Let’s target them in order to lower the demand for fossil fuels. The drivers of these vehicles are the ones driving up gas prices; and then subsequently crying about gas prices.
Fuck this, feds need to keep their bullshit away from my truck.
And here’s one !!
As long as you only drive it on your own ranch, fine. But when you take your vehicle off your property, it becomes everyone else’s business.
Yay we will have the return of small trucks. These behemoths are good for towing and work, but not everyday driving.
Hey buddy! Without a Ford F150 that’s taller than the average elementary school student and a box that can barely fit an average grocery store trip, how else am I supposed to tell people I have a tiny penis?
Most of the behemoths aren’t even good as utilitary vehicles…
I’ve got a 15yo Renault Kangoo which could beat almost any oversized suburban pedestrian flattener in all metrics except price.
“MUH FREEDOM. FUCKIN COMMIES”
I can just see the pavement princess brigade seething because their next emotional support penismobile won’t be exaggerated anymore and they will actually be able to see pedestrians and cyclists.
My dream car: An EV version of the 1955 Nash Metropolitan, seen here in this silly ad photo:
(Sorry, it’s hard to find pictures that give a true indication of the smallness of the car. Also, mine would be the red and white two tone variety.)
I just want a tiny electric hatchback, like, Honda fit sized, that has like 150+ mile range, and doesn’t use an outdated charging standard. I’ve considered a Nissan Leaf but they are still sticking with the chademo charger port, which is way less common.
Yes!
Even that was in an era or needlessly ego-boosting giant cars, going utilitarian to get a better product, better lives on average, even save resources - amazing (but with the cardinal sin of not being expensive enough and thus not as financially profitable).
For the same reason I would love to get a normally viable car of much smol.
Like a bit more modern version of Figaro:
Or a sexy mid-engine Autozam:
I want a neat little 600cc kei car. I haven’t had any luck finding one.
If you want one that’s more than 25 years old, you can get those legally imported to the U.S. from Japan.
https://www.japan-partner.com/keicars.html
How stupid a law is that?
Some states won’t register kei trucks. They aren’t fast enough for freeway use or something like that.
Why do little cars have to withstand a collision with a huge truck but trucks just get bigger and bigger? The new Hummer is over 9,000lbs (4,090 kg)
Cars are getting a lot heavier now that EVs are becoming mainstream.
I mean they’re getting heavier, but not, like, whole number multiples heavier. An electric might be some 60% heavier than a comparable gas car. But the aforementioned hummer is more than 5 times heavier than even a heavy electric “utility vehicle”. That’s more than 400% heavier.
Huh? Are you saying heavy electric utility vehicles are less than 2k lbs? I think you’re math is a bit off, or I’m misunderstanding you. 9k lbs is heavy but it’s only around 2k lbs heavier than it’s gas counter parts (most SUVs are around 6.5-7k lbs). Most electric cars are 1-2k lbs heavier than their gas counterparts already. Batteries are not light.
I’m saying smaller cars are usually lighter than bigger cars, even when the smaller cars are electric. And the car I was comparing to was the Chevrolet bolt “electric utility vehicle” that’s trying to be an electric SUV. Which, yeah, is 1600 lbs.
Where a Ford fiesta that’s almost the same size is still 1100.
Chevy Bolt (electric) is approx. 3,600 lbs. Ford Fiesta (gas) is approx. 2,500 lbs. I think your numbers are kilograms. Sorry to be pedantic, just trying to get correct numbers. But what you’re saying is basically correct. Most small EVs are still lighter than midsize and bigger ICE cars. If you want apples to apples: the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV is 5,000 lbs, whereas the 2024 gas version is approx. 3,400 lbs.
Oh, shit, you’re right. I was looking at kilograms. Thank you.
But yeah, the point stands that small cars are lighter and safer than big cars, especially for the things they hit.
The cybertruck is like 7k lbs.
wtf in Europe that thing couldn’t be driven with a regular class B drivers license
Commercial license requirements for full sized trucks over a certain size and weight would be an excellent solution. In addition to the increased effort and cost to get one, commercial licenses are way easier to lose.
I agree. It’s felt weird each time I’ve rented a moving truck and was able to drive it myself. They are giant and I’m not used to driving something so big plus no visibility out of the rear of the vehicle. And on top of that, they are so massive that mistakes will hurt more and will be harder to notice while they are happening.
