Frédéric Jacobs19h ago

Keep these monstrosities off our roads 🙅‍♂️

"US carmakers have accused Brussels of keeping their largest pick-up trucks, including the Ford F-150, the Chevy Silverado and the Ram 1500, off European roads”

https://www.ft.com/content/3eb796fd-bcdb-4a9f-89b7-f7d5e692a3cd

https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/renault-twingo-1998-3-door-hatchback-vs-ford-f-350-2016-4-door-pickup-crew-cab/

Show threadTomás García Gobet
@fj why not let people decide if they want such a large vehicle or not?
Apr 8 at 9:41amIceCubesApp
Show threadRihards Olups17h ago
@reloadedhead @fj Because they endanger others, use way more space and it also encourages driving like pricks.
Or is it just making pricks more visible?
Show threadTomás García Gobet16h ago

@richlv @fj do you mean they are more dangerous due to the size and potential damage in an accident?

I am genuinely asking, because I come from a land in which having pick-ups is very common in rural areas for work and stuff, but not that common in urban environments, because surely nobody wants to drive that in narrow streets!

Show threadAnders VB v5.016h ago
@reloadedhead @richlv @fj They absolutely are far more deadly in accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists (of which we have so many more in the EU than in the US).
Show threadYrjänä Rankka 🌻15h ago
@reloadedhead @richlv @fj I see aso’s driving these wank panzers around narrow streets in Amsterdam.
Show threadFranchesca10h ago
@ghard @reloadedhead @richlv @fj yeh, I always make a point of staring at them with a disgusted look on my face. Worst is these things in Amsterdam rush hour, when they go through the traffic lights even though there is no space to go on, and then block the crossing. Most cyclists at RAI crossing will bang on the side as they go past, but it’s necessary as they might move on as the traffic moves and won’t see us.
Show threadNini15h ago
@reloadedhead @richlv @fj From what I can tell, they're not even that good as duty vehicles and most never get used in that way.
Show threadThree plus or minus five15h ago

@richlv @fj @reloadedhead

First and foremost: large vehicles are safer for the people in them, but much less safe for those around them. They crush smaller cars. Small children cannot be seen if close to the front. The headlights blind me when one of these is behind me in the road. They block sight lines. I think that wanting a big truck is basically anti-social.
This goes double for cybertrucks.

Show threadMichael Porter13h ago
@ThreeSigma @richlv @fj @reloadedhead A little old, but still relevant: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24139147/suvs-trucks-popularity-federal-policy-pollution
The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars

How federal lawmakers helped SUVs and pickups take over America

Vox
Show threadThree plus or minus five13h ago
@MichaelPorter @reloadedhead @richlv @fj
I still feel that the 80s decision to classify SUVs as light vehicles was a big step down that slippery slope.
Show threadThree plus or minus five13h ago
@MichaelPorter @reloadedhead @richlv @fj (article paywalled)
Show threadMichael Porter13h ago
@ThreeSigma @reloadedhead @richlv @fj Odd, I didn't have trouble reading it (not a subscriber). Do they have a monthly limit that you ran into, maybe?
Show threadtribactam15h ago
@reloadedhead @richlv @fj
this article has an in depth analysis. these things are deadly. More mass = more momentum = more energy transfer in collision. Also, there is the fact that lower cars break legs, these things smash thoracic cages.
https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2025/being-hit-suv-increases-likelihood-death-or-serious-injury
Being hit by an SUV increases the likelihood of death or serious injury | LSHTM

The likelihood of a pedestrian or cyclist being fatally injured is 44% higher if they are hit by a sports utility vehicle (SUV) or light truck vehicle (LTV) compared with smaller passenger cars, new

LSHTM
Show threadTomás García Gobet15h ago
@tribactam @richlv @fj thank you for referencing this article. Very interesting read!
Show threadThree plus or minus five15h ago

@richlv @fj @reloadedhead

One thing we see in the US is a continual arms race to bigger and bigger vehicles, partly due to this “safer than thou” mentality, partly machismo. But when it’s normalized, narrow streets start to be seen as the problem instead of the vehicles. The streets become one-way, parking is terrible, the roads are torn up by the extra weight.

And you never, ever see any cargo being carried.

Show threadCatherine is not complacent13h ago
@reloadedhead @richlv @fj cities and suburban areas = pedestrians.
It used to be that if you unfortunate enough to be hit by a truck it would probably be a survivable accident. After all the mass of the grill really only came up a little bit over your hip. Now, if you’re hit by a truck, you’re going to be pulverized. I live in the US and it’s a nightmare. I absolutely will not ride a bicycle in my town anymore because I would be asking to die.
Show threadCurioso 🍉 🇺🇦 (jgg)10h ago

@reloadedhead @richlv @fj

Also, they waste much more oil. Environmental issues aside, oil is usually much cheaper in the US.

Most of people here really, really hate those monsters and see the people who drive them as idiots, psychos, or people trying to compensate something. That's not something you want people to think of you.

Simply, there is no need or advantage in having one.

Vans are very popular here, pick-ups nearly non existent. Rain could be a factor too; nobody wants to deal with wet cargo nearly every day.

Show threadMatt17h ago
@reloadedhead If you absolutely want to be an asshole, you can *have* such a vehicle alright. Drive it on your own lot, no problem. Public space is public, so the public makes the rules. We don't let people decide whether they want to take a dump in front of your doorstep or not either.
@fj
Show threadRustyFreewheel16h ago
@reloadedhead @fj Sounds like self entitlement
Show threadJordi16h ago
@reloadedhead @fj because they exist in a shared space.
Show threadsoc15h ago
@reloadedhead @fj Because letting random people slice the tires of such vehicles is not the way a civilized society should handle things.
Show threadtkissing15h ago
@reloadedhead Fuck off. Nobody wants to walk or bike near that shit. Hell, most people don't want to drive a normal car near it either.
You are free to move to the USA if you want to drive one.
Show threadTomás García Gobet15h ago
@tkissing chill, I asked respectfully. You should consider answering in a similar manner.
Show threadtkissing15h ago
@reloadedhead I considered that and decided that the likelihood of your question being in good faith is not very high.
Show threadTomás García Gobet15h ago
@tkissing I was genuinely asking. Still not a reason to go full ballistic, but that’s just my point of view.
Show threadtkissing15h ago

@reloadedhead
"Why not let people decide if they want a giant car?"
"Why not let people decide if they want to wear a mask when shopping during a pandemic?"

If you want to ask good faith questions and get polite answers, try sounding different from assholes who very loudly put their personal comfort over the health and life of others for the past ~6 years.

Show threadTomás García Gobet15h ago

@tkissing I expect polite answers because I think respect is something everyone should be granted, regardless if we agree or not. It is very easy to not insult people just because.

I don’t own such a truck and I don’t even want to. I’ve never hurt anyone in any way or form. So I don’t know why you are being this aggressive. But you do you.

Show threadOpen Risk14h ago

@reloadedhead unfortunately the attitude of presuming the worst and attacking people in unacceptable manner on that presumption is common around here.

We need to find collective ways to calm those people down as they poison the Commons with their insensitivity. Moderators are apparently not up to the task.

Show threadTomás García Gobet14h ago
@openrisk internet in general has always been. I do understand the “presuming the worst” attitude. I am very reserved when it comes to trust. But respect on the other hand is very easy to grant!
Show threadOpen Risk14h ago

@reloadedhead yes, its not about trust or any sort of agreement but basic civility (that we normally grant each other in real life). Verbally attacking complete strangers is not something we should normalize.

In adtech media people blame the platforms for profiting from polarization etc. but clearly there is more than that at play. Mastodon is supposed to do better, because open and non-profit etc. but it isn't. Everyday I witness such episodes around here... Does not bode well.

Show threadtkissing14h ago
@reloadedhead Demanding respect is easy. Showing it is not, otherwise you'd have at least phrased your question differently. Or you would have thought about the topic for about half a second and realized that the size and a weight of a car effects other people at least as much as the person driving it.
As for politeness in language, I couldn't care less. US (debate) culture, including in the House and Senate, is all about polite words and a calm voice, but look at what that country is doing.
Show threadFranchesca9h ago
@reloadedhead @tkissing there are limits to the respect owed to a “respectful question”, depending on the topic. If I politely ask the internet “why shouldn’t an individual have the right to own another human being?” I should remember that for other people it’s not just an “interesting philosophical question”, but something that has caused suffering. SUVs disproportionately kill pedestrians and other road users, and terrify the rest of us. If question is not disingenuous it’s lacking empathy.
Show threadslotos15h ago

@reloadedhead @fj

Not everything is a matter of want. I.e. we tend to not let people decide whether they want to kill children with blunt objects.

Show threadfilobus14h ago
@reloadedhead @fj https://goingdark.social/@cyberwitch/116369172598482083
You know, there are many truck drivers that get struck into narrow roads just because they followed G maps, that's another reason
If you are a danger for people you have no right to do as you wish for no reasonable necessity
The Cyberwitch (@[email protected])

@[email protected] they're so dangerous. Part of this arms-race of "protecting ourselves on the road to the risk of everyone else." Their high center of gravity and sense of overconfidence is terrible for snowy conditions, and their enormous hoods make blindspots where even people in my neighborhood got killed by one of these things talking a turn and not seeing pedestrians.

GoingDark
Show threadmartin lentink 🇪🇺 🇺🇦📎13h ago

@reloadedhead @fj I agree. We don't want them.

So that's decided...

Show threadGiovanni Petri12h ago
@reloadedhead @fj
maybe because the ones most endangered are not the ones driving such vehicles?
Show threadFranchesca11h ago
@reloadedhead @fj Where is the line for you in the balance between individual wants and the known dangers? We can already count the dead children, and measure how poor the visibility is. More than once I have had to bang on an SUV to stop them driving over my child laden bakfiets at a crossing (because they went through the lights when there wasn’t space to go on and blocked the crossing so I had to pass in front and they couldn’t see me and started to move with the traffic in front.
Show threadmalte8h ago
@reloadedhead Because they are partly making that choice for everyone else around them too. It impacts - sometimes literally - other people in traffic. @fj