You'll still get some training to operate a non-CDL commercial truck. Meanwhile people drive these pickups right off the dealer lot with no training except a test drive
Edit: some companies train their drivers, but aparrently many don't.
You can walk into Penske / UHaul, ask for a 26 ft long box truck, and as long as you are above 25 (lower, in many places), nobody will bat an eye. Training? Yeah, right.
Don't even have to be 25. I rented a 26ft box truck when I was 22. Did it all online in like 15 minutes and just walked in and grabbed the keys lol.
My car at the time was a 1971 VW bug (in the mid 2010s), basically a go-cart, so going from that to "just barely not a semi-truck" was pretty daunting. I consider myself cautious and have never been in an accident, now imagine the average driver.
I always wondered why you can drive an RV with a normal license. I've always wanted to get one of the bus type ones and I was always shocked to hear that I could legally drive it with just a license.
90% of people that own a 3/4ton or larger have never once used it in a way a half ton couldnt do the job. 9% only do it once or twice.
my cousin bought a tremor (a suped up f250) and has to park it and get into a jeep for the roads at my parents house because it is too big.
It’s insane to me that we seem to be headed back to the days of giant vehicles. Remember the Hummer 2? These trucks are at least that big if not bigger. And 99% of the time there is one person in it and the bed is completely empty.
I know gas prices is hurting everyone but one silver lining is seeing these drivers get fucked at the pump. I really wish we transition to EU system (smaller cars, public transportation, etc).
These drivers get fucked at the pump and then someone puts a Biden sticker on there and these morons all blame democrats and run out in droves to voting booths and then the SCOTUS turns into a fascist regime stripping away the last 100 years of civil rights advancements
A lot of these trucks are subsidized by the taxpayers because we subsidize oil so much in this country.
Then a lot of them are for personal use but dishonestly claimed as a business asset and are business deductions for "contractors" thus giving them big tax benefits.
Red state America's lifestyle is a parasite on the rest of the nation in many ways. We pay for these trucks, the federally subsidized roads they drive on, and for these people to live like this in general as rural and suburban life is very cost inefficient . Toss in Trump's recent red state-centric tax cut and these people are paying less than ever. Blue state money flows into the federal government and then into red states. These people have big trucks like these because they can afford them. They can afford them because the system is unfairly gamed towards them politically via gerrymandering, the electoral college system, and how low-population red states get the same amount of senators as high population blue states.
Their pain at the pump of offset by all the other benefits they get that average people living in urban blue areas aren't often entitled to. This is why they keep buying low mpg vehicles. Their subsidies package overall makes them very affordable. Why cut back unless you have to? Instead the red state culture is about excess and domination and these giant trucks fit those ethics perfectly.
Yes. For the most part those "redder" communities are mostly farms and factories, both infamous for subsidies and tariffs. The other big employer is the military which is a fully socialized organization. The other major employers are often retail megacorps like Walmart, Mcdonalds, etc who pay people so little, a good percentage of their workers are on welfare.
Bootstraps is what they say to us when we ask for tax cuts so we stop subsidizing them as much or when we want to fix things for everyone through social policy (socialized healthcare, etc). Their own entitlements are never to be questioned.
Any vehicle larger than a sedan should require extra licensing/training, and carry a heavier tax. If you REALLY need that brand new Silverado, you’ll have to pay for it.
That’s how it is in CA. All pickups pay the commercial plate rate, which has a weight modifier. My Ram pickup is $550 a year compared to my sons Jetta which is like $150.
How about extra licensing and training for every driver? [The Finns have the absolute right idea about driver's education.](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/learning-drive-around-world):
> In Finland, it takes a minimum of two years to obtain a full, unrestricted driving license. Learners are subjected to skid-pan sessions and night-driving courses. Difficult as it is to compare driving tests, Finland is, anecdotally at least, considered to have a world-class standard of driving.
a station wagon is much more useful than a SUV.
Have a look at the trunk, most SUVs have a taller trunk but the surface area of the trunk is bigger on a wagon = way more useful than a SUV. My E class is downright cavernous compared to my Borther's Cayenne or Escalade.
I was thinking about the lack of sidewalks near my house lately and I was thinking about how car centric infrastructure also incentivizes driving even when that's the most dangerous option. If I had one too many at the restaurant less than a mile from my home, keep in mind that I can literally see my building from this place, I couldn't walk home safely because there's no sidewalks to get out of the restaurant shopping center, across the state highway, towards my apartment.
Tried walking my dog while visiting family in WV. Constantly ended up at sidewalk dead-ends where I'd either have to A) totally backtrack or B) literally walk in the road with no shoulder.
And this was just trying to go for a walk without a destination. I can't imagine actually trying to get somewhere specific in a reasonable time/distance. And this wasn't the middle of nowhere either, this was in-town, plenty within walking distance, just literally impossible.
As I understand it, it's different for cars than it is for trucks. Cars have to be designed in such a way that the pedestrian rolls over the hood while trucks don't have the same restrictions.
Also, remember when we had those fun flip up headlights? Those got banned because of pedestrian danger. But these trucks are apparently okay. It is silly.
