5 ms·

Because they're not classified as passenger vehicles, so they don't have to meet the same standards.

by tadfisher 4y ago

chinathrow 4y ago
Insanity in one sentence.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Indeed, it should be the actual use that governs this. If you use it as a passenger vehicle, it's a passenger vehicle. If you use it on a farm then it's a farm vehicle.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    It’s pretty difficult to require a manufacturer to design a car today based on how someone will use it in the future.
    - chinathrow 4y ago
      Huh? To drive around?
      - kube-system 4y ago
        A manufacturer does not know, at manufacture time, whether you will put hay bales or grandmas furniture in your truck bed.
        chinathrow 4y ago
        Sure, but no matter what, there might be a kid of the road, even on the farm.
  - msrenee 4y ago
    There's already special registration for farm vehicles in a lot of states. The taxes are lower and that's one of the few cases where you can use pink diesel, which is also taxed differently. Trucks used as passenger vehicles are already more expensive to register and run than farm vehicles.
bregma 4y ago
I understand, but a modern pickup truck comfortably seats 6 in its King Cab (and good luck finding a truck without a King Cab) and has a bed that is useless for carrying anything except maybe your gym bag or a dozen cases of empties. There is no doubt the purpose of a modern pickup truck is as a passenger vehicle and secondarily to provide an advertising medium for you political beliefs. The fact that modern American passenger vehicles have evolved into statistically significant deathtraps for surrounding pedestrians, cyclist, and even smaller cars is as political as anything else in that country these days.
- dumpsterlid 4y ago
  Sort of comfortably, for how big trucks are they barely provide adequate passenger space.
- branon 4y ago
  Your comment is dripping with more political vitriol than I've seen in "that country" in a while You can find plenty of more compact pickups - I've been searching for the best one for a while because the Dodge Ram and Ford F150 are just too big. The Honda Ridgeline, the Ford Maverick, the Chevrolet Colorado, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, the Toyota Tacoma, are all more compact, only seat 2-4 people, and have more bed than cab.
  - treeman79 4y ago
    Got the f-150 as the main family vehicle. Extra width is a huge deal. we don’t feel squished together on trips. Kids and and dog have plenty of room. And the bed is plenty big for all luggage / camping gear. Plus it’s useful when we do need to haul couches or bigger items. Downtown park isn’t fun but is doable.
    - giraffe_lady 4y ago
      so what you need is a minivan and what you got is a truck. this is pretty much what we're complaining about yes.
tomohawk 4y ago
Exactly. The technocrats thought they'd be clever, and they basically outlawed reasonably sized cars for very small marginal efficiency gains. People bought light truck instead. People don't want to drive around in dinky death traps. The CAFE standards for cars are too restrictive. The fleet averages look great, but the percentage of cars as vehicles on the road is low. Cars such as station wagons don't exist any more - the only option is to go larger and get an SUV. The current crop of technocrats thinks that regulation is like violence. If you don't get the result you want, then add more regulation. Still don't get the result you want, add more regulation. They never think about offering compelling products that people want to buy at a decent price point.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  I don't understand this comment. SUVs are classified as passenger vehicles. They're also getting larger (and more dangerous for pedestrians), but to nowhere near the same degree that pickup trucks have. The danger posed by pickup trucks is chiefly a function of the absence of regulation: the US has decided that you can role-play as a farmer and get treated as one for safety purposes, without actually demonstrating a need for a car that's patently unsafe for US streets and highways.
  - dwater 4y ago
    It's complicated because the SUV label is arbitrarily used by manufacturers and consumers, but many/most SUVs are classified as light trucks for safety and emissions purposes. https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-726-may-7-2012-suvs-are-they-cars-or-trucks https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-726-may-7-2012-suv...
    - woodruffw 4y ago
      My bad -- I thought that SUVs and "crossovers" were the same type of car, but the former is (apparently) typically the same platform as a light truck, while the latter is more typically a compact car or station wagon platform. Far be it from me to defend truck-style SUVs!
  - 4y ago

