At a certain point tho, if everyone else is driving a truck, you either drive a compact out of pure moral-high-ground spite or you get a truck/full-size SUV as well to even your chances of survival.

I'm not saying escalation is a Good Thing™, only that it's inevitable when people are culturally obsessed with driving absurd bullshit.

Or you do the math and realize that with a modern, safe automobile, your chance of dying in an accident with a pickup is so small that upgrading your own vehicle to a pickup is a rounding error.

To be clear, I agree that humans being humans, we do love to get into escalating arms races.

I've seen at least 3 reports in my area where a head-on collision with an impaired driver (in the truck) usually ended up killing or seriously injuring the passengers in this 'modern, safe automobile'. Some examples:

* https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/drunk-driver-who-kill...

* https://www.kxan.com/traffic/two-children-killed-in-cedar-pa...

* https://www.kxan.com/top-stories/two-from-austin-dead-after-...

* https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/married-only-minutes-texas-n...

Or you keep driving a sensible car because you don't want to give in to the stupid and prefer to spend your money elsewhere.

It is an arms race and it is the right time for the industry to use the growing fear and demand for security in the global population to make some extra $$$ (just seen from a purely economical point of view of course).

I agree that it is probably inevitable but there is also people who don't join the race and that is lifting my hopes.

If they are so dangerous, shouldn't they at the very least require a stricter driver's license?

Things like “danger,” “skill,” “knowledge,” and “safety” aren’t really part of license exams in the US. They’ll pretty much just give a license to anyone here, literally.

It’s actually one of our bigger problems (it has big implications on safety, infrastructure, urban planning, &c.), but not many people really care. Cars are too deeply associated with “freedom” and “success” and individuality; for a lot of people I’d say they might be the biggest icon of America after the flag.

Yeah that's not a thing here. I have driven a 26ft moving truck from a rental company with nothing more than a rental form signed.

https://www.budgettruck.com/moving-trucks-accessories/truckd...

You can huff and puff about things you don't like being "American" but the rest of the world is following along about as fast as they can.

I hope I did not offend you somehow by phrasing it too American but you seem to understand what I say just fine.