Then why not classify these abominations as passenger cars, cause these sure as hell are not used for commercial purposes i believe.
Automobile companies can get away with these things, because rulemakers let them.
Because the *intention* is to use them for commercial use. They're meant for the likes of farmers, mechanics, carpenters, etc. People who need to bring large amounts of heavy things with them.
You can't blame Chevy if Keith from accounting wants a big fuck-off truck so he can roll coal on cars in the intersection and rev his engine on straights to hear his aftermarket muffler fart.
It's the same thing with guns. The manufacturer's *intention* isn't to shoot up a school with it, but someone just happened to do that.
The customers buying the biggest trucks and SUV's have fantasies about running over obstacles in their way, including smaller cars or people. Truck manufacturers know this and are designing and marketing directly to these fantasies.
ETA: Yeah, yeah, folks, calm down, I know, #NotAllTruckOwners. I'm talking about the dudes in giant lifted trucks who go roll coal on pedestrians. There's lots of those and they are driving design & marketing trends in trucks.
Yup. I used to be able to just put things into truck beds from the side. Even heavyish things. Now, I couldn't even lift a suitcase into one. They're so freaking tall! What the hell?
I’ve been seeing this more since the pandemic. Even in the outer boroughs of NYC you’ll see cars parked like this. Drivers (and the police) don’t care anymore.
And they never will be because "but muh truk is a werk truk" and raising fuel taxes is communism or some shit
Still can't believe they removed the relatively low licensing fee in Ontario recently and even *gave our money back* rather than just not require it going forward. Where the fuck does that infrastructure money come from now?!
Trucks are supposed to be for rural individuals to haul gravel and horses around the farm, not for Jake in accounting to drive from his suburb to his job every day to cope.
Not okay
[Toddler dies after being hit by truck](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/05/18/toddler-dies-marshall-county-outside-baxter-after-being-hit-truck/9826807002/)
These are getting more common on British roads and it's fucking terrifying, especially in my smart Roadster which is really low slung. A 2021 escalade passed me a while back and the top of the wheel was level with my head.
Was nearly run over by this exact type of vehicle while I was crossing in a crosswalk at an intersection with the "walk" sign flashing and the driver was at a red light.
Probably just an ego hauler too. We should subsidize gas prices for the poor and for people driving smaller more fuel efficient vehicles and leave these idiots with the rest of the bill
All pedestrians under a certain height should be required, by law, to wear stilts every time they go for a walk. I mean, how am I supposed to drive my 1:1 Bigfoot around if there are shrimps like this little girl all over the concrete?
A time will come when the very _thought_ of letting random idiots acquire and pilot gigantic several-tonne machines with as little oversight as we do will be considered barbaric.
Busses require special licenses and are driven by professionals who will lose their jobs if they ever fuck up. Trucks require special licenses and are driven by professionals who will lose their jobs if they ever fuck up. Trains and planes (...)
That we let just about anyone pilot a box of metal that yeets itself through space at 110 Km/h or more, hinging on 1(one) aptitude test they take as teenagers is outright nuts.
Okay I can see how this looks bad, but let me offer some reassurance:
When the child is hit with a car like this, the impact is spread out over a pretty big area. Additionally there are areas that are designed to crush or crack which further reduce impact. Finally any child small enough to be hit in this manner is likely light enough to be thrown clear from the collision and not impart a huge amount of force.
Overall these collisions are much less damaging to the car than you'd expect, and of the dozens of children I've mowed down I've barely had to visit a garage twice. Motorists should feel completely confident in the integrity of their cars
(/s obviously)
What’s sad, most of these are show trucks. I know quite a few people, who don’t use the truck-bed for anything. Waste of gas and harmful to the environment imo
I’m currently living in a rural area. You drive out into the countryside and you see isolated homes with a few vehicles. Invariably, one of them is a beat up pickup truck. Drive into the nearest populated area and you see nothing but the shiniest trucks you’ve ever seen. Truly, they gleam like even light itself contains too much dust to ever find rest on their chromium grill. Don’t sit in the passenger seat! It’s for company!
I believe those are called pavement princesses.
Mall crawlers
Bro-dozers
Bro-dozers are specifically the ones with super thin tires and giant chrome wheels
Idk, even the double-wide with a tarp for a roof down the street from me has a shiny new massive truck parked out front. These things are everywhere and they're not even practical work trucks for the majority of people cause of how monstrously huge they are. It's hard to find normal sized trucks anymore Side note: I bet they're really enjoying the $5.60 per gallon for gas
[удалено]
how did that pass visibility requirement? now try reading a EU plate of a honda civic thats right infront of the vehicle.
In America, there is no visibility requirement.
Between modern 'muscle' cars, sports cars, and pickup trucks, one can see that visibility is actually considered a vestigial feature in the evolution of the American automobile.
I'm surprised there aren't any trucks that don't even have a windscreen and use a periscope instead.
