2y ago

How Cars Turned Into Giant Killers

slate.com

We’ve Hit a Grim Milestone We Haven’t Seen Since 1981. Why Can’t We Do Anything About It?

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All in all, car bloat has increased vehicle prices while making autos more destructive to human life, natural ecosystems, and pavement alike. Because the full societal costs of crashes, pollution, and road repairs are not borne by owners of SUVs and trucks, every American is effectively subsidizing car bloat. Even if they drive a sedan. Even if they don’t own a car at all.
People driving massive, gas-guzzling tanks are safer on the road at the expense of every reasonably sized vehicle. Unless you need a larger SUV or truck for a specific purpose, i.e. for work or hauling, get off the fucking road with these damn things. My brother-in-law died last week in an accident involving a Ford 550 that stalled in the fast lane. BIL driving SUV for work; couldn’t stop in time, rammed into back of 550, killed. The driver of Ford 550? Uninjured.
This, of course, doesn’t even begin to touch on unnecessary over consumption of fuel, which is an equally significant concern.
I’ve been saying this for years but the death of my brother in law really drove home the point for me—if you’re not using your behemoth tank for work or specific use case hauling—you have no business driving it, and should not be allowed to use as everyday commuter vehicle.
- I have a truck that I use to move large, dirty, or awkward things for a small farm... but to commute to work I ride a motorcycle. The bike gets better gas mileage, looks cooler, is easier to park, and is considerably cheaper than a new truck.
  
  I work with a lot of contractors, and they all still love their big trucks, having at least some utility argument that they are useful for work. But several of them have switched to smaller vans like the Ford Transit, Dodge Ram ProMaster, Nissan NV200, etc., and say they aren't as cool but they're so much easier to drive and park at job sites. And they lock up all your stuff, so you don't have the same theft from work sites, a serious problem where I live. They have racks on the roof to carry ladders, which you had to put on top of the trucks anyway because most trucks can't even fit a step ladder in the bed. These guys will still keep a few trucks in their fleet for pulling large equipment, but most of the time I meet them on a site, they're driving the vans.
  
  Right, that just makes sense to me anyway. Like, wouldn’t you want better gas mileage for your day-to-day vehicle I get not everyone can afford multiple vehicles but I’d think if you can afford a tank you could probably?
I wouldn’t mind if they killed giants, but unfortunately they’re killing humans.
Oh, you mean the cybertruck, aka "the child grinder"?

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