this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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United States | News & Politics

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[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 121 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Just gonna keep posting this

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 45 points 11 months ago

tfw your Silverado has worse forward obstruction visibility than an M1 Abrams MBT

[–] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago (1 children)

And it doesn't even properly show how long and wide those vehicles are.

Truck and SUV size has gotten absolutely ridiculous.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They should make a version of the chart with model years included. I need a truck for work, but I'll be looking for a 90's or older next because the new ones are all too tall with no real utility benefit.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 54 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

It's past time to require a commercial driver's license to drive one and a business permit on file to buy one. Your average person can rent one when they need the utility of a truck bed.

[–] You999@sh.itjust.works 41 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Or how about the more simpler solution of changing the emissions regulations so trucks and SUVs have to meet the same targets as all the other vehicles.

And if you really want to encourage things even more they could also remove the tariffs on light trucks while increasing the sales tax on large trucks and SUVs.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

I think in the truck culture the damage is already done. At this point we need to deal with the demand to have those kinds of trucks.

[–] vivadanang@lemm.ee 22 points 11 months ago (2 children)

the hilarious irony is that modern trucks are often useless for hauling any decent loads because they're crew cabs and jacked up for no fucking reason. To purchase a truck with a large bed often requires a special order and weeks of waiting.

[–] IHadTwoCows@lemm.ee 16 points 11 months ago

Those fucking pussies all cry like a little girl when you point out what a useless waste they are, and then start inventing all kinds of reasons why they need one.

They are a recent creation; all the rhings you claim you need to haul with them are not.

[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

I have a weird truck, it's a ten year old F150 with a single cab and an 8 foot bed. It's the only one I see that isn't obviously a company truck, and it used to be a hardware store rental truck. It carries building materials, motorcycles, junk to the dump, all with the tailgate safely closed. I don't like the little 5 foot beds on the crew cab trucks, it's like you have this giant truck and all you can carry are small things. It's as useful as a Ford Taurus.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 8 points 11 months ago

At least, something more than a standard drivers license. A CDL covers things like air brakes or railroad crossing that aren't necessary for most of the vehicles in question. But a more graduated standard, absolutely.

[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 52 points 11 months ago (8 children)

I need a truck for agricultural purposes, but don't want to purchase a ToddlerKiller4000. Short of inventing a time machine and traveling back to an era of car-sized rather than tank-sized pickups, my options are pretty slim. Fuck me, right?

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 42 points 11 months ago (4 children)

My whole family were farmers and one of my cousins jacked his truck up so much it could only pull one of his wagons...

People still give him shit, even tho it was like 20 years ago.

Point being, the stupid shit you see isn't even practical. The only point of giant modern trucks is helping men with low self esteem. And it doesn't even help them, it just makes them keep wanting an even bigger truck than everyone else.

Which is why they've been consistently getting bigger for decades.

[–] pahlimur@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I own an '01 3/4 ton suburban for boat and camper hauling. It's small compared to a stock 1/2 ton today. The top of their beds is almost at my roofline. All that size increase comes with very little gain besides dick measuring it seems. I will never understand why people buy them, especially for 60k+.

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[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml 5 points 11 months ago

When I had to buy a new car a guy at work who was big into cars asked me what I was getting and gave me grief for not getting a big truck. I asked him why I would want such an impractical and expensive truck for just myself (and I lived in an apartment) and he only gave me macho signaling answers.

[–] neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Japanese mini trucks are outstanding for true agricultural purposes. You have options for dump beds and completely removable (or flip-down) bed sides for super easy side loading. They’re cheap and super economical.

Crash safety is the biggest drawback, so true road-worthiness is iffy (depending on how much the cops in your area care about that sort of thing). But if you’re looking for utility on private property, these things rule.

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[–] soggy_kitty@sopuli.xyz 5 points 11 months ago (4 children)
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[–] Luft@lemm.ee 46 points 11 months ago (23 children)

In my experience, I’ve noted that truck drivers are on avg more likely to be shitty egotistical drivers.

I think it’s bc they have small dicks, and they feel safe in their giant metal death machine. Nice n cozy, perfectly ready to tailgate a Mazda MX-5

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 14 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Sadly, we cannot really ban them as they are utility vehicles that a small portion of the population needs. However, I still see freakin' ads that frame them as fancy cars.

Czech ad for Amarok V6
“The new Amarok V6. Pick-up truck for every day. Powerful and comfortable”

I suggest making it illegal to buy them without a registered company or have them in any color other than matte excavator yellow (for construction) or green camo (for hunting and forestry).