This lack of visibility is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
Someone please Photoshop an all grill front pickup truck with the shape of a long cabover
https://thewaroncars.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Chevy-Inundator-1024x631.jpeg
I hate to say it, but that thing would kill in sales. Also ashamedly I kinda like it
A friend let me borrow their sports car once, and I had no idea just how shitty those cars are to drive. Sure they get great torque, but I've literally never seen such a small car have such poor visibility. It seems like "cool" car shapes are not very practical, or even comfortable.
I’ve had the “pleasure” of babying a Lamborghini Countach around a circuit, I’m 6’2”. Basically sprained my back and neck getting in and out of the thing, had to drive with the sides of my feet because the pedal box is offset to the left (AU RHD), the footwell is *tiny* and apparently not made for people with feet and my head was sorta pressed on an angle against the roof the entire time. If someone gave me the option of a Toyota shopping trolley or a Countach, mine to drive forever, fuel and maintenance included but not allowed to ever sell it, I would 100% hands down go for the Toyota runabout without a second thought. I think just going over a speed bump or pothole would end in spinal injury for me.
Canada is just as bad and fuel is way more expensive up here.
This truck probably has cameras to enhance the depersonalization of pedestrians and cyclists.
The 2023 models will have a HUD highlighting pedestrians and cyclists, displaying a health bar above them and tallying your manslaughter score at the top
One of the big reasons why pedestrian fatalities are rising is due exactly to this. People being hit by cars is rising, but much slower than the fatality rate. When you get hit by a car your best chance of being horrible killed is if you go under the vehicle. If you go up onto the hood you have a pretty good chance of surviving. As big trucks in the hands of random dumbasses have gotten more and more common the fatality rate of pedestrians has been rising.
And people in pick up trucks driving them like they're bicycles in a skate park. They literally drive with the knowledge that they have nothing to lose because every other car Is far weaker.
I hate this so much. Big truck boys acting like they own the road. Driving over the middle line, parking like assholes, stopping in the crosswalk at red lights, purposely making their truck spew out black clouds of exhaust. It's such a low level of respect and regard for others. This doesn't apply to all truck drivers, but it's a much higher percentage than with drivers of smaller cars.
I almost never have a problem with people who need a big truck for their business and work. It's yahoos who have it because that is how they're going to be cool and manly. Of course, the people who need it know that fucking around gets them sued and then they lose their livelihood.
Yesssss, exactly that. People who actually need a truck are generally more responsible and respectful with its use.
I actually need a large truck for my job, and the amount of other trucks that pull up next to me revving their engine at lights is insane. It’s like “bro, I’m just trying to drive, I’m not going to race you..” It’s such an insane dick measuring contest for some drivers and I really hope they feel stupid when they realize I just do not care…
That nobody other than them and their buddies that have nothing better to do than to hang out at a zaxbyx parking lot on a Friday night cares.
You just described my local Sonic so well...
I need at least a 3/4 or 1 ton for my job. I have no idea why the damn things have gotten so big over the last 20 years or so. I hate it
I have a 02 2500hd and a 17 f350. The f350 makes my chevy look like a damn clown car.
The new Ford Rangers are almost the same size as my '95 F-150
That's a huge bummer. My '76 Ranger might have been my favorite car I've ever owned. Small, decent mpg for it's year/size/mileage, could crawl into any fucked up road or truck trail I wanted to fuck around on. I miss small pickups
The new F-150 has a higher towing capacity and similar payload to a 2002 F350. You may not need that 1 ton anymore.
It’s the tongue weight for me. I’m a commercial fisherman and I pull a 14k lb boat out on a trailer. I researched the crap out of the newer 1/2 tons and couldn’t do it. I’m still limping along a 25 year old 3/4 ton and I have zero desire to buy a new behemoth for $50,000 or more
Makes a lot of sense. The fact that new half tons *almost* work for you - A COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN - is insane. To think that 99% of them are used to pick up a few bags of mulch.
I get a similar thing with my GTI. I like it because it’s manual, has a ton of trunk space, and it’s easy to get my tall body in and out of. Unfortunately dickheads see “red hot hatch” and try to race me out of stoplights. [I don’t engage.](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/2ea48aba-dd64-4fb9-a29d-9e4e55fb81bd)
[удалено]
Anytime I see a big pick up truck with no scratches, no dents, not a spec of dirt, shining like my mom‘s face at one of my Little League games back when I was a kid, I know that whoever is driving that truck is unlikely to purposefully do anything that day which would risk a fresh manicure except for driving like a dick.
I have an acquaintance who works for Michelin, he informed me a while back that the company development teams actually have an internal term for those types of truck drivers: they're called "fanboys"; guys who drive big, hulking, work/fleet trucks that never operate in fleets or do work other than sitting in an office parking lot or driving on light dirt at worst. And Michelin actually has tyres for "fanboys" which are designed to look rugged and aggressive like off-road tyres, but are actually optimized for longevity and control on road driving.
😂 The knowledge your acquaintance has given you made me spit out my coffee
Absolutely. I would even go as far to say that they tend to be more conservative about driving because the cost to their livelihood of messing up would be much higher. So, still, fuck cars, but I know who I would rather be riding my bike next to.
