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Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

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Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#11
Yeah. No problem to drive a tank sized child killer with a hood so long that it's close to driving blind, but these small trucks are a risk... You're allowed to risks others lives, but when you're willing to risks your own the nanny state is on high alert.

Go, go! Land of the free!

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#12
post #5

It would be nice if cars got more of a bonus to their safety rating based on how they won't pulp other people in an accident.

It would be nice if non-cars, like SUVs and pickups, paid more for insurance (but they pay less, because being tanks they protect their occupants even as they lay waste to everything else - unfortunately insurers care more about the former than the latter).

Sounds incorrect. I think the insurance rate is based on the value of the vehicle and SUVs and trucks are much more expensive than compacts and sedans.

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#13
The part that drives me up the wall is how much the group of people who complain about the safety impact of people over-provisioning their personal vehicles (massive pickups and whatnot) overlaps with the group who complains about any automobile design that trades away safety in pursuit of another engineering goal.

I can understand drawing a line on a subjective issue but at least be ideologically about it if you want me to respect you in the slightest.

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#15
post #5

It would be nice if cars got more of a bonus to their safety rating based on how they won't pulp other people in an accident.

Pedestrian and cyclist protection, emergency braking, etc. have been in the criteria for Euro NCAP for a while. American regulations are probably under siege by the auto industry.

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be nice if non-cars, like SUVs and pickups, paid more for insurance (but they pay less, because being tanks they protect their occupants even as they lay waste to everything else - unfortunately insurers care more about the former than the latter).

Sounds incorrect. I think the insurance rate is based on the value of the vehicle and SUVs and trucks are much more expensive than compacts and sedans.

The part of your insurance that pays the medical bills for a person you smush (third party liability) is entirely separate from the part that rebuilds your car if it gets wrecked (collision/comprehensive damage). They should be priced separately on your binder, but you can call up your insurer to price compare relatively easily.

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#17
post #5

It would be nice if cars got more of a bonus to their safety rating based on how they won't pulp other people in an accident.

Pedestrian and cyclist protection, emergency braking, etc. have been in the criteria for Euro NCAP for a while. American regulations are probably under siege by the auto industry.

s/under seige by/on the payroll of/

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds incorrect. I think the insurance rate is based on the value of the vehicle and SUVs and trucks are much more expensive than compacts and sedans.

The part of your insurance that pays the medical bills for a person you smush (third party liability) is entirely separate from the part that rebuilds your car if it gets wrecked (collision/comprehensive damage). They should be priced separately on your binder, but you can call up your insurer to price compare relatively easily.

Insurance doesn't cover legal expenses and their civil liability is capped pretty low. They'd rather you kill the pedestrian.

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds incorrect. I think the insurance rate is based on the value of the vehicle and SUVs and trucks are much more expensive than compacts and sedans.

The part of your insurance that pays the medical bills for a person you smush (third party liability) is entirely separate from the part that rebuilds your car if it gets wrecked (collision/comprehensive damage). They should be priced separately on your binder, but you can call up your insurer to price compare relatively easily.

Nice idea but killing someone is very cheap. It's injury that requires permanent care that's very expensive. At some point they came up with "moral hazard" for this kind of thing but the lesson was forgotten.

Re: Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.

#20
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pedestrian and cyclist protection, emergency braking, etc. have been in the criteria for Euro NCAP for a while. American regulations are probably under siege by the auto industry.

s/under seige by/on the payroll of/

AFAICT, automatic emergency braking has only been required for all new vehicles in Europe as of 2024, although 2022 for new car models. In the U.S. 90% of new vehicles already include this feature, though it won't be legally mandatory until 2029.

The U.S. NHTSA takes a more cooperative approach with industry. Safety features are a critical driver of the model upgrade cycle, so it's in the industry's interest to roll these out. The NHTSA negotiates with the industry on timelines for when mandatory requirements begin, but these hard deadlines lag years behind when these features become ubiquitous voluntarily. Timelines for voluntary rollout are part of the negotiating process, so just because the legal deadline is 2029 doesn't mean NHTSA didn't negotiate for features to be included earlier. This results in less acrimony so industry is less inclined to complain to Congress.

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