this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Probably because it's not safe to drive them around giant pickups who can't see over their hoods
This is how we got in this mess, an arms race of trying to feel safe around larger and larger hunks of metal on the road. Americans just have to endanger everyone else for their own peace of mind.
How's that different from driving a car roughly the same size?
Just noting as a reference these trucks are 11ft long, a Miata is roughly 20% longer at 13ft.
Just for reference a Fiat 500 is roughly 9.75 feet long.
Maybe in the 70s, a modern 500 is listed at 11.6 ft
It looks like I got my info mixed up, thank you for the correction.
Doing comparisons like these don’t make sense when motorcycles and trikes exist.
I didn't really intend for it to be a comparison or supporting the narrative these trucks are 'too small for America', I just find many people hear small truck and imagine "like a ford ranger but a little less", as their starting reference point. Gotta go smaller, scale is tough.
My bad. It just seems like the low hanging fruit everyone plays off of.
We actually used to get vehicles close to this size. The Suzuki samurai (really a jimny) was sold here for a number of years. Geo sold a fair number of almost kei cars that Suzuki made.
I’m a fan of limiting them from interstate highways, but keeping them registrable. It’s just dumb they cite “safety” even though the law explicitly calls out they aren’t required to be safe. I just want a nice 25-45 mph city truck to lug dirty junk around.
But if anyone is curious, Douglas deBoard imported so many European cars in the 80’s that cut into the profits of Mercedes USA enough that they pushed the law through. Buying them in Europe and importing them was actually cheaper (in some aspects) than buying a US market one. And the imported cars were better equipped!
It wasn’t even about protecting American manufacturers or trucks. Mercedes has just always been a huge dick.
No lie. Gray market Mercedes were awesome. Way more powerful and you could get base models with zero cruft - manual transmissions and wind up windows.
Ya. Everything’s expensive, so people buy the cheapest thing [with four wheels]. I don’t want folks on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum to think these are a safe option.
If(?) a ‘90s Honda sedan is safer but the Kei is new and looks cute, for the same price many will choose the less safe option.
Eight Californians die on our roads every day here and I can’t wait for some solutions. I really do empathize with everyone you readers care about (no oil companies, no just-for-funsies-truck manufacturers) - I hate the thought of crumpled and crushed human bodies.
What makes you think it's not safe?
Thin steel frame, no air bags, no crumple zones.
Check out the crash tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roLcNwRi1Sk&t=40s
Ouch
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Wow, the Kei truck does not fare well at all in that offset test!
Just added something about that - articles & crash tests over the years. Was interested in little vehicles myself. Intrigued seeing them on college campuses.
Europe and Japan all have freight trucks driving around, so I don't buy that. The fact that many states won't allow these is American truck manufacturing protectionism, nothing more. It's the same reason you can only get a 3/4 or 1 ton truck from Ford, Chevy, or Ram (chicken tax).
It's all about the chicken tax.
The front view from a freight truck is better than that of a f150.
Cab over engine freight trucks with excellent visibility, not jacked up chevys where your view of the ground starts 20 feet in front of you
And that's precisely because the option isn't readily available here. We can argue merits of different countries versus the US, but at the end of the day it is what it is unless something changes at the legislative level.
When say a contractor goes to purchase a work vehicle, the option is either a van, which have pathetic motors and hauling capabilities, or a pickup from one of the big 3 that can be outfitted with a utility body. Sometimes you can score one of those Isuzu cabovers, but they're typically outfitted with a full sized box on the chassis, and they're far and few between, and often more expensive. Vans are also stupid expensive, especially 4x4 models, because of the van life crowd. The options really are much more limited than other parts of the world, and I truly believe it's to keep prices high and the money vacuum humming. Plus, you can find an older utility body truck for a fraction of the cost of a used van (I just did this 6 months ago; granted I'm in California, so my experience may not be the norm).
I ended up buying a Ram 2500 when looking for a work truck. I would've loved a 25/35 class van, but I need 4x4 (mountains, snow), and because of the premium those models fetch due to demand from the van life people, that wasn't an option.
And I dunno about other people, but I know what's in front of my truck at all times. It really isn't that hard to mind your surroundings.
Ban anything bigger than a Kei?
Source
I'm sorry, their problem is that the massive trucks are somehow in danger because they weren't designed to handle being hit by a vehicle less than half its size?
What a ridiculous statement.
They took a street legal Smart ForTwo…
Then crashed it into a little electric truck and a golf cart…
And they want stuff to be as safe as the Smart car.
That's not what they are saying at all. They're saying small vehicles aren't even safe in crashes with other small vehicles, let alone with bigger vehicles.
But then it's these giant pickups which are unfit and should not be road legal.
And yet Smart cars are legal.
Smart cars had to pass US crash test standards and have the appropriate safety equipment. The kei trucks that you can currently import and use are 25+ years old and wouldn't have even passed US standards back then. Your legs are the crumple zone in these things.
I assume that new ones would have a chance, but it'd be expensive for a manufacturer to modify and certify for the US market. Small cars haven't sold well here, and the profit margins are slim.
Maybe with the recent size and price increases in autos here, well see some movement. I'd love a modern Honda kei to go with my element.
The crumple zone thing is a bit grey as the USA sells and allows trucks like the Isuzu NPR/Chevy Cab Over.