I posted a rant about this on Twitter. Here's the transcription:
ALTAmerica needs regulations on vehicle size. I've seen full-size pickups get bigger and bigger over the last twenty years, and this has reached the point of sheer absurdity.
Nobody needs a truck this big unless they're doing commerical medium-duty loads. And then you're just better off getting a proper medium-duty truck like an Isuzu cabover or an International.
But the truth is that the auto industry actively caters to a small subset of insecure American men who want to buy such absurdly massive trucks to look tough, and they should be held accountable for this.
Pedestrian deaths are reaching an all-time high. The price of fuel is skyrocketing due to the war. And the planet is still heating up. Why do not need these giant death machines on our roads, and we never did.
I don't want giant pickup trucks taxed, as some propose. I want them to be legistlated out of existence.
(End of tweet transcription.)
I used to work at a place with a drive thru and without exception, every single time I saw one of these huge newer trucks it was being used to transport one person, the driver. Maybe a passenger as well as. And nothing else. The trucks that were obviously being used to do work: haul stuff, haul trailers, were always much smaller older model trucks, with a few exceptions for specialized vehicles like tow trucks. I'm sure that part of this is that the people who worked hauling stuff around with a pickup all day can't afford these stupid monstrosities. Ban them.
Not to mention most American suburbs and city streets were designed for much smaller cars, making massive trucks like this parked on the curb a pain in the ass at best and an active hazard that chokes up traffic and leads to more accidents and more likelihood for pedestrians crossing the street to be hit at worst. I live in a neighborhood where most of the houses, and the city planning, went up between the 30′s and 50′s--thus the streets, in theory, are supposed to allow two cars to drive in opposite directions. This is not fucking possible because apparently 60% of the men in my neighborhood have decided they need giant fucking trucks that haul around fuck-all. So this leads to playing goddamn vehicular “Operation” with everyone driving in the opposite direction of me on the road.
good articles with more info on pedestrian death factors including the increase in "small trucks" aka SUVs, pickups and vans. The second one is an older 2018 article that discusses the issue with the federal highway administration's approach at the time of essentially blaming pedestrians and giving them safety tips instead of addressing our infrastructure and other contributing issues.
Every time i see a truck this size they have a thin blue line sticker
