Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds

Post by s1artibartfast » Tue, Jan 23, 2024, 9:50 PM UTC

acdha wrote: post #75

dingnuts wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

vehicular manslaughter is already a crime, and these trucks have been regulated INTO existence, not out of consumer desire and a lack of regulation. Consumers preferred small trucks until they disappeared due to CAFE standards. If you want the government to intervene, their first step should be to remove the regulations that encourage this growth in vehicle size to begin with, rather than going after consumers who ha…

The average American truck buyer picked it as a lifestyle accessory - it’s not like there was a huge shift in the percentage of trades jobs over the last few decades! Liability would be one way to encourage expressing that fashion aesthetic in other ways.

Post by sokoloff » Tue, Jan 23, 2024, 9:52 PM UTC

filoleg wrote: post #47

KennyBlanken wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time I see someone behind the wheel of the absolute largest SUV a company offers, it's a small woman. Even as far back when SUVs first became a thing, I noticed that the smallest moms at school at the biggest SUVs. They love the "might" that a huge vehicle gives them.

God, this is pretty much my mother. She couldn’t care any less about “ruggedness” or that “tough guy” image. Her only argument ever is “safety.” I am not in it to change her mind. But whenever she brings this topic up and I show her the actual safety ratings for different vehicles, it’s almost as if her brain shuts down. She would say something along the lines “uh oh idk, maybe, who knows, it doesn’t feel as safe,” a…

Post by carlosjobim » Tue, Jan 23, 2024, 9:53 PM UTC

olyjohn wrote: post #130

Johnny555 wrote: post #50

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that offer no actual advantages over a regular car. Most people want to sit high Isn't that the advantage? In a world where SUV's and trucks are more popular than sedans, sitting higher gives a sight advantage (and probably safety advantage in a side collision with one of those high cars). I drive a midsized sedan most of the time, but when I drive the RV (which has a higher seating position than many SUV's), I love…

Seating height doesn't help you see over cars when everybody else is also in a crossover at the same height as you.

Post by toast0 » Tue, Jan 23, 2024, 9:57 PM UTC

mlinhares wrote: post #60

riversflow wrote: post #30

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Vans are not better for goods as a universal rule, they are better for certain classes of goods. I do not want a yard of manure/dirt/gravel dumped in my van, but thats a common use of a pickup in my neck of the woods. Like extremely common. > Hong Kong Hot take: The Americas just aren't developed to the level of Eurasia, and we should stop pretending like they are.

I think this is an incentives game, Americans have much more land and money to pay for expensive development (like suburbs) that just do not make financial sense in the EU or Asia in general, as they either lack land or it would be too expensive to pay for the infrastructure needed to make it all work. I also haven't met an American that has been to a high quality of life and walkable city in the EU and didn't come b…

Post by autoexec » Tue, Jan 23, 2024, 10:00 PM UTC

jewayne wrote: post #52

sickofparadox wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's government regulations that made trucks get this big, most people simply buy what is available in the form factor they like. Trucks are the most popular form factor in the United States (with pickups a close second)[1], and the manufacturers keep making the cars bigger because of the poorly written CAFE laws[2]. I, and I suspect most Americans with pickups, would prefer to purchase one the size of a '90s F-150 a…

> Making up some macho strawman to attack actually obfuscates the problem and makes discussing solutions more difficult. Blaming the government for getting captured by industry also obfuscates the problem and makes discussing solutions more difficult. The current (grotesque) CAFE standards went in during the last months of the Bush administration, as a gift to the automakers.