One way to reduce the speed of such large vehicles in urban areas is cyclists to conspicuously use the wider lane. I do this regularly with my Class 1 ebike (assists to 20mph), in part because the wider lane is smoother (I often carry a child whose disability means they don't handle bumps well), there's less debris, and especially because I'm so much more visible. Yeah, I get honked at (which means drivers see me!), but the speed limit is an upper limit, not a minimum, and I'm usually going close to that (yeah, I know that doesn't matter when we get splattered by a road-rager in a toy tank, but I will not sit idly by).
The normalization of massive climate-controlled lazy-boxes is both bonkers to me as a person who thrives on moving under my own power, and understandable: we like getting something for ~nothing, and it's so easy not to consider the long-term consequences of regularly spending fuel to move a couple tons of metal and plastic to drive two miles to pick up some groceries.
The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
781–790 of 816 posts
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#782WA state recently passed a law about e-bikes/e-motorcycles to deal with the issue of younger teens on these kinda moped-style e-bikes going very fast around town (and often riding quite recklessly). The law is reasonable, but it strikes me what a double standard there is for biking vs driving. For biking, there's a danger that's noticed, and we quickly pass a law that straight up bans that type of bike for those ride…
I would 100% be in favor of banning these oversized vehicles. European countries are doing the same precisely because these trucks and SUVs are ridiculously effective at mowing down pedestrians. They are a public health issue like cigarettes, drunk driving, and guns. And most of these large trucks on the road are driven by insecure suburban men who work office jobs and haul maybe a couch once a year. The US needs to have a reckoning on its deadly addiction to automobiles.
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#783Earlier quoted context omitted.
No offense to other people, but I couldn't give two shits about whether they're safely walking to the store or not. I only care about myself and my family.
Being proud of selfish behavior is something that is embarrassing to see. What a great role model you are.
he’s not wrong, why should i choose a less safe vehicle for my family to ride in? large heavy vehicles are safer for the occupants in a multi vehicle collision, and in order to protect yourself from large vehicles(including bigger trucks/semis) you should be in a large vehicle too. it’s suicidal to choose a smaller car because trucks make you mad
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#784WA state recently passed a law about e-bikes/e-motorcycles to deal with the issue of younger teens on these kinda moped-style e-bikes going very fast around town (and often riding quite recklessly). The law is reasonable, but it strikes me what a double standard there is for biking vs driving. For biking, there's a danger that's noticed, and we quickly pass a law that straight up bans that type of bike for those ride…
I don't know the particulars, but if what's going on in WA is like what's going on in my California town, I don't think it's reasonable. I see teens going around on ebikes, and people freak out over them in ways that seem completely inappropriate to the kids scooting around. I think it's mostly a reaction to seeing young people being young people, as far as I can tell. Same thing happens on NextDoor, a few kids hangi…
I mean are you in the hood or not?
Easy for you to say this if you're from Happysville, CA, USA, but if you're near Oakland or SF you know these kids DO form "gang"-like groups and block traffic, the bridge, swerve through traffic.
It's chill if the kids near you are respectful but the reason Gen Z as a whole ride these bikes is because they actively want to ride fast like motorcycles without license or registration.
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#785In the USA, an order of magnitude more people on foot are killed each year by people driving cars and trucks than are killed in mass shootings. [0][1] It is a massive problem that receives a disproportionate amount of attention. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/pedestrian-bike-safety/about/pedestrian-... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_...
more europeans are killed from not having AC/heat-related deaths than both of those.
I don't think any of these are apples to apples comparisons tbh your point still stands without the extreme analogy.
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#786I have long held that larger vehicles should have higher licensing requirements purely based on stats. We see it in the stats that large vehicles are disproportionately dangerous to other vehicles and people so licensing should catch up. We have motorcycle licenses, why don't we have SUV licenses? Similarly, the penalties and limits should be higher. BAC should be lower. Fines higher. Etc etc. You want to drive a big…
We could in theory replace gas taxes with per-axle weight taxes (again; most US interstates were originally built on per-axle weight taxes prior to the switch to gas taxes for maintenance funding). Per-axle weight is a much more direct number to road wear and tear than gas taxes have ever been (especially because it's exponential, road wear and tear is related to per axle weight to the fourth power).
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#787Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it common in other states that you only need a test for a license. Where I live (in the US) if you are a new driver (under 18) you need 30 hours of classroom instruction, 18 hours of trainer-driving time, a 6 month learner permit period with many restrictions and then a finally test, iirc.
Only Florida, Maryland, and New York require adults who are new drivers to take any kind of class/instruction. (Most states require it under 18, with a few under 21 or 25.) Everywhere else you can just walk in and take the test. The perhaps greater problem though is that those tests are completely trivial.
Florida is a declaration of experience for minors and nothing(?) for adults except a (computer) knowledge exam. If you turn 18, you can go and sit the knowledge exam and do a lap round the DMV.
For kids, it's 50 hours of road experience, and 10 at night, but a parent can sign that off. Maryland looks the same? You've got to do a knowledge test to get a learner's permit, 6 hours behind the wheel + 30 class, and then you get a provisional which can be upgraded to full. NY is also a 50/15 hour parent declaration and maybe(?) a supervised course for a few hours.
https://www.stateofflorida.com/drivers-license-steps/ https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/complete-pre-licensing-req...
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#788Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some of the "fifth wheel" setups they have in the US are terrifying too. Over here a "fifth wheel" coupling is a massive horseshoe-shaped plate that sits on the back of an artic tractor and is rated for some unholy loading and drawbar pull. Over there it looks very much like a standard 50mm towball welded to the end of a metre or so of scaff tube sticking up from the floor of a pickup. I used to do auto electrics for…
I don't know why you were down-voted, but I agree. It's also alarming how often you see people towing trailers that aren't even close to being level here. It almost seems like SOP.
See I don't mind "not level" so much, for myself. If I'm towing a trailer and it's not level it's because it's probably for a small car so it's probably in the sub-500kg range and its axles are lower than my towball even with the air suspension down as low as it will go.
The weight balance can be all to hell, it won't matter - it's not going to be long enough or heavy enough to push a two tonne Range Rover around.
Anything that's an appreciable fraction of my wheelbase between the hitch and axle, and over a tonne? Yeah I'll take a little care over getting that set up.
I tow 3500kg on a braked twin-axle trailer fairly often. You'd notice it was there, especially braking for a junction at the bottom of a hill, but with the weight a little forward and maybe 50-70kg on the hitch the major sign that anything is there is the trailer light telltale blinking when you indicate ;-)
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#789Earlier quoted context omitted.
Minivans and station wagons are just as good as a Tahoe for transporting a family.
Better, actually. Visibility is way better in either of those than a giant-ass SUV.
For the downvoters I lost a whole-ass F150 AND THE UTILITY TRAILER IT WAS TOWING behind the goddamn A-pillar on my wife's Sorento. This kind of shit wasn't possible in any of her prior station wagons or in any of the vans I've ever driven. Y'all need to quit playing.
Re: The deadly rise of giant trucks and SUVs
#790Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or you know you could just veer entirely off-topic and turn this into some kind of ageist food fight. That's an option too I suppose.
[flagged]
"Olds are some of the worst drivers on the road"
A bold claim, let's see if accident statistics back it.
"Drivers 65 to 74 account for 13.6% of licensed drivers, but represent only 7.6% of drivers in all crashes"
"Sixteen- to 19-year-olds represent 3.8% of licensed drivers, but account for 8.8% of drivers in all crashes"
Nope, guess not.
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/age-of-dr...