cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/319198
I got a lot of push-back on a comment I made here about how bigger trucks/suvs are the primary cause the increasing pedestrian death-rate in America so apparently more people need to see this video.
deleted by creator
This video is recommended on Tournesol:
[+49🌻] Not Just Bikes: These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing UsDo you think this video should be more recommended ? If so, please compare it on tournesol to improve its ranking
tournesol.app is an open-source web tool created by a non profit organization aiming to evaluate the overall quality of the information in web videos in order to fight against misinformation and other dangerous content with the help of collaborative comparisons.
To know more about it, see https://tournesol.app/about
I’m a bot made by a community member not related to Tournesol organization. Feel free to reply, my owner is watching…
So my family has two trucks. We run a ranch in a rural area and we use them a lot. I also use my skid steer and tractor multiple times a week. That said, if we can be more economical as a whole, great. But electric vehicles are ignoring the mining and shipping costs of batteries and there’s no way an electric truck can haul what I need to now and there’s no viable solution for electric farming or construction equipment. Also, wasn’t it found that about 70% of pollution comes from shipping? And wasn’t more that 90% of pollution from the top 100 companies in the world? So why are a small part of consumer vehicles the problem? Or is it just more conscionable people to offload on?
So? You have a narrow use case that has nothing to do with what’s being discussed here. Every time SUVs clogging cities is discussed you people come out “but how will I run my farm”.
People running farms or similar businesses have been using pick-ups and other utility vehicles since times immemorial. I don’t know if you’re lying about the farm or not, frankly it doesn’t matter, it shouldn’t be any of your business whether or not suburbia is using massive trucks to ferry their kids to and from school.
Actually they’re actively hurting you. Because manufacturers now target people who won’t ever use them as utility vehicles, you can no longer buy basic cheap reliable pick-ups. They’re all swollen with plastic bodywork that won’t hold up to farm work, all the pointless faff inside is adding weight that’s actively hurting your fuel efficiency whilst again making it less rugged.
The target audience is now an urban/suburban dweller who will lease it for three years and swap for a newer one, so everything is now less repairable when something goes wrong 6 months after the warranty runs out.
Plus now you’re paying a luxury tax.
Really I fail to see how your life has been improved by the SUV invasion into cities.
Personally I think you’re disingenuous and making a strawman argument because you like your lifted truck that’s never seen mud.
Ya I have a big ass truck. I need it. It’s not my primary vehicle. I have a couple more efficient cars we use for daily stuff. But I use it for what it’s made for - hauling, business needs, and camping trips etc. But I hate how the front end is designed to make it hard to see what’s directly in front of you below the hood. I am extra cautious about keeping an eye out. But it’s dangerous.
That’s said, many newer vehicles have Pedestrian crash avoidance mitigation (PCAM). Should be required by law to be standard by now.
Pedestrian crash avoidance mitigation (PCAM) sounds great and all, but it still entirely misses one of the main points of the video about how cars have legal standards to follow regarding bumper heights, yet trucks are exempted. This has allowed truck bumper and hood heights to get out of control, which endangers the life of other drivers as bumpers only work if they line up horizontally. Trucks are literally being manufactured to keep the driver safe at the cost of everyone else on the road.
Had this convo a while ago, and afterwards I thought: why do people need these big ass trucks, when for decades we’ve had powerful enough trucks that did the same things newer giant Rams do? Like people gave been hauling work equipment, farm supplies and campers long before they got as big as they are now.
They do it better, and if you were doing it before, and have the means and opportunity to upgrade on quality of vehicle capacity, you take it.
‘Us’ meaning Americans, right? The people who must put ‘Literally’ into a sentence to make it plain that the meaning of the word is the meaning of the word without any comprehension of what they spout?
I had a family from Texas visit for a couple of weeks. They were shocked when they saw our car - it has a 1.2L engine and CVT.
At home they have high performance vehicles… of course, they did find it very important to TELL everyone about this. I didn’t bother asking them WHAT they needed these vehicles for - I’m sure that a 1.2 litre engine could drive around Texas (ours has done a good 600,000 km already and still runs like new).
Yet they still managed to get everywhere they wished to go, and decent speeds, in decent comfort.
Probably for less than 10% of the cost.
It’s stupid Americans that are Literally Killing Us.
The number of people in these comments who didn’t watch the video is astounding. He literally meant the entire world because in the last few minutes of the video he talks about how things are also spiraling out of control in Europe:
Regardless, looking at the best selling SUV models worldwide in 2021 they’re made by the Japanese, Germans, and South Koreans, so no, it’s not “stupid Americans” killing us 🙄
I guess that’s a point - however, Americans are the leaders for having the BIGGEST cars and possibly the thirstiest guzzlers.
I do think the BIG CAR trend is probably more related to marketing and toxic masculinity.
