111–120 of 358 posts
I honestly do not understand, why regulators have not mandated limits on front dead angles (space occluded from view by the hood) and max vehicle hood hight by now. Well, I understand why it hasn't happened in the U.S. (how could any regulator curtail the manhood of the truck aficionados?), but in the E.U. regulators usually are more on top of these things.
There are definitely polls that show women find men in trucks more attractive in the US than, say, vans. If you want to signal wealth and refinement get a luxury vehicle. If you want to signal utility and masculinity get a truck.
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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.
it's because they are mothers with >2 children. You cannot fit three car seats in the backseat of modern sedans, and station wagons don't meet the emissions requirements. Large SUVs meet CAFE regulations by being large enough to be regulated as a different class of vehicle. Want smaller trucks? Complain to your Congresscritter to reign in the EPA and force them to write better regulation that does not have these unin…
Most aren’t even using the 3rd row for seating.
Now a wagon or SUV is good for carpooling, but a minivan obv would be best.
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I think it should depend on the circumstances. If the pedestrian is at fault, I think the individual, or their estate, should have to pay for the truck repairs and therapy for the driver.
In the Norwegian traffic law, it specifically says that you are to slow down in areas with children. So "the child ran into the street chasing a ball right in front of my truck" isn't a valid excuse, as that's something "to be expected" when driving in a residential area. At least in theory. Unfortunately the cops here almost never wants to prosecute cars hitting kids or pedestrians. There's always an excuse. "The su…
AT least in the US, 33% of pedestrians involved in fatal accidents were drunk.
16% were on freeways. 59% were on non-freeway arterials, while 22% were on local streets. [1]
I found it surprising that fatalities are far more likely to involve Pedestrians being drunk or jaywalking on high-speed throughfare than drunk drivers.
https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/GHSA-Pedest...
There is another angle here besides the immediate impact (pun intended) of getting hit by a big truck. I'm nearly 60, but I can remember what it was like learning to drive back in 1980. Before SUVs and huge pickup trucks became common, and before tinting windows to near opacity became a thing, it was possible to see road conditions three cars ahead -- you simply looked through the windows of the car or cars in front…
I regularly pass people on the right and then cut them off getting back into the left lane just so that I don't have to be stuck behind someone I can't see around. The tinted front/rear windows really piss me off because they make my drive more dangerous for very little reason. I'd make them illegal if it were up to me.
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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.
TBF Trucks and SUVs are relatively easier to drive in certain regards. Such as being able to see over parked traffic when making a turn. And I've found driving taller vehicles more comfortable for my back coincidentally.
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There are WAY more trucks/SUVs out there than 3-child households. And I'm not sure what you mean by "wagons don't meet emissions requirements" - wagons would meet the same regulations as sedans.
Wagons are heavier and less aerodynamic than sedans. When coupled with the same engine they are less fuel efficient (compare the E450 sedan to wagon). The fact that they are heavier and sell poorly means they will only usually be available with the large(r,st) engine (no E350 wagon in the US). Note that I used the Mercedes because it's the only non-compact wagon I'm aware of for sale in the US.
Vans are a lot better for both transporting people (more spacious compared to SUVs) and goods (easier loading and protected from the weather compared to pickups), plus of course having vastly better visibility. It always seems odd how trucks and SUVs are seen as status symbols in the US whereas in, say, Hong Kong, it is the MPV that is the status symbol. I suppose certain tax and emissions regulations in favor of tru…
Loading into a van can be easier or harder depending on the goods. Larger items are easier into a truck, IMHO, since you don't have to rearrange or remove the seating, and don't have to negotiate door openings, and sometimes it's useful to get help over the sides of the bed. Lower typical height of van floors can be helpful though. Pickup beds tend to have more and better tiedown points, too.
I have a pickup and a van, and a c-max, and I would most likely give up the c-max first; especially if either or both the van and the pickup had reasonable fuel efficiency.
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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…
Does anyone call an SUV a truck? Surely pickups are trucks.
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I like the spirit, but don't like the unintended consequence that it would create a stigma around sedans -- "oh, those are the cars for the bad drivers". We need to do something that makes SUV drivers feel ridiculous and humiliated. Or, failing that, just make it expensive: Weight and size dependent tolls, say (using the fourth power of weight, possibly, to match road wear equations?). Or just fewer lanes in which th…
> We need to do something that makes SUV drivers feel ridiculous and humiliated Oh, that couldn't possibly have any side effects.