this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Well, I'm not trying to shame all truck drivers. There are situations (like yours, it sounds like) where other options are not viable. But I still think that for the vast majority of trucks I see driving around the city, I have to wonder how necessary they are. Especially considering the number that are spotless and contain only a single passenger and no equipment or tools.
By the way, trucks get a lot of the heat right now because they are the hottest selling passenger vehicles, but the same criticisms apply to many other popular vehicles, like SUVs. The fact that many people drive these vehicles also is not really a defense. We need a radical change in all of transportation culture and methods, not just a reduction in useless truck driving. The single passenger truck is just the most emblematic of the problem currently.
Your honestly spot on i just wanted to offer my view from my rural perspective.
Well thanks for your perspective. Since most people live in cities, sometimes the rural point of view gets drowned out.
No offence but you don't know why most people drive trucks or how so assuming why they do, or what they do based on your lack of knowing why, seems very odd.
Clean truck, dirty truck, doesn't matter. It's gatekeeping to say how people should use a truck. According to Smart Car, over 90% of driving is done with only 1 person in the vehicle which means all vehicles are bad by that standard. Yet, you're selecting trucks for some reason. What about sportscars? No one bitches about sportscars but I can assure you they are way worse than any truck, gas or diesel.
What about planes, especially private planes? Planes are over 2x worse than driving but people give a pass to anyone flying to a vacation spot.
I just find the laser focus on trucks to be so bizarre knowing how much worse other vehicles are.
I already said why in my comment—they are the most popular vehicles currently and they are emblematic of the current problems faced by our society. Yes, other vehicles are bad, and they are criticized as well. It’s weird that you mention private planes considering how widely they have been criticized recently.
But no other passenger vehicle comes close to the beloved pickup in the combination of size, danger to other road users, fuel wastefulness, lack of practicality, popularity, and of course, the toxic attitudes held by drivers. Exactly what you have outlined here: that you have the right to frivolously monopolize urban space, poison the air, and endanger lives with your choice of transportation. And even mild criticism or mockery is somehow unacceptable.
But guess what? Your freedom ends where you are actively harming the wellbeing of others. Society does have a right to demand that when you use such harmful vehicles, that you have a good reason for doing so. I hope that we will do so more strongly in the future because the Wild West attitude needs to end for all of our sakes.
Haha yeah I used to think other peoples freedom ended when it actively harmed others too. Then the pandemic happened.
I’m not entirely sure what you mean here, but I think it remains a solid moral principle regardless of people’s behavior in practice.
That's hilarious since how ultra toxic the anti-truck crowd is getting. People getting all high and mighty telling people what they can or can't own or drive.
I'm done talking with judgmental people. It's not worth the headache.
The toxic attitude I’m taking about: “I have a right to endanger and/or kill people for my own convenience and status symbol.”
The toxic attitude you are talking about: “maybe don’t do that unless you really have no choice.”
But OK you do you. Hopefully the legal system will provide a remedy to this system since people aren’t willing to be considerate on their own.
You really aren't seeing this from both sides are you? That's not the toxic attitude I'm talking about and you damn well know it. I've got people here telling me I'm literally killing people for driving a truck, while shockingly giving other vehicles like sportscars and planes a pass.
It's hypocritical at the least and snide comments like "But OK you do you" is just simply unhelpful and doesn't solve anything.
I hope you do some self-reflecting and ask yourself, 'why am I so obsessed with telling people how to live their lives'.
It’s not about how other people live their lives, it’s about how their selfish actions harm me and my loved ones. If trucks were as harmless as you seem to think, no one would care. But people are literally dying. I’ve had several friends and family subjected to vehicular violence, and a few near misses myself. It probably won’t be the last time either. So yes, we are a bit emotional about it. If people don’t like being shamed, then they need to fix the problem, not whine about how mean we are for standing up for the community.
Anyway I can see this is going nowhere. I think everyone could use a little more self-reflection, so I hope you take your own advice to heart.