Though even normal licenses are too easy IMO. I haven’t been tested or trained on driving in decades. Most people don’t know how 2 way stop signs work, I’ve even had a cop wave me through when it was their right of way. The bar should be higher for getting and keeping a license and lower for losing it. And “but people need cars to get to work and such” addressed with better mass transportation and city planning.
It depends on the state, but it usually is. It’s just very high, like a gvwr of 26k lbs.
Thing is, a CDL covers a bunch of stuff you really don’t need to know for something smaller than that, like air brakes. That said, some kind of graduated licensing is called for, here.
Motorcycles, too, while we’re at it. It’s insane that you can go through MSF and then immediately buy a literbike.
At 60 MPH the Hummer EV has the same kinetic energy as a 1993 Honda Civic Hatchback going 120mph.
Trying to imagine my old Civic doing that …… holy shit that engine is winding up, glowing red hot, and I probably needed rocket boosters!
Works fine in need for speed 😏
Forced induction will get your old Civic to 120mph in a jiffy. 😆
The only 93 Civic that hit 120mph was falling out of a plane at 35000’.
Holy shit
Regardless of truck size, I don’t think tractor trailers are going anywhere. Even if we made trucks smaller those would still be out there
Smaller trucks would still get in accidents though, and I imagine they would be less deadly
I really just want small cars to make a comeback
Tractor trailers are heavily regulated with training, licensing, driving hours and sleep break logging etc. Are they really a significant source of pedestrian collisions?
You should check out the safety stuff with them and cars. You’ll stay near one on the road again.
Even if we made trucks smaller those would still be out there
If we made them smaller there’d just be more of them on the road. There’d also be higher prices for everything to compensate for the extra expense of having those extra trucks and bodies to pilot them.
Man, if only we could separate freight from commuter traffic. Like, imagine if all those tractor trailers were on their own separate road, but make it out of, IDK, metal or something so it can withstand the weight better. You could even just have metal right under the wheels, to reduce costs. But what do I know, I’m just some pie in the sky nobody who doesn’t know what he’s talking about
Not to mention it would reduce all the underride crashes.
All these improved vehicle safety standards are generally for bumper-to-bumper collisions, not windshield-to-truck-bed. Frontline released a well-done 2023 episode on it. Highly recommend.
Edit: md link
Unless you’re going to run train tracks to every business in existence, freight will need to be moved using a semi at some point.
I think getting semis off the highway where they’re going 60-70 mph would make a big difference in highway safety though. And you could have less semis going from depots to stores if stores were smaller and more frequent, such that deliveries could be made via cargo vans rather than semis.
That sounds like a neat idea—here’s a wild thought, what would happen if we tried the same thing with passengers? Eh, you’re right, sounds positively un-American.
The last frontier, that showed up like forty years ago.
That’s not to mention the optics.
#4 is the optic for the RWS. This cannot be used to aim the main gun, but it can be used as an alternate form of CITV, especially since it’s so damned high off the ground, it may be able to see over obstacles. Not as good as CITV in the thermal range, though.
That being said, some civilian vehicles are gonna have their own camera systems too, so…
Civilian vehicles should all have thermals and a night driving HUD. If I’m paying 30,000 dollars then they can damn well put some actual stuff in there. Headlights being weaponized isn’t something we have to tolerate.
Sorry, no can do, also cupholders are extra, best we can do is plastic hubcaps and a 10,000/6 month warranty.
Ugh. Too true. Cars would be 100% better if they weren’t a mass market necessity.
The whole chart is rather fascinating and eye opening: Vehicle visibility
Astounding. Hummer H2 beating the Sierra by 3m is incredible. A truck designed almost exclusively to express how selfish you are and it has better viability.
This chart is eye-opening…I always thought Hummers were made by…Hummer…
GM marketing. They purchased the hummer brand from AM General. OG Hummer (later renamed H1) was based on AM General’s military Humvee design, but released to the civilian market. H2 and H3 were designed by GM for mass marketing. Can be seen in the price. H1 nearly 10x more than H2 and H3.
Oh, neat. Thanks for all the information
Also, the H1 was 10x better for what it was designed for than the H2 and H3.
The H1 was not designed for commuting to work.
I’m not sure what it was designed for. It doesn’t have a lot of space for hauling compared to its size. It’s not great for offroading. It’s a plastic money extraction machine.
The H2 was just a Tahoe with a different body on it.
An articulated quarry hauler is barely worse than a pick-up truck
‘murca
Thanks, embedding:
I’d be curious to see that chart for a Toyota Yaris. I drove one for a few years and it was almost unnerving how little hood it had.
Same here. Going from a 1990 VW Passat to a 2009 Yaris was wild.
I will gladly trade my SUV in for a gently used M1
Only 20 gallons to the mile, not bad
Absolutely nobody will cut you off in traffic, though. At least nobody who wants to see the next sunrise…
what if the M1 doesn’t have a touch screen though
It actually does, but it’s a hundred times more useful. It helps make things go boom.
good
touchscreens should be banned from vehiclesTouch targeting
This is misleading because being higher up you can see much better further ahead, and over obstacles and barriers. Your special awareness is much better at distances that are relevant for avoiding collisions. If something is 1.5m away its too late anyway.
The angle is also incorrect because they are putting the eyes of the driver straight in line with the hood, which is not how its been in any vehicle I’ve ever driven, the head should be higher or further forward.
You don’t want to see “over” obstacles close to your vehicle when said obstacles are in fact human beings standing in front of your car.
At parking lot speeds, 1.5 meters is also not “too late,” and it certainly isn’t when you are at a standstill but need to determine if it is safe to move or if there is a small person in front of your vehicle, i.e. in the school pickup line, or in a parking lot, or your own driveway.
Ooo ooo we can do it like buses do. We’ll put a bar on the front that folds out. 3 year olds totally know what that is right? They’ll just get out of the way!
(/s)
You need one with a hand on the end, and the motor that drives it is strong enough to pimp slap people out of the way.
The origin of the line is at head height…
Also these vehicles gain in distant visibility at the expense of everyone else on the road, blocking their views.
The best way to avoid getting into an accident is to see it long before you get there. But situational awareness is not something the vast majority of drivers actually practice or have…
Also, an astounding proportion of fatal pedestrian collisions happen at low-speed, close to home where these sightlines explicitly matter.
This is actually a good point. And here’s a video discussing the issue.
Saw a lady driving a truck which its hood was taller than my veloster and all I saw was knuckles. This old lady probably couldn’t even see the road.
Fuck these people and fuck the companies that make emLarge trucks like that should be like transports. Ya should have to take a special license course to even be able to own to prove you can drive it. 90% of truck owners can’t so they own the biggest POS to ensure their safety at everyone’s else’s safety.
I see A LOT of older people who can’t see over the dash. I bet they don’t know their seat raises vertically. their eyes line up with the top of the steering wheel, no way they’re paying attention enough to what’s going on beyond 15 feet, much less around them.
GOP judge declaring NHTSA unconstitutional in 3… 2… 1…
So the US just starts importing the cars europe had for ages? thats hardly a frontier, it’s willful ignorance of an age old issue.
They need to do that here too in Australia
If you’re driving a larger vehicle, you should be putting in more care.
But they don’t seem to here in Australia. They’ll park badly and put less effort into fixing it than a small sedan
It’s tiring that this is even still a thing
It’s like a negative feedback loop I want an SUV because of a truck or another SUV hit me. I feel like I might be able to survive that but if I’m in my geometro, or a small compact car. I don’t think I’m coming out of that alive if a giant trucker or suv hit me And I know that’s not gonna change. They’re not gonna suddenly recall thousands of oversized pick up trucks those trucks are gonna be on the road for the next 10 to 15 years to come, even if something changes soon. It would take a while to phase them out.
I just want public high-speed rail everywhere 15 minutes cities please
Bumper height needs to be standardized so they match up properly. One of the biggest safety issues is how modern SUV bumpers don’t align with cars bumper bars.
My Sequoia is like 2.5x the size of my Honda fit. If I ever hit my Honda while pulling into the driveway I’ll total it.
I fully agree with your statement.
Do you like your Sequoia? I have been thinking about trading in my Explorer for one. Or an Expedition.
Know this is a hate thread about SUV’s, but those of us with large families don’t have any other options.
I have a 2012 platinum it’s amazing. I get 12-15mpg…lol yea I have a 5 person family with the 7 seater Sequoia.
Every time I see a movie from the 90s and older, and they show a parking lot, I get sad. Everyone used to drive reasonably sized sedans. Family vehicles were wagons. Fuck SUVs and trucks.
