Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by libraryatnight on Thursday April 20, 2023 @06:44PM (#35647526)

I know a lot of people with those ridiculous big trucks, and 2 of them use them for utility, one has a boat and one has a 5th wheel. The others just...have them. So until there's zero people driving them for vanity or aggression reasons, it doesn't feel dishonest at all. Your response feels like a typical US response to social ills - turn a blind eye to a problem because a) the thing causing the problem is fun/popular/profitable b) there's a handful of hyper specific potentially valid reasons for the thing that have nothing to do with the people causing the problem (most of the giant trucks in my area can't even haul anything because of the vanity lifts and various "upgrades" - they would make the argument you are as to why they should be allowed but they would not support anything that would restrict them to those purposes).

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by chrisco255 on Thursday April 20, 2023 @09:38PM (#35648859)

I know a lot of people who drive big trucks, and all of them regularly use them for: hauling building materials, towing RVs, towing boats, towing four wheelers/dirt bikes/UTVs/snowmobiles, pulling utility trailers (for trash pickup, job site cleanup, lumber & metal, piping, furniture, landscaping, tree service, etc), tailgating parties, hunting, mudding, off-roading, barbecuing (towing a smoker), etc.

Literally don't know one person that drives a truck "for vanity" and I gotta know at least a few hundred truck owners.

I drive a F350. It will tow a mountain. I pull a fifth wheel with it. People are often surprised to hear that it gets 20 miles per gallon when it's not towing anything.

While I love the truck, I miss my old Tacoma. The Tacoma was a smoother ride and far more practical for urban navigation. But Tacomas have a bout a fifth or even less as much tow capacity as an F350.

Big trucks aren't causing social ills for anyone except people that have nothing better to do but complain about other people enjoying their own lives.

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by throwworhtthrow on Thursday April 20, 2023 @10:02PM (#35648989)

> Big trucks aren't causing social ills for anyone except people that have nothing better to do but complain about other people enjoying their own lives.

"These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35202168

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by chrisco255 on Thursday April 20, 2023 @10:35PM (#35649172)

Oh cute, a thinkpiece for a hot button topic exists on the internet. Meanwhile Motor Vehicle Deaths have not changed significantly in 40+ years.

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

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by throwworhtthrow on Thursday April 20, 2023 @10:52PM (#35649278)

"Effects of large vehicles on pedestrian and pedalcyclist injury severity" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36031254/

Just one of many reports from the past 20 years documenting the correlation between vehicle size and deaths/injuries to those on the receiving end. You'll find similar conclusions from IIHS, NHTSA, etc.

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by kaibee on Thursday April 20, 2023 @10:54PM (#35649292)

> Meanwhile Motor Vehicle Deaths have not changed significantly in 40+ years.

This is not the win you think it is.

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by kalleboo on Friday April 21, 2023 @12:27AM (#35649800)

> Meanwhile Motor Vehicle Deaths have not changed significantly in 40+ years

That's a massive failure, in other developed countries, motor vehicle deaths have drastically declined in 40 years.

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by GiorgioG on Friday April 21, 2023 @04:57AM (#35651298)

I drive a 2016 F150 crew cab, my first truck and generally speaking I love it. Aside from the usual utility (being able to haul large things like plywood/drywall for home projects or 25 bags of mulch every spring), my son and I play ice hockey and the equipment bags are large, plus the hockey sticks themselves are up to 5 feet long. I see many families at the rink struggling to store a bag or two into their SUVs and it’s a tight fit at best. I didn’t buy this truck as some kind of manly status symbol - it’s a comfortable and versatile vehicle and I make no apologies for owning it.

As I get older I’ve grown less tolerant of people trying to tell other people how they should live. Feel free to live your own life as you see fit as long as you’re not directly hurting other folks.

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Re:Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks by libraryatnight on Friday April 21, 2023 @06:09AM (#35651730)

We used to do pretty much everything you listed with much smaller trucks that didn't have grills capable of encasing an entire 9 year old child.

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