Why? If they can't make a vehicle safe enough to not require low speed vehicle standards then they should make their vehicles safer.

Low-speed vehicles are essentially golf carts. Do you expect golf carts to be safe at 65 mph?

Will classify them as motorcycles

Yes, the other option Toyota had was to classify then as UTV's, like quad bikes and gators. No speed limit, but not street legal either.

They should probably do that: sell a variant without doors and with knobby tires as a UTV.

UTVs can be plated as street legal in a lot of states, so that might be more useful for some people.

If they want to go 65mph, yes I expect them to be safe.

Some quad bikes can go at speeds close to that, and they are insanely dangerous.

Because they can't bear to make vehicles smaller. That's the real terror on American roads. Something like 60% of vehicles are huge because it makes the driver feel better. And indeed, it makes the driver safer in a collision - at the cost of making everyone else in the area less safe. Something has to be done to stop this trend first and foremost.

After that, when vehicle sizes start trending down towards reasonable, we can look at getting speeds up without reducing overall safety.

I think the reason trucks are so huge these days is not the ride feel. It's the EPA gives more lenient pollution restrictions based on size of vehicle. So instead of making the engine less polluting, just make the truck bigger and keep the same engine. It's like a cereal box that's only 1/3 full.

And you can expense a >6000lb vehicle

I believe it's a mix of both.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUV#United_States

The idea to introduce light trucks in passenger-car shape to get around pollution limits was the car manufacturers' idea. However, the US public ran with it and bought because of the perceived higher safety and social status that comes with driving a larger, heavier vehicle than everyone else. And they continue to buy to attempt to one-up each other even though the pollution limits now apply to SUVs as well as smaller passenger cars.

My understanding was that the American domestic auto manufacturers were getting their asses beat by foreign competitors who made much better cars. American companies could differentiate themselves with giant vehicles that wouldn't be practical in Europe or Asia. But because the giant vehicles became status symbols the low end started imitating them and now nobody sells cars in the US any more.

It's definitely a blend. I bought something HN would melt down over mostly due to the ride quality. I can drive from Houston to El Paso and not feel it.

I don't buy cars based on their pollution capabilities like some Captain Planet villain. Maybe other consumers are different.

You might be the last person on earth that believes this is about safety. The rules are protectionism to keep cheap/affordable vehicles out of the US. Those rules and setion 179 bonus depreciation on large cars are what are keeping the American auto industry alive without having to actually compete.

The bigger question is: why does the truck need to be a Low Speed Vehicle?

Other commenters in this thread explain that they own Kei imports and drive them faster.

Imported vehicles are grandfathered in under the 25 year rule and are not subject to FMVSS. New build vehicles are.