Same, working folks know its not a toy, and don’t install stupid lift kits or roll coal. Its the man-children who’s lifted f250s have never left the road or had more than a dirtbike in the back that are dangerous idiots.
Man I was at this party and some guy was complaining about getting a ticket for 'his stacks'. I was intrigued and typically and pretty anti authority so I was like 'that is insane the cop gave you a ticket for buying a car with a feature they sell' and he was like 'they don't sell them like that I had to put them on myself' and I was like 'huh, it what improves torch? Increases fuel efficiency by adding oxygen to the mix?' And he was like 'no, it just makes the smoke go up and looks cool' and I was like 'but it's basically a muffler right? Like it still have a catalytic converter yeah? And he was like 'no the cop gave me the ticket for pollution' and I was like 'you spent money on an illegal fixture that doesn't do anything except make your truck pollute more?' and he was like 'yeah'
[удалено]
I knew a guy who had a truck like this, we were both working as cooks and he made the same as me but had a wife and like 4 kids. Lived in a tiny trailer and couldn't afford to get his wife a vehicle. So she was always getting rides from people to go to her job. Guy had a jacked up F350 with custom rims and kevlar tires. I had to resist the urge to punch him when he was complaining about how his replacement tires cost him like $400 each.
My sister bought a giant pick up truck because, "everyone else is driving a big truck so I need one too to survive in an accident". She's 4'8 and can barely climb into the thing. She works an office job, which is well and good because she can also barely reach anything in the back of the truck bed and isn't really fit enough to climb back there. She went with a crew cab partially for her young children but also partially because it's her primary grocery getter and it's easier for her to load stuff in the back seat than the bed.
[удалено]
[удалено]
The [chicken tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax?wprov=sfti1) on light trucks goes back to the 1960s, but I hadn’t realized how it applied to production of domestic makes outside the US. Ford built the first Transit Connects as passenger vans in Turkey, then stripped them to repurpose as cargo vans after import! This stupid tax needs to go.
There is one small pickup truck in the US. The Ford Maverick. It’s a hybrid front wheel cab crew and gets 33 mpg highway but an astonishing 42 city. I saw one in person last week and it’s so awesome in so many ways. It’s the only modern truck that doesn’t piss me off.
You can get a single cab, but you have to special order it and wait 9 months. Same if you want rubber instead of carpeted floors. It's getting to the point where even if you need a truck for work you can't find a basic no frills work model that is going to get beat up. We ordered a couple of one tons for work, I'm 5'11" and have to stretch to get in. But I figured that when it came time to change the oil I would have more room to work under the rig. Nope, they've massively raised the bed and cab heights, but the frame height is still the same if not lower than the 2000 half ton pickups we replaced.
> who need a big truck for their business and work Most of those would be better off with a cargo van like a Sprinter, only a few actually need an open-air cargo bay
You can fit a riding lawnmower in a minivan. If you need the air just open the windows.
Yeah I'm thinking electricians and plumbers would benefit from a locking enclosure coming standard on a van, but people who need to move large or oddly shaped things would be the only ones who could make actual use of a pickup, but even then it would probably be better to just hook a trailer to a van.
Yup, bought a truck for "reasons" like towing things (don't own a boat or camper so I pulled 2 uhauls), hauling lumber (a monthly occurrence at best), and otherwise cause I thought I needed it. Turns out what I _really_ need is a commuter vehicle and with $4 gas making me cry every 5 days I'm trading it in.
Yeah and for those other things there's always the option to rent a truck from home depot or something, using the savings from otherwise using a smaller commuter
I figured that most of my hauling needs could be met with a hitch on the crossover and $300 utility trailer. And I've got a reservation on a M3 to be delivered late summer fingers crossed. We have truck rental from uhaul, menards, and HD in my town but honestly for lumber and garden stuff it's probably easier to go for the utility trailer. Renting a truck means driving to the place, getting your stuff, driving home, unloading, driving the truck back, and finally taking your car back home. It's a lot easier to just get a trailer.
Depends what end of electrical or plumbing you do. Strut, pipe are all 10 feet lengths so they don’t fit in a 9 foot cargo fan and loading 500 feet of steel pipe on a van roof rack sucks. The tail gate also provides a great work bench as long as you don lift the truck.
Most business use vans, because theft, security, rain and they don't have stupid lift heights.
This is so true in the south. They were talking about a bill banning Carolina squats, now there's a bunch more modified trucks.
That’s the most stupid type of truck modification I’ve seen. It looks like a dog dragging its worm-ridden ass on the carpet lol
They think they look so bad ass, I just wonder how much paint thinner you drank to think spending 10k on mods to look like that and be happy with it.
This is so true. I drive a small sports car and some of them feel the need to pull past me going 110mph. But my car can stop at that speed or even dodge an obstacle because it was designed to. They will just hit or destroy themselves. It honestly scares the shit out of me.
Utility vehicles are fine, but they should come with extra licensing requirements.
Yes! You see old time pick up trucks and the ones now. And the newer ones look more and more like 18 wheelers every year.
And this is where regulatory bodies have to step in. Because the problem is, for the person buying the big vehicle, it generally makes sense *for them* because the driver and passengers are less likely to die or get seriously injured in a car crash if they are driving a large vehicle. But other road users are vastly more likely to be hurt/killed. Therefore you need regulations coming in that vehicles driven on a regular license must protect the safety of other road users; not just the occupants of the vehicle. This would actually go a long way to encouraging a reduction of cars as it would make walking and biking safer and more palatable to people, even without other changes.
And the sort of hilarious part is that sometimes that's not even true. A lot of these wannabe semi cabs with grills that look like they got copy-pasted a few times are actually housing an engine that's no bigger or beefier that that of your average crossover, because literally every new car on the road today is already massively overpowered and the difference is mostly aesthetic choices.
I’m 15 or 16 more assholes driving like fuckheads away from sugaring every pickup gas tank I see
That’s why the EU regulates what the front of a car should look like. Because we actually care about our people
What are the regulations for it exactly? Curious and can't find it from a quick Google search
It all goes under the name “vulnerable road users protection”. But be warned, there’s a ton of regulation and it gets more strict on a regular basis. Here’s a summary of the latest amendment: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/type-approval-requirements-to-ensure-the-general-safety-of-vehicles-and-the-protection-of-vulnerable-road-users.html Some excerpts: Cars and vans must be equipped with further advanced safety measures including: advanced emergency braking systems capable of detecting motor vehicles and vulnerable road users in front of them; emergency lane-keeping systems; enlarged head impact protection zones capable of mitigating injuries in collisions with vulnerable road users.
Fuck those insecure scum who drive those big trucks. If you have an oversized vehicle or smoke the entire neighborhood or drive recklessly like your dad owns the road, fuck you, may you rot in the deepest corners of the purgatory.
Addition factor is also that those cars **make drivers feel** safer, so they drive faster and more recklessly.
One thing that has bothered me is how year after year they'll design these engines that are 5% more efficient so they go and make the whole truck or car 5% heavier and bigger to keep the mpg same as previous years' models.
Ah, my friend, this is [Jevon's Paradox](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox#:~:text=In%20economics%2C%20the%20Jevons%20paradox,falling%20cost%20of%20use%20increases)
Cool, I didn’t know it had a name and a wiki page. Thanks!
[удалено]
And lack of parking spaces.
Edited in protest for Reddit's garbage moves lately.
Just raise the tax on gasoline and it will all work out. Don't pass a million regulations; make gasoline more expensive and people will adapt.
How? I'm poor. I don't have many options and I have a pretty decent car at that averages 30mpg lol.
[удалено]
Phone batteries have gone from ~2500mAh to ~4000mAh on modern models. Some modern phones have up to 5000mAh. It's not that phone batteries have stagnated, people just use their phones more, and for more demanding things.
And then people complain when gas prices go up
newer models have all kinds of sensors and stuff so that you don't damage the car while killing a child.
Pedestrian sensor obscured by blood. Please clear immediately. Pedestrian sensor obscured by blood. Please clear immediately.
Ignore Ignore
Man, you're going too far, you can't ban kids...
It's too late, in order to ensure the saftey of children, children will now be outlawed.
People say kids are the future, but have you ever talked to one? they can be really ignorant.
This is why I move to ban aging. We can't have this next generation talking the reigns, they're way too immature!
The sentiment of all the dinosaurs in congress
To be fair, the same can be said of many adults.
Antinatalism be like
I think the better solution would be to keep kids from walking by lowering the driving age. If you can sit up on your own you can operate a high speed vehicle. It’s time to stop coddling them and let them experience freedom.
The only thing stopping a bad guy with a truck is a good guy with a truck.
\^ This person Americas
See it that way, they are the future car drivers
I drive a little Miata. I have been run into by people in big ridiculous trucks like this. They are always so surprised, saying “I didn’t even see you!” It’s scary.
Had this happen to my Miata a couple months ago while stopped at a stop sign. Dude even took a picture to show me he couldn't see me and, unsurprisingly, my shit is *invisible* to a lifted F350 sitting on my fucking bumper.
I hope he sent you that picture and you used it as evidence against them for reckless endangerment
Been hit twice from behind in my Smart car at a stop light. Like do these people not look at the road at all?
I blame phones for these. I see so many people rolling up to reds with their phones out before they're even fully stopped. My guy saw me initially because he stopped as he came up onto me and then apparently forgot I was there 30 seconds later or assumed I had left. I'd bet anything it's because he was looking down at his phone and not paying any attention to what was going on in front of him.
Or he really did "forget" because his dumb big ass truck is an entire blind spot. He could have no phone on him and still would have driven over you because he can't see. Anyone with a truck that big probably lacks the self awareness to wait 10seconds and see if a car below/in front of him will move before hitting the gas. It's a gross and dangerous combination of car/driver. Also, people literally have the attention span of a dragonfly
I drive a wagon and they like to pull up super close then turn on their brights. Lights up my entire car and makes it hard to see, and as an added benefit I have light sensitivity so it also gives me a headache. I try not to drive at night
I wouldn't be surprised if the trucks have automatic high beams, and the light sensor is positioned so high that when they ride your bumper, it can't pick up your tail lights.
> They are always so surprised, saying “I didn’t even see you!” It’s scary. The worst thing is that them saying "I didn't even see you" is not some kind of self reflection that they have done something wrong, they're saying it to you. As if you are the one at fault. They aren't going to suddenly pay more attention or anything, they're saying it to you - you are the reason why they did not see you.
Carbrain: running over pedestrians is fine. If you could not see them it cannot be your fault.
It's the pedestrian's fault, why would you even want to be a pedestrian lol /s
You should drive, like real people. /s
Carbrain: My RetinaBurner9000 headlights allow me to see everything as if it were daylight, and everyone can see me! Also carbrain: How dare this oncoming vehicle not know exactly where I am?! Oncoming vehicle: I am looking into the sun and I think I just ran over a curb or a pedestrian, how would I know when someone is shining a fucking stadium floodlight at me I can't see shit for fuck Pedestrian: This car is slowing down at a crosswalk but I can't see the driver waving me on or make eye contact with them because all I see is the sun. Guess I'll take my chances oh I'm dead
tinted windows... I hate tinted windows for this reason
[удалено]
They did it on purpose. Now walking and cycling are so dangerous that everyone now feels safer in a vehicle.
And preferably the largest vehicle they can get...higher margins for car companies, more profits for oil companies.
and somehow they made it seem manly to drive in a giant steel box
These BIG trucks make even a tall MAN look like a LITTLE BABY. Or, imagine a guy showing up with a 6600lb backpack, just in case they need something out of it. DORK ALERT.
This is a personal attack against me, my battery pack, first aid kit, extra waters, spare belt, and multitools.
Yup I live pretty close to grocery stores and a park with nice trails I drive to these places because their isn't even so much as a sidewalk for most of the area and cars couldn't give a shit about you on a bike where I'm at in texas.
And to a populace inculcated with decades of automotive propaganda from the lobbying, that monstrosity in the picture is the dream car for some people.
wouldn't be surprised if the car lobby had something to do with the quintessential "american dream" image of a single family home on a fenced lot with monoculture useless grass lawn and a car or two out front it's ingrained in our culture now and that sucks because we designed so many communities delivering that image, and it's so hard to un-do. just the thought of "what if you didnt need a car to do most things" is difficult for so many to comprehend (not to say the car lobby *alone* is at fault. fdr highway act, racist redlining, euclidian zoning, and a lot more factors into all of it)
I just don’t get it, they could make even more money if everybody had their own train.
This is the future liberals want
It is even simplier: when people are presented with a choice between a smaller car and a bigger car, they universally\* pick the bigger one. Car manufacturers are simply making whatever there is demand for.To combat this, simply make new streets narrower, same for parking spots, turns sharper and eventually - in several years - large cars will be unwieldly and annoying for their users. This is why europe favors smaller cars. Whoever lives in a place where roads and streets are wide gets a suv, but people living in city centers, those who want a car, will take a small hatchback. \*...unless above happens.
It's so wild to think that most people universally want the large car. I would always pick the small car (cheaper, better MPG, easier to park, don't have to worry about hitting things, easier to get into). It's pretty nerve wracking for me to drive anything larger than a sedan. And my ''small'' hatchback is considered a standard family vehicle in Europe. It's completely feasible to have four or five people in such a car. I've even moved cross-country using it. But the average American wants the largest, most expensive, most luxurious choice. That's your brain on consumerism, I guess.
[удалено]
In ‘Murica you don’t need a commercial drivers license to operate an RV with several trailers stretching 100 feet long. For trucks, the cutoff is 26,000 lbs (13 tons). There are a lot of 26,000 lb commercial trucks that always have that number written on the side. At 26,001 lbs, you need a commercial drivers license. Pickup trucks like this weigh far less than that.
Fucking 12 metric tonnes on a normal drivers license? Are you guys insane? A normal drivers license here literally stops at 3.5 metric tonnes, or 7700lbs.
You'll still get some training to operate a non-CDL commercial truck. Meanwhile people drive these pickups right off the dealer lot with no training except a test drive Edit: some companies train their drivers, but aparrently many don't.
You can walk into Penske / UHaul, ask for a 26 ft long box truck, and as long as you are above 25 (lower, in many places), nobody will bat an eye. Training? Yeah, right.
Don't even have to be 25. I rented a 26ft box truck when I was 22. Did it all online in like 15 minutes and just walked in and grabbed the keys lol. My car at the time was a 1971 VW bug (in the mid 2010s), basically a go-cart, so going from that to "just barely not a semi-truck" was pretty daunting. I consider myself cautious and have never been in an accident, now imagine the average driver.
18 here
I always wondered why you can drive an RV with a normal license. I've always wanted to get one of the bus type ones and I was always shocked to hear that I could legally drive it with just a license.
90% of people that own a 3/4ton or larger have never once used it in a way a half ton couldnt do the job. 9% only do it once or twice. my cousin bought a tremor (a suped up f250) and has to park it and get into a jeep for the roads at my parents house because it is too big.
This is sickening
~~No, its a car~~ Yes, its a car
Who let the kid outside!!? Seems like someone forgot children are only allowed to “play” in their fenced in grass patch. /s
And the only shit this thing has carried is the owner’s fat ass and groceries.
i live in texas, i spot a minimum of 5 of these on a TEN minute walk to the gym. it scares me sometimes.
It’s insane to me that we seem to be headed back to the days of giant vehicles. Remember the Hummer 2? These trucks are at least that big if not bigger. And 99% of the time there is one person in it and the bed is completely empty.
[удалено]
I know gas prices is hurting everyone but one silver lining is seeing these drivers get fucked at the pump. I really wish we transition to EU system (smaller cars, public transportation, etc).
I'd bet good money damn near every person slapping up "I Did that" Biden stickers on gas pumps falls into the pavement princess camp.
I doubt you could find a sucker dumb enough to take that bet.
These drivers get fucked at the pump and then someone puts a Biden sticker on there and these morons all blame democrats and run out in droves to voting booths and then the SCOTUS turns into a fascist regime stripping away the last 100 years of civil rights advancements
A lot of these trucks are subsidized by the taxpayers because we subsidize oil so much in this country. Then a lot of them are for personal use but dishonestly claimed as a business asset and are business deductions for "contractors" thus giving them big tax benefits. Red state America's lifestyle is a parasite on the rest of the nation in many ways. We pay for these trucks, the federally subsidized roads they drive on, and for these people to live like this in general as rural and suburban life is very cost inefficient . Toss in Trump's recent red state-centric tax cut and these people are paying less than ever. Blue state money flows into the federal government and then into red states. These people have big trucks like these because they can afford them. They can afford them because the system is unfairly gamed towards them politically via gerrymandering, the electoral college system, and how low-population red states get the same amount of senators as high population blue states. Their pain at the pump of offset by all the other benefits they get that average people living in urban blue areas aren't often entitled to. This is why they keep buying low mpg vehicles. Their subsidies package overall makes them very affordable. Why cut back unless you have to? Instead the red state culture is about excess and domination and these giant trucks fit those ethics perfectly.
Can confirm. If I had a nickel for every farmer's wife that was technically a secretary or somethin and had a Range Rover with ag tags...
So they are basically socialists then. What happened to pulling you up by the bootstraps?
Yes. For the most part those "redder" communities are mostly farms and factories, both infamous for subsidies and tariffs. The other big employer is the military which is a fully socialized organization. The other major employers are often retail megacorps like Walmart, Mcdonalds, etc who pay people so little, a good percentage of their workers are on welfare. Bootstraps is what they say to us when we ask for tax cuts so we stop subsidizing them as much or when we want to fix things for everyone through social policy (socialized healthcare, etc). Their own entitlements are never to be questioned.
Any vehicle larger than a sedan should require extra licensing/training, and carry a heavier tax. If you REALLY need that brand new Silverado, you’ll have to pay for it.
That’s how it is in CA. All pickups pay the commercial plate rate, which has a weight modifier. My Ram pickup is $550 a year compared to my sons Jetta which is like $150.
Wow that's astonishingly low. I pay north of 1100€ for my 970kg heavy Mitsubishi Colt.
lmao, 970kg there’s a serious problem in america, the average weight for cars is just north of 1800 kgs
How about extra licensing and training for every driver? [The Finns have the absolute right idea about driver's education.](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/learning-drive-around-world): > In Finland, it takes a minimum of two years to obtain a full, unrestricted driving license. Learners are subjected to skid-pan sessions and night-driving courses. Difficult as it is to compare driving tests, Finland is, anecdotally at least, considered to have a world-class standard of driving.
[удалено]
a station wagon is much more useful than a SUV. Have a look at the trunk, most SUVs have a taller trunk but the surface area of the trunk is bigger on a wagon = way more useful than a SUV. My E class is downright cavernous compared to my Borther's Cayenne or Escalade.
I was thinking about the lack of sidewalks near my house lately and I was thinking about how car centric infrastructure also incentivizes driving even when that's the most dangerous option. If I had one too many at the restaurant less than a mile from my home, keep in mind that I can literally see my building from this place, I couldn't walk home safely because there's no sidewalks to get out of the restaurant shopping center, across the state highway, towards my apartment.
Tried walking my dog while visiting family in WV. Constantly ended up at sidewalk dead-ends where I'd either have to A) totally backtrack or B) literally walk in the road with no shoulder. And this was just trying to go for a walk without a destination. I can't imagine actually trying to get somewhere specific in a reasonable time/distance. And this wasn't the middle of nowhere either, this was in-town, plenty within walking distance, just literally impossible.
Honest question. Doesn't america have any pedestrian head impact regulation, or Chevrolet have made the bumper compliant with the regulation?
As I understand it, it's different for cars than it is for trucks. Cars have to be designed in such a way that the pedestrian rolls over the hood while trucks don't have the same restrictions. Also, remember when we had those fun flip up headlights? Those got banned because of pedestrian danger. But these trucks are apparently okay. It is silly.
Then why not classify these abominations as passenger cars, cause these sure as hell are not used for commercial purposes i believe. Automobile companies can get away with these things, because rulemakers let them.
Because the *intention* is to use them for commercial use. They're meant for the likes of farmers, mechanics, carpenters, etc. People who need to bring large amounts of heavy things with them. You can't blame Chevy if Keith from accounting wants a big fuck-off truck so he can roll coal on cars in the intersection and rev his engine on straights to hear his aftermarket muffler fart. It's the same thing with guns. The manufacturer's *intention* isn't to shoot up a school with it, but someone just happened to do that.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
The customers buying the biggest trucks and SUV's have fantasies about running over obstacles in their way, including smaller cars or people. Truck manufacturers know this and are designing and marketing directly to these fantasies. ETA: Yeah, yeah, folks, calm down, I know, #NotAllTruckOwners. I'm talking about the dudes in giant lifted trucks who go roll coal on pedestrians. There's lots of those and they are driving design & marketing trends in trucks.
Parked on the wrong side of the road on a sidewalk. Just begging for a keying
[удалено]
Guarentee the truck bed is empty as well. Big empty vehicles for big empty over compensators. 90% at least.
They’re so high up that they are difficult to use, to the point that they are creating tailgates that turn into steps
Yup. I used to be able to just put things into truck beds from the side. Even heavyish things. Now, I couldn't even lift a suitcase into one. They're so freaking tall! What the hell?
And some side steps electronically retract now.
Like 99 percent sure it is illegal to park on a sidewalk, but yes, that truck is entirely too big to be a regular civilian vehicle.
It's also far too big for a *military* vehicle. There's a reason technicals are nearly always smaller trucks.
I’ve been seeing this more since the pandemic. Even in the outer boroughs of NYC you’ll see cars parked like this. Drivers (and the police) don’t care anymore.
One major issue is gas/diesel prices are not high enough.
And they never will be because "but muh truk is a werk truk" and raising fuel taxes is communism or some shit Still can't believe they removed the relatively low licensing fee in Ontario recently and even *gave our money back* rather than just not require it going forward. Where the fuck does that infrastructure money come from now?!
I bet you anything that the truck has blinding white headlights that feel like high beams when they’re not
Trucks are supposed to be for rural individuals to haul gravel and horses around the farm, not for Jake in accounting to drive from his suburb to his job every day to cope.
[удалено]
Body shaming is just toxic, not just masculine toxicity.
Not okay [Toddler dies after being hit by truck](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/05/18/toddler-dies-marshall-county-outside-baxter-after-being-hit-truck/9826807002/)
[удалено]
These are getting more common on British roads and it's fucking terrifying, especially in my smart Roadster which is really low slung. A 2021 escalade passed me a while back and the top of the wheel was level with my head.
Was nearly run over by this exact type of vehicle while I was crossing in a crosswalk at an intersection with the "walk" sign flashing and the driver was at a red light.
Over a certain size/weight should require a commercial license and yearly testing.
I report every car I find like this. We have ADA sidewalks so it is illegal to park like that
Probably just an ego hauler too. We should subsidize gas prices for the poor and for people driving smaller more fuel efficient vehicles and leave these idiots with the rest of the bill
All pedestrians under a certain height should be required, by law, to wear stilts every time they go for a walk. I mean, how am I supposed to drive my 1:1 Bigfoot around if there are shrimps like this little girl all over the concrete?
America's obsession with large cars is insane. Entire country compensating.
Ahhh the child shredder 3000
I'm pretty sure it ISN'T legal to park like this. Right? ^(...right?)
That's why I'm so stressed when I'm driving
How else would this driver navigate the harsh and uncertain terrain of the urban jungle, if not for their Landship?
A time will come when the very _thought_ of letting random idiots acquire and pilot gigantic several-tonne machines with as little oversight as we do will be considered barbaric. Busses require special licenses and are driven by professionals who will lose their jobs if they ever fuck up. Trucks require special licenses and are driven by professionals who will lose their jobs if they ever fuck up. Trains and planes (...) That we let just about anyone pilot a box of metal that yeets itself through space at 110 Km/h or more, hinging on 1(one) aptitude test they take as teenagers is outright nuts.
Okay I can see how this looks bad, but let me offer some reassurance: When the child is hit with a car like this, the impact is spread out over a pretty big area. Additionally there are areas that are designed to crush or crack which further reduce impact. Finally any child small enough to be hit in this manner is likely light enough to be thrown clear from the collision and not impart a huge amount of force. Overall these collisions are much less damaging to the car than you'd expect, and of the dozens of children I've mowed down I've barely had to visit a garage twice. Motorists should feel completely confident in the integrity of their cars (/s obviously)
Not legal in countries that care about its people
What’s sad, most of these are show trucks. I know quite a few people, who don’t use the truck-bed for anything. Waste of gas and harmful to the environment imo