I'm guessing you don't live in the south. Pickup trucks are a major way of life for a lot of people. They certainly wouldn't be happy about increased regulatory burden.

Attitudes on roads vary wildly based on the community in question. There's a large surface area of this country that doesn't care to have non-vehicular traffic sharing the roadways.

Urban communities will prioritize different needs than suburban and rural communities. The two ends of the spectrum aren't really compatible because these are wholly different lifestyles that are geographically separable.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)#/media/File:1990...

Well depends what you need to do with, of course.

A quick search suggests that this Toyota can tow 3300lb (if the trailer has its own brakes, or only 1650lb if not).

So if you need to tow more than that, it won't work. 3300lb is very little, even our tiny (19ft) and light travel trailer is over 4000lb.

Of course, what is silly is the people with trucks that are never used to tow or carry anything heavier than a bicycle!

Plus, if work vehicles became lighter, work trailers would be forced to as well.

Try shopping for utility trailers. Anything affordable is very heavy steel & lumber. You can get light(er) trailers in aluminum but the price is much higher. I've never actually seen a contractor with one of those, too expensive.

And of course there is all the materials & equipment they're towing on it for the job. How do you suggest any of that become lighter?

given your example it's "want", not "need"

> 3300lb is very little, even our tiny (19ft) and light travel trailer is over 4000lb

Quick googling tells me that most European caravans are sub 1500kg / 3300lb, even the more spacious ones, "very little" and "tiny" are really subjective

Yes, how is this relevant? "Wants" are what drive humanity forward, not mere subsistence.

> Quick googling tells me that most European caravans are sub 1500kg / 3300lb, even the more spacious ones

Can you post a few links? Tried to find the most popular travel trailer models in Europe but not finding a good list.

Unless you're building the whole thing from carbon fiber, anything spacious is necessarily going to have some weight.

Ha, so it's spacious, not tiny and very little anymore...

Here's what seems to be the biggest one of that random brand well ranked on Google, 1330kg: https://www.caravelair-caravans.com/models/exclusive-line-58...

Playing gotcha word games is not the HN ethos.

To clarify, you brought up spacious travel trailers:

> most European caravans are sub 1500kg / 3300lb, even the more spacious ones

In contrast, the one I own is very small at 19ft, as mentioned upthread.

- the wheel wells are clean

- it's got a tonneau cover on

- no hitch receiver, it's empty, or there's no rust on the ball

- aftermarket anything (lights, step bumpers, lift kit, etc

- no dents, major scratches, or foreign materials on the bed or tailgate

Full disclosure: I have a Dodge 1500 in the driveway right now. In my defense the used truck market is fucking insane, I got this basically new for 60% of what a thoroughly used mid-sized truck would have cost me, and I actually do construction and timber work so the thing gets worked.

Mine is also used to haul a bed full of gravel when my drive needs repair or dirt for lawn correction. Not to mention I have a family.

Rear facing child seats while being 6 feet tall. Most cars I've tested don't support this. (Prius) Or no children can sit behind me because my front seat is sitting so close to the back seat that legs don't fit between. (Camero/Mustang)

Camry and Pasat seem to work, but warranties wouldn't cover things like bad child safety locks.... Not to mention, you can't haul things like gravel. =/

You go from full truck down to flat cars, completely ignoring the vehicles in between like soft-roader SUVS or the venerable minivan. Does none of these vehicles meet your people carrying needs?

People pay double (or more) for gas every year so they can drive around an empty bed and maybe save $50 on a rental once a year.

The gravel isn't for the driveway, but the road. However, we have hauled gravel for flower beds. It's about time to replace fence and some wood around the garage.

No, I don't haul daily or monthly, but more like quarterly and as-needed. (Tillers, Lawn mowers for example)

That is the problem which needs to be solved.

Small cars don't usually fit families well. =(

LOL - I'm imagining a Prius for a family of 6 =P

Because they are killing pedestrians and cyclists at an increasing rate in North America, while the same collisions are coming down in other developed countries. If the industry doesn't regulate itself, the government needs to step in for the common good.

And many of us aren't happy about the number of pedestrian deaths caused by these behemoths. Which one should we prioritize?

In my observation, vehicular traffic anywhere doesn't care to have non-vehicular traffic sharing the roadways. That doesn't mean that pedestrians, cyclists, or regulators should necessarily defer to their wishes.

What about electric vehicles?

Just note that looks can deceive on weight.

A Ford Maverick pickup truck is under 3800lb. A Tesla Plaid Model X is over 5300lb!

Pickup trucks don't need to be heavy. Japan has kei pickups, in the US, we had small pickups in the 80s and 90s. And then they disappeared throughout the early 00s.

A small truck with a small engine does small truck things, and has decent fuel economy and tremendous visibility.

But we can't buy those new anymore because you can't get a small truck to hit cafe standards, so large trucks it is.

If you need construction materials delivered, this can accommodate almost anything. However usually for things like a stack of drywall, you would order a truck with a crane - simply because it's quicker to unload. For personal use the answer is simply to get a trailer. Here a lot of gas stations rent trailers by the hour for a reasonable fee, so it's very easy.

RVs also fit into this category. Most of them are under 3.5t, so you just need a standard car license. Some larger B class variants (which I guess in the US would still be considered small) need a C license. Caravans (travel trailers) are designed to be ok to tow on a standard car license, but in some countries you need extra training. Larger RVs don't make much sense here, as you won't be able to go anywhere with them.

People who have boats either leave them docked, or have boats that fit on a trailer that can be towed by a standard car. Nothing special needed. Same for cars, just put them on a trailer and drive away. Professionals often use car carrier variants of the Mercedes Sprinter et al, which can carry one or two cars, and another towed behind.

The kei trucks aren't really a good replacement even for an S10 since so far as I can tell they won't run at highway speeds, but they're really good replacement for the Canam and Polaris money pits people buy (and are certainly way more capable of real work).

I don't own a truck anymore and now my "hack" is to remove the middle seats from my minivan and fold down the back row seats. That creates enough room that I can fit full 4'x8' sheets in it (with zero room to spare). I've hauled drywall and plywood in it with no problem. I sometimes get weird looks from folks when I roll up to the back of my minivan with a cart of plywood at the big box store.

Pretty sure the tiny bed on my grandfather's 1970 Datsun is larger than the beds on some of these behemoths.

Is it really dads? I've seen claims that is actually moms demanding this, dads just go along. (dads would be happy in a minivan, but their wife won't let their husbands be seen in one)