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How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

danwilkerson.com

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Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#201

Post by refurb »

kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

The one thing that opened my eyes about this view of safety is living in a developing country.

Riding a motorcycle without helmets, kids on their laps, cars without seatbelts, makeshift trucks with cargo randomly stacked and not strapped down.

They are completely oblivious to the safety risks. But you know what? 99% of the time it doesn't matter. They live long and healthy lives.

I get the sense the West has progressively improved safety to the point that even small incremental improvements are viewed as "you'll be dead without them".

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#202

Post by [deleted] »

renewiltord wrote: post #192
habosa wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d really prefer not to kill anybody else I’m sharing the road with, all else equal. It would be quite traumatic for that persons family and for me too.

True. Which is why I would like to make it the law that all motor vehicle occupants should wear helmets. This will mean saving billions of life years lost through traumatic brain injuries.

[deleted]

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#203

Post by COGlory »

13of40 wrote: post #194
caconym_ wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The thing that boggles my mind his how this 25-year-old grandfathering thing works. I think it's totally fair to allow old vehicles on the road that may not comply with today's standards, but did comply when they were originally made and titled (in the US). But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this. If safety was a primary concern for U.S. regulators, large consumer…

I think it might be a little more nuanced than that. I have a friend who's still alive today because he was driving a Lexus SUV when a Honda Accord blew through a red light and collided with him at speed. Should he downgrade his car so he's more vulnerable next time?

Everyone should constantly buy a bigger car than what everyone else is buying. It's the only way to stay safe.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#204

Post by thrawa8387336 »

amrocha wrote: post #141
rootusrootus wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter seem to exist in far greater quantity, however. I live in a suburban neighborhood with plenty of trucks, and I see them doing truck things all the time. Towing boats, travel trailers, fifth wheels, or hauling stuff. I can't think of a single example within a quarter of me where someone owns a truck for looks. These are all just garden variety F150s and similar, rarely the higher trim models, and not a one…

They are statistically not doing pickup truck things. Pickup truck owners haul stuff once per year on average. That's the difference that you're not seeing. You think that the problem is those "bro-dozers", and everyone else just needs a truck. The reality is that most people don't need a truck, and by driving one everyone else's life gets worse.

Yes, the problem is the "imma gonna haul whatever thing to my house" instead of, you know, have it delivered by someone. They'd win time but lose the (small) psychological satisfaction

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#205

Post by neuronerdgirl »

thebigjewbowski wrote: post #163
willcipriano wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the anger and disdain from people about others potentially hurting themselves. The only thing I can think of is they are jealous of someone who doesn't have these sort of intrusive thoughts about safety all the time and how they get to do something cool like the OP every now and then.

I was thinking about something similar the other day — why does anyone besides my family really care if I wear a seatbelt or not? You know what vehicle I see all the time that doesn’t require a license or minimum age, doesn’t have any safety features and can go 15-20 mph alongside traffic and often on a city sidewalk amongst pedestrians? A bicycle ;)

You not wearing a seatbelt puts other people in the vehicle at risk because your body becomes a massive flying object in the cabin when you are hit that can injure or kill others in the vehicle with you.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#206

Post by emgeee »

13of40 wrote: post #194
caconym_ wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The thing that boggles my mind his how this 25-year-old grandfathering thing works. I think it's totally fair to allow old vehicles on the road that may not comply with today's standards, but did comply when they were originally made and titled (in the US). But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this. If safety was a primary concern for U.S. regulators, large consumer…

I think it might be a little more nuanced than that. I have a friend who's still alive today because he was driving a Lexus SUV when a Honda Accord blew through a red light and collided with him at speed. Should he downgrade his car so he's more vulnerable next time?

Tragedy of the commons situation, only way out is through regulation

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#207

Post by willcipriano »

neuronerdgirl wrote: post #205
thebigjewbowski wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking about something similar the other day — why does anyone besides my family really care if I wear a seatbelt or not? You know what vehicle I see all the time that doesn’t require a license or minimum age, doesn’t have any safety features and can go 15-20 mph alongside traffic and often on a city sidewalk amongst pedestrians? A bicycle ;)

You not wearing a seatbelt puts other people in the vehicle at risk because your body becomes a massive flying object in the cabin when you are hit that can injure or kill others in the vehicle with you.

You the sort of person who will tie down a bag of dog food or bag of soup cans when you load them into a vehicle without a trunk?

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#208

Post by oflannabhra »

There is a strong push at the state level to disallow the registration of kei trucks, being lead by the AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators) [0]

As others have noted, these are fantastic utility vehicles, which have an important place in many rural areas. They can come with many important features like 4x4, diff-lock, dump beds, etc, all with a very reasonable 660cc serviceable engine.

I personally suspect that this push comes from lobbying by side-by-side manufacturers, like John Deere and Polaris (which go new starting at $16k).

[0] - https://www.thedrive.com/news/42057/rhode-island-is-trying-t...

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#209

Post by fragmede »

13of40 wrote: post #194
caconym_ wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The thing that boggles my mind his how this 25-year-old grandfathering thing works. I think it's totally fair to allow old vehicles on the road that may not comply with today's standards, but did comply when they were originally made and titled (in the US). But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this. If safety was a primary concern for U.S. regulators, large consumer…

I think it might be a little more nuanced than that. I have a friend who's still alive today because he was driving a Lexus SUV when a Honda Accord blew through a red light and collided with him at speed. Should he downgrade his car so he's more vulnerable next time?

Why frame it as a downgrade? Bigger isn't necessarily better. Cars are a highly regulated product, with lots of testing that happens, and there are evolving standards. In a crash, I'd much rather be in a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and not a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air, watch this video for why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6oefRKWmY.

Where the 2023 Honda Accord has a rating of "good"* from IIHS on the updated side impact test, and NHTSA's rating for the 2022 model for side crash is 5 stars** (2023 data not yet available), it seems entirely likely that your friend would also still be alive today if they were also in a Honda Accord. The arms race for bigger and bigger vehicles is just that - an arms race. I don't want to walk or drive in the world of Mad Max, where everyone drives semi-trucks and have spikes all over them to protect the inhabitants of a vehicle.

It should also be noted that bigger isn't automatically better. For the 2022 side impact test by IIHS, the Honda Passport, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Palisade, Jeep Wrangler 4-door, Kia Telluride and Nissan Murano SUVs all received "marginal" ratings***.

Prior to 2011, SUVs weren't even tested for side impact ratings.

* https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/accord-4-door-sed...

** https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2022/HONDA/ACCORD/4%252520DR/F...

*** https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/most-midsize-suvs-perform-w...

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#210

Post by ApolloFortyNine »

kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

>And I know if I was the driver of the other vehicle, and survived, even if I wasn't the one at fault, I'd probably need years of expensive therapy to get past it all.

>But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this.

If this is your argument, motorcycles seems like a much better target.

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