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American Cars Are Getting Too Big for Parking Spaces
- tibbydudeza 4y agoOur double garages (two cars side by side) are limited to 6m by 6m. My wife's Tucson makes it with some space to spare to walk around it and have some cabinets, but I don't think going to a larger Telluride/Palisade type of SUV is going to be possible. Ford once sold the F150 models locally - it is bloody HUGE compared to the Ranