Truck bloat is killing us, new crash data reveals
www.theverge.com
We love our big, deadly trucks, don’t we, folks?
  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
    302·
    7 months ago

    The problem is worst for small children, that the driver can’t see because of the tall hood. Funny enough the same mostly right wing people who are anti abortion, are also the people most likely to drive these cars.
    So in their mind, an abortion to save the mother is immoral, but driving a car that increase the risk of accidentally killing a child is not?

    • sour@kbin.social
      111·
      7 months ago

      babes should be protected until the very minute they’re born

      when thaht happens they’re on their own

      no handouts

      frbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbbbb

    • Neato@kbin.social
      101·
      7 months ago

      Anti-abortion is just anti-women. If pro-lifers cared even a little about children there’s literally dozens of things they could do to ensure children are cared for.

      For instance: free meals in public schools.

  • dubs@lemm.ee
    14·
    7 months ago

    I drive a little ol beetle and being next to those behemoths and trying to see around them is… scary.

    • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world
      151·
      7 months ago

      My boss just bought a brand new Tacoma and sitting on my FZ6R or Shadow in the parking space next to it I literally cannot see over his door sills.

      I parked my 90’s Silverado nose-to-nose with his truck the other day and the top of my hood is like 18" lower than his, despite my truck having more ground clearance, a bigger engine, and a larger bed. It’s baffling.

      • FollyDolly@lemmy.world
        5·
        7 months ago

        I just got a used Takoma and I hate the hood hieght for exactly this reason. I don’t need to feel tall, I need to SEE things in front of me.

  • Neato@kbin.social
    165·
    7 months ago

    Trucks are commercial vehicles. The vast, vast majority of the US doesn’t need a truck on a daily basis. And when they do, it’s often because of their job, even if self-employed. In almost all cases pick-up trucks should be classed, and taxed, as commercial vehicles. And the exceptions have strict size restrictions.

    If you need to haul some wood, gravel or other such semi-regularly, there’s plenty of places to rent them.

    • Seleni@lemmy.world
      61·
      7 months ago

      Or maybe just make a law to reduce their size, and have any truck over a certain size be taxed?

      I like my truck. It was my grandfather’s; I inherited it after he passed away. It’s great for hauling soil or wood for my casual home improvement projects. Not having to go to all the hassle of renting some horribly-maintained junk is great.

      Of course, it’s a 2009, so not some tall coping thing. It was his farm truck.

      • Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee
        3·
        7 months ago

        The article talks about hood height of 40 inches or more. My pickup is tiny compared to these american beasts but I’m pretty sure that the hood is that high even on mine.

    • halferect@lemmy.world
      3·
      7 months ago

      I think it would be fine to Tax vehicles over a certain Size, my truck is a small truck so don’t lump my truck into the giants on the road. Or better yet force car manufacturers to provide smaller vehicles, its hard to find a small truck in today’s market unless you go used back to 2002

      • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world
        4·
        7 months ago

        But the reality is the opposite! Part of the reason for the death of the small truck in America is the batshit ratio of vehicle size to acceptable fuel consumption. The current “footprint” CAFE model defines the footprint of the vehicle by multiplying the vehicle’s track by wheelbase, and the MPG target is drawn like a curve on a graph such that vehicles with a larger footprint are allowed a lower fuel economy score and vise versa. So the manufacturers, who really don’t feel like designing new more efficient engines every few years to meet the requirements, can just cheat by making their vehicles bigger to qualify for a lower MPG target.

        If that scheme sounds completely asinine to you, that’s because it is. It is effectively not possible to sell a small pickup truck in America anymore unless it delivers the same gas mileage as an economy sedan – which is not going to happen. For the 2020 model year, a truck the size of an oldschool Chevy S10 would have to deliver ~39 MPG. My Crosstrek can’t even do that.

        So we get giant trucks for no reason other than to be giant instead.

        • halferect@lemmy.world
          3·
          7 months ago

          That is Insane and extremely depressing, I love my small truck and will keep it going as long as possible.

  • comrade19@lemmy.world
    10·
    7 months ago

    They’re here in Australia now. Something to do with us pickup trucks having a lower tax for the manufacturers, so they tell us we need them.

  • PazuzuEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    I drive trucks for a living, my freightliner has better forward visibility than my friends ram 2500. At least semi’s slant the damn hood downwards, modern pickup hoods are nearly level. Ffs they put a forward facing camera on the bronco

  • ChihuahuaOfDoom@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    I have an older 4wd Toyota Tacoma and I love it but I’d happily trade it for an AWD Ute. They should bring those back to the US with a usable bed, less Baja more Brat.

  • FontMasterFlex@lemmy.world
    16·
    7 months ago

    I’d argue that cellphones are more responsible for pedestrian death. Both in the hands of pedestrians and drivers.