Rhode Island DMV Is Trying To Ban Kei Trucks Again

I wrote a related reply about lack of small trucks in the US last night on The Autopian.

The large pickup/SUV was not exactly chosen by the people. The 1964 Chicken Tax has limited people’s choices and remains in order to give US domestic automakers an advantage over imported competitors. Combined with CAFE rules (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) of the ’70s small trucks were effectively wiped from the US market.

Why would a US automaker produce a small truck when they could produce a larger truck with more profit?

The things is they aren't even that small. I visited my friend in Japan on a ski trip and he owns one of these trucks. It fit the two of us in the front seats extremely comfortably, and we put my ski bag and all my gear in the bed with tons of room to spare. It was way more comfortable than traveling with the same gear in a sedan would have been. It feels like we only have a problem with it in America because our roads and our vehicles are so goddamn gigantic.

The DMV had a problem because owners were exploiting a loophole to get these on the road even when they don't meet safety standards.