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Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

economist.com

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Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#501

Post by iancmceachern »

asmosoinio wrote: post #419
hytdstd wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's far more eco friendly and lower carbon Footprint to own an rv and travel and stay in it in various places than to own several properties and fly between them. It's considered worse to drive (vs fly) unless you have more than 2 people-- and that's for a normal car. With a truck+trailer the break-even point would need more passengers. https://terrapass.com/blog/carbon-footprint-of-driving-vs-fl... https://yalecl…

That's per passager mile, right? For the comparison parent post is making - leisure travel - I think there's a big difference in that flying enables much larger distances, thus much more emissions. You can easily fly 1000 miles each way for a weekend trip. Not as easily with a car, the travel tends to be much shorter.

And also doesn't take into account economy of scale, a family of 4 has 4x the emissions in the plane example, same as 1 person in the car example. So if you do the math as a family of 4 it really changes things.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#502

Post by nivenkos »

nyx wrote: post #29

The 25-year import rule here, which bans Americans from importing vehicles from other countries unless they're 25+ years old, is just awful for those of us who would be interested in driving small, efficient foreign cars. It would be great to live completely car-free, but absent major changes to how we plan our cities, it's just a sad reality that cars are a necessary ingredient to life in the vast majority of Americ…

I thought the US wanted free trade and free markets, why do they put up with so much protectionism?

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#503

Post by GiorgioG »

porphyra wrote: post #202
echelon wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The /r/fuckcars folks are being a little dishonest here. As another commenter mentioned, this is like asking a vegan for steak recommendations at a restaurant. Subaru Sambar (kei truck) towing capacity: 1,300 lbs Ford F-150 towing capacity: 5,000 to 11,300 lbs Ford F-250 Shelby edition towing capacity: 24,200 pounds And that's just one additional dimension where these vehicles significantly differ. These vehicles are…

The point isn't that the smaller truck is an equally capable vehicle. The point is to make fun of people who don't need a truck but are getting an overkill vehicle as a status symbol, all the while people who actually need to transport goods can still get a lot done with a tiny kei truck.

When did “need” become a requirement for having things? Who gave you or anyone else the authority to decide what other people “need”? I don’t think people “need” motorcycles, private planes, vacation homes, more than a few million dollars in the bank, etc. But who am I to tell people what they should have? Live and let live.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#504

Post by thuridas »

ricardobayes wrote: post #481
deaddodo wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I've seen plenty of jackass drivers threatening or acting aggressively to cyclists in Europe. Even the Netherlands, of all places. The biggest difference is there are more protective laws / dedicated bike lanes and the critical mass of cyclists means you might be swatting at a bee swarm.

Interestingly in Spain cyclists are well-protected and ordinary drivers who otherwise might drive pretty unsafely, take care of them. Coming from a different place it's so weird to experience someone driving 35 km/h behind a cyclist on a country road because there is a solid white line and a "no overtake" sign. Even if they do overtake (legally) they always keep at least 1.5 meters. There was a huge awareness campaig…

The law protects the cyclist but he/she has much more skin on the game. There are still accidents resulting in deaths and not all find the culprit car.

Note that in Spain it is legal to cross the solid white line to take over a cyclist.

Sure, It is sometimes annoying but having more cars would also created more traffic.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#505

Post by mcv »

hn_user82179 wrote: post #396
chair6 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We love our quirky, slow 1993 Mitsubishi JB500 campervan ( https://www.instagram.com/finnthejb500/ ), but the experience is not for everyone. We were able to register it in Washington without too much hassle. It definitely pays to do some research and try to find a local-ish mechanic willing to work on them before you make the purchase.

Wow, what a great campervan. I've seen some of the egg-like old japanese campervans but not one like yours. Very cool!

Is that an unusual campervan to you? To me it looks like the most archetypal standard campervan there is. I've seen tons somewhat like it, although this looks like a particularly nice compact model.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#506

Post by mcv »

nickpeterson wrote: post #326
RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. Let's say everyone drives compact cars, then my risk level -- completely made up number -- is 20. However, if everyone's driving para-tanks while I keep driving my compact car, then my risk level rises to 60, due to aforementioned physics. Now, if I join everyone, then my risk level falls to 40, so I'm safer. But compare to the initial case, I'm still less safe. Hence the prisoner's dilemma.

I’ve been downvoted over this before but really we just need weight limits on cars. Efficiency is pretty closely aligned and we seem to regulate that just fine.

You need stricter license requirements for more dangerous cars. Get a commercial license if you want to drive an actual truck.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#507

Post by sk0g »

imp0cat wrote: post #425
sk0g wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds extremely high for what it is. The second-hand car market has probably gone insane over there as well though Here in Australia I bought a 6 year old Citroen DS3 for about EUR 5.5k, and it had around 60k km on it. Now I was looking at ~3 year old Golf GTI/R, and you can get them for about a 5% discount over buying a brand new one... Why.

The old one was mk7 and the new one mk8? That would explain things.

This was at the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022, so the Mk8 wasn't out yet. Mk 8 models are also a bit more expensive, so the discrepancy would be a bit better in that case, I would imagine. Out of curiosity, are the Mk8s not too well received, or are Mk7s preferred?

I don't mind the change, but my current car works and I might as well hold out for an EV like Cupra Born or Peugeot e-208 personally.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#509

Post by robertlagrant »

foldr wrote: post #494
robertlagrant wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How outrageous, they want to use the infrastructure like they're people? If you apply this to walking as well, you'll see how silly it is.

There are lots of roads in the US where there’s no sidewalk and you have to walk along the edge of the road if you’re a pedestrian. What’s silly about this? In general, it is perfectly legal to use roads for cycling and walking (though I'm sure there is some variation between jurisdictions).

It's silly that you think that this is anything to do with being a person. Why can't I walk in the middle of the road, you know, like a person? It's just such a bad faith argument.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#510

Post by dotancohen »

bluSCALE4 wrote: post #381
ElFitz wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So American drivers are aggressive towards those they think to be poorer than them? Why do you think that is? (genuinely curious)

Americans are aggressive as hell. I'm willing to bet that cyclist are maimed and murdered hourly by aggressive drivers and get away with it. I was personally ran off the road by an SUV because I apparently angered the driver, because yeah, killing me totally teaches me a lesson.

My sister moved to the US for her husband to study there, he was murdered by a NY city garbage truck white riding a bicycle last year.

Apparently this is not uncommon, almost routine. The driver ran off, and the next day another person - not the real driver - turned himself in to the police. Apparently the Mafia has sone exchange program with the garbage companies, they do each other favors. Somebody will now sit in prison for decades, for a murder the detective knows he did not commit, apparently to repay some debt. And my brother-in-law's murderer is still driving garbage trucks on roads with cyclists.

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