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How the heck did we get here? Most best selling "cars" are now superzied pickups and SUVs.
(www.caranddriver.com)
this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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Fuck Cars
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Unless you work in construction, or have a similar need for a pickup, fuck you for buying one.
Here's a fun anecdote: I live in California, where these vehicles are (mostly) limited to those who need them. In 2018, I visited family in the midwest. We played a game of counting the pickups while walking a short trip from a hotel to a chain outlet. We hit 99 pickups by the time we got to the doors. I was irritated that we got to 99 and not 100 cause that would have been so awesome, but seriously. 99?! In just several minutes. People drive them for fashion, not for practical need.
Every pickup driver that doesn't "need" a pickup is my enemy.
My brother had a huge truck for a while. Strangely, this size actually affected his driving. All the sudden he felt justified cutting the half-mile long line to get onto the highway and cut in at the last second. "Might is right" he said. "They always let me in because they are scared of this truck."
Ugh. I hope this isn't typical but I feel like it is. I told him that was awful and he just shrugged.
https://youtu.be/Whghix7aqIo https://youtu.be/PI_Jl5WFQkA
A bunch of people started buying larger vehicles for "safety" reasons, believing that if they were in a larger vehicle, they'd fair better in an accident. I've heard people say their spouse isn't a great driver, so they wanted to get them something bigger that they'd be safer in. Which only makes the rest of us more unsafe. My personal wish is that we would require a separate license for today's bigger trucks and large SUVs similar to what we have for motorcycles, but require an annual test to keep the license. Make it just enough hassle to keep the license, so people without a real need start to question if it's worth the effort.
I would heartily embrace tiered licensing for vehicle weight or general size.
Even then, a van is often better and more convenient, depending on the trade.
In the poorer parts of CA they can't afford luxury trucks.
Downtown SF doesn't have loads of bigass vehicles but head 20 miles south and it's the land of Male Insecurity Compensation Trucks.
People think the shape of a truck somehow works better in the snow
If it's rwd only like most used to be, it's fucking horrible in the snow. So now they have to make most 4wd.
FWD car in the snow works perfectly well, as long as we're not talking like a foot of fresh snow.
How do you know what people need? Also, who are you tell people what they need? You don't need to be in construction to get a truck. They are the best selling because they are the most versatile. You don't need different vehicles for different situations.
I know they don't need a truck bed when it doesn't have a scratch on it because they are not using it. I don't know what they need, but a truck is clearly not fit for purpose in that case.
I judge people by how clean their truck bed is
I know plenty of people that have and use trucks that don't have scratched beds, they take care of stuff.
I've never seen one person like that, and I do work in construction.