Keep these monstrosities off our roads 🙅‍♂️

[frantasaur@mastodon.ie]

@reloadedhead @fj Where is the line for you in the balance between individual wants and the known dangers? We can already count the dead children, and measure how poor the visibility is. More than once I have had to bang on an SUV to stop them driving over my child laden bakfiets at a crossing (because they went through the lights when there wasn’t space to go on and blocked the crossing so I had to pass in front and they couldn’t see me and started to move with the traffic in front.

[stellar@mk.absturztau.be]

@fj@mastodon.social they are very rare but i see sometimes those weird child-crushing machines on our nice safe roads where i live, why would you need that to go get groceries?

[mikaeleiman@mastodon.sdf.org]

@jerrej @WestLawns I haven't found more than a handful of alterantives for: full EV, seven seats for adults, price below 65k € . The short list I have is Peugeot e5008 and Kia EV9…

Our current car is a Sharan, and if there was an EV version of it we'd probably go with that.

[sanityinc@hachyderm.io]

@fj I was interested to read recently that US trucks have largely become bigger due to perverse incentives from the EPA: essentially, makers have to make vehicles more fuel efficient over time, but fuel economy is calculated relative to footprint (wheelbase x track width). Making trucks bigger is easier than making the engines more efficient.

[felis_catus_domesticus@mstdn.party]

@fj

Their countries, their laws, their choice..

[felis_catus_domesticus@mstdn.party]

@skc @fj @macmanx

I second this..

[trebach@functional.cafe]

@isocat @fj There's plenty of Toyota and Nissan trucks in the US. The Kei trucks are banned in many states though

[alison@beige.party]

@fj I'd love to see the comparison of the F150 now and the F150 30 years ago. Older one was able to do the work requirements but wasn't a giant on the road.

[isocat@tiggi.es]

@trebach @fj Yes, there are, and they're US trucks just as much as any Chev, Ford, or Ram. There are _numerous_ kinds of pickup truck unavailable in the US because of the Chicken Tax.

Kei vehicles are federally illegal; the thing you're thinking of is some states wisely refusing registration of Japanese-spec vehicles brought in under the federal 25-year rule (vehicles >25 years old can be imported regardless of regulatory noncompliance).

Why is that wise of those states? Because Japanese-spec vehicles are, in several inherent ways, not safely compatible with US right-hand traffic. The same way US vehicles are, in several inherent ways, unsafe in Japan's left-hand traffic, which is why Japan's capitulation was foolish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

[amackif@mastodon.social]

@fj they (USA) should really FO with their small-dick and small-brain compensators.

[frantasaur@mastodon.ie]

@ghard @reloadedhead @richlv @fj yeh, I always make a point of staring at them with a disgusted look on my face. Worst is these things in Amsterdam rush hour, when they go through the traffic lights even though there is no space to go on, and then block the crossing. Most cyclists at RAI crossing will bang on the side as they go past, but it’s necessary as they might move on as the traffic moves and won’t see us.

[waldorf@infosec.exchange]

@fj As it should! American automakers are vulgar!

[frantasaur@mastodon.ie]

@reloadedhead @tkissing there are limits to the respect owed to a “respectful question”, depending on the topic. If I politely ask the internet “why shouldn’t an individual have the right to own another human being?” I should remember that for other people it’s not just an “interesting philosophical question”, but something that has caused suffering. SUVs disproportionately kill pedestrians and other road users, and terrify the rest of us. If question is not disingenuous it’s lacking empathy.

[erik@mastodon.infrageeks.social]

@fj @lisamelton Also just stupidly inefficient in their use of space. It’s just automotive man-spreading.

[flies4no1@mastodon.nl]

@fj Todlergrinders. Keep them out.

[kj6dbe@mastodon.hams.social]

@fj
Having driven in Europe on a vacation last year, I wouldn't drive any pick-up larger than a Ford Ranger there. The roads and parking aren't sized to handle those oversized monsters for anything other than commercial purposes.

[vampirdaddy@chaos.social]

@fj
EU has no law barring US monsters from the market.
The cars must only obey the security requirements, esp. pedestrian safety.

Beyond 3.5t total weight (i.e. max loaded) a vehicle qualifies as freight transporter and requires an enterprise, a regularly re-tested commercial vehicles driving license (including medical check-ups every 2 years).

Plus speed limit at 80km/h as for any other truck.

[kensan@mastodon.social]

@nuwagaba2 Not from my experience (in Japan). Why would the cost be high?

[leadore@sunny.garden]

@mintyfries
What is it with people who start their car up and idle it for at *least* 10 minutes, even when it's not that cold? Several of my neighbors do that, especially the neighbor whose driveway is right outside my window, and whose son does the same thing plus he has these earth-shaking woofers in it going the whole time.

And they also open and slam the doors at least a dozen times too. What the hell are they doing, loading up for a week's vacation?

When I leave, I get in my car, start it up, and go. If it's really cold I might let it idle for 1-2 minutes at most. They warm up faster if you go ahead and start driving.

@fj

[leadore@sunny.garden]

@fj
A woman I know was killed by one of these while walking back to her car in a parking lot. The asshole never saw her, sped past another car that had stopped to wait for her, and she died on the spot.