Colorado is considering a bill that would allow people to drive adorable Japanese tiny-trucks on most of the state’s roads. US car manufacturers are fighting against the bill.
Colorado is considering a bill that would allow people to drive adorable Japanese tiny-trucks on most of the state’s roads. US car manufacturers are fighting against the bill.
The ‘kei’ cars and trucks are growing in popularity in the U.S. But many states have explicitly banned them in recent years. A bill at the statehouse would allow them on Colorado roads.
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/63424412
Maybe those car manufacturers should get with the kei truck program instead of fighting it.
They get insane margins on those big payment princesses. For a lot of US automakers that’s what’s keeping them above water.
The market shifting towards small affordable utility vehicles is their worst nightmare.
I love living in a country where businesses make the rules.
Truck size growth is driven at least partially, if not mainly, by gas mileage regulations, where you can have lower gas mileage on larger vehicles, an allowance that was made to accommodate work vehicles. So people who want a powerful vehicle are forced to go bigger. If these regulations were relaxed or eliminated, we would have much smaller but still powerful trucks. I'd be interested in something like that...
Your reasoning is lacking.
You're "forced" to go bigger, because car manufacturers are too greedy. The big pickups and SUVs are basically classified as commercial trucks, so the regulations are much looser when it comes to emissions and safety. Which make them cheaper to produce.
Car companies are more than capable of making powerful small cars under current regulations and even stricter ones, but that has a smaller profit margin. That's why they are fighting this, they want to keep their margins and not have to compete with these cars.
Just make those who want to get lower taxes for driving "commercial use" vehicles bring clear evidence of commercial use.
Not sure I see the connection between margin and truck size.
Or we could just tighten the regulations on large vehicles, rather than removing the whole system which is a net good over all.
Best not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Well it doesn't look like a net good right now. We have a million oversized trucks everywhere. We could have the same number of trucks, but smaller, for the same or less gas consumption. It would also be less dangerous to pedestrians and easier on the roads. Less tire wear and tear, and so on.
Whereas you are correct, there’s a really smart solution. If we simply got everyone who owns a big pickup truck (not for work) and euthanized them, our problems would be solved.
I like they way you think
I just wish Japan didn't drive on the wrong side of the road
The guys on the YouTube channel MightyCarMods love these little trucks
I was thinking about importing something like that back when I had money
One day, me too.
which have top speeds of around 60 miles per hour and can lack modern safety equipment like airbags
I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to let people fly down a highway at 55mph without airbags. Maybe restrict the bill just a little to ensure these sorts of things.
The article says in like the next sentence they won't be allowed on highways.
… and then the very next sentence after that:
“But there's absolutely no reason why they can't be safely operated on city streets or on farm roads [or] state highways where the speed limit's 55,” he said.
Us already lets people fly down the highway without seatbelts, functional brakes, airbags, any safety equipment, rusted out chassis etc. Its always land of the free until someone starts threatening the margins of a corporation.