Because they're not classified as passenger vehicles, so they don't have to meet the same standards.

chinathrow 4y ago

Insanity in one sentence.

jacquesm 4y ago
Indeed, it should be the actual use that governs this. If you use it as a passenger vehicle, it's a passenger vehicle. If you use it on a farm then it's a farm vehicle.
- kube-system 4y ago
  It’s pretty difficult to require a manufacturer to design a car today based on how someone will use it in the future.
  - chinathrow 4y ago
    Huh? To drive around?
    - kube-system 4y ago
      A manufacturer does not know, at manufacture time, whether you will put hay bales or grandmas furniture in your truck bed.
      - chinathrow 4y ago
        Sure, but no matter what, there might be a kid of the road, even on the farm.
- msrenee 4y ago
  There's already special registration for farm vehicles in a lot of states. The taxes are lower and that's one of the few cases where you can use pink diesel, which is also taxed differently. Trucks used as passenger vehicles are already more expensive to register and run than farm vehicles.

bregma 4y ago

I understand, but a modern pickup truck comfortably seats 6 in its King Cab (and good luck finding a truck without a King Cab) and has a bed that is useless for carrying anything except maybe your gym bag or a dozen cases of empties. There is no doubt the purpose of a modern pickup truck is as a passenger vehicle and secondarily to provide an advertising medium for you political beliefs. The fact that modern American passenger vehicles have evolved into statistically significant deathtraps for surrounding pedestrians, cyclist, and even smaller cars is as political as anything else in that country these days.

dumpsterlid 4y ago
Sort of comfortably, for how big trucks are they barely provide adequate passenger space.
branon 4y ago
Your comment is dripping with more political vitriol than I've seen in "that country" in a while You can find plenty of more compact pickups - I've been searching for the best one for a while because the Dodge Ram and Ford F150 are just too big. The Honda Ridgeline, the Ford Maverick, the Chevrolet Colorado, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, the Toyota Tacoma, are all more compact, only seat 2-4 people, and have more bed than cab.
- treeman79 4y ago
  Got the f-150 as the main family vehicle. Extra width is a huge deal. we don’t feel squished together on trips. Kids and and dog have plenty of room. And the bed is plenty big for all luggage / camping gear. Plus it’s useful when we do need to haul couches or bigger items. Downtown park isn’t fun but is doable.
  - giraffe_lady 4y ago
    so what you need is a minivan and what you got is a truck. this is pretty much what we're complaining about yes.

tomohawk 4y ago

Exactly. The technocrats thought they'd be clever, and they basically outlawed reasonably sized cars for very small marginal efficiency gains. People bought light truck instead. People don't want to drive around in dinky death traps. The CAFE standards for cars are too restrictive. The fleet averages look great, but the percentage of cars as vehicles on the road is low. Cars such as station wagons don't exist any more - the only option is to go larger and get an SUV. The current crop of technocrats thinks that regulation is like violence. If you don't get the result you want, then add more regulation. Still don't get the result you want, add more regulation. They never think about offering compelling products that people want to buy at a decent price point.

woodruffw 4y ago
I don't understand this comment. SUVs are classified as passenger vehicles. They're also getting larger (and more dangerous for pedestrians), but to nowhere near the same degree that pickup trucks have. The danger posed by pickup trucks is chiefly a function of the absence of regulation: the US has decided that you can role-play as a farmer and get treated as one for safety purposes, without actually demonstrating a need for a car that's patently unsafe for US streets and highways.
- dwater 4y ago
  It's complicated because the SUV label is arbitrarily used by manufacturers and consumers, but many/most SUVs are classified as light trucks for safety and emissions purposes. https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-726-may-7-2012-suvs-are-they-cars-or-trucks https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-726-may-7-2012-suv...
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    My bad -- I thought that SUVs and "crossovers" were the same type of car, but the former is (apparently) typically the same platform as a light truck, while the latter is more typically a compact car or station wagon platform. Far be it from me to defend truck-style SUVs!
- 4y ago