Yellow truck Camo truck

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 9 points 11 months ago (7 children)

I disagree on all accounts. Instead of banning/restricting trucks, we should instead make them less convenient and more expensive. So:

  • restructure cities to be transit and pedestrian first, not traffic first - see The Netherlands
  • charge vehicle registration fees based on curb weight, since heavier vehicles destroy roads more; multiply this by miles driven, less any documentation the owner has about driving on private land
  • charge an extra fee for vehicles falling net mpg targets; don't special case SUVs and trucks, just tax them (and have certain exceptions to the tax, like if you actually use the higher passenger capacity of minivans, have a farm, etc)

The taxes would go toward pedestrian and transit infrastructure to offset the lower efficiency and greater danger larger vehicles pose.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

If you can't put a flatbed or utility bed on it, it shouldn't be called a utility vehicle. They're just SUVs with the back opened up.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Business permit on file and a commercial driver's license.

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[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml 30 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (9 children)

Why do people feel the need to have a $60K+ massive behemoth? 99% of the time if I glance in the bed it is spotless. It is probably only used for commuting and carrying groceries. It might haul a load of mulch once a year. The things are so high that if they hit a car they are going to ride up over the hood and crush you. At least my state finally got its act together and banned those goddamn frontend lifted trucks that made it impossible to see anything within 50 ft and guaranteed a deadly collision. Now I know someone will say "But I need it for my building job/farm/etc", you are the exception, the vast majority sold are not being used for that.

"reasoning that these vehicles are safer for drivers in the event of a crash" Sounds like an arms race. Soon we will be driving armored personnel carriers.

It is bad enough they make them with ridiculously loud exhausts as bad as muscle cars and fart exhausts. Electric cars and trucks quieting everything can't come fast enough.

[–] LifeOfChance@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As someone who uses their truck as it's intended I can say your absolutely correct. I get comments from other truck drivers when they see the dings and scratches and they'll be laughing while I'm looking at their spotless $80,000 truck that the heaviest thing they haul is a gallon of milk. I hope they downsize these trucks some day soon because when mine goes I don't want a physically bigger one. These trucks also take up 4 spots everywhere they go for parking.

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[–] UnspecificGravity@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 11 months ago (2 children)

A big part of the problem is that they just don't make small affordable trucks anymore.

The tiny little Ford ranger of the 90s used to be the cheapest car at a Ford dealership. The current ranger is only a couple inches smaller than the f150 and costs a couple grand less, if you can even find one.

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[–] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 11 months ago

You know the answer. It's insecure man children.

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[–] LoamImprovement@beehaw.org 16 points 11 months ago

I threw this in another chat talking about this, but some of these vehicles have poorer forward visibility than a literal fucking Abrams tank.

[–] lntl@lemmy.ml 15 points 11 months ago

Pedestrians should not be allowed outside without high vis, a helmet, and flashing lights after dark. Youngsters should never be permitted to be outside since they are invisible to motor vehicles.

[–] Radium@sh.itjust.works 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Driven by the exact same douche bags hoarding the guns that are killing us

[–] cogman@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

Thank God cars didn't exist when the constitution was written. We could actually solve this with legislation.

[–] Stillhart@lemm.ee 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Welcome to 30 years ago. This is the least new news I've seen in ages!

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 31 points 11 months ago (10 children)

30 years ago you could get a normal size truck. Now you can't.

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 6 points 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


American car buyers can’t get enough big, tall SUVs and trucks — but new data suggests that the downsides of this trend are growing increasingly deadly.

It also comes at a time when the auto industry is embracing bigger, more brutish designs for its SUVs and trucks, reasoning that these vehicles are safer for drivers in the event of a crash.

There have been numerous studies and investigations examining how tall, flat-nosed trucks and SUVs are more likely to cause serious injury and death when they hit pedestrians.

Larger bodies and higher carriages mean pedestrians are more likely to suffer deadly blows to the head and torso, as opposed to the legs when struck by a shorter vehicle.

And front blind zones associated with large trucks and SUVs have contributed to the injury and death of hundreds of children across the country, studies have shown.

Recently, NHTSA said it would update its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), also known as the five-star safety rating, to include advanced driver-assistance system features like automatic emergency braking, blind-spot detection, and lane-keep assistance.


The original article contains 708 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 75%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 6 points 11 months ago

All hat, no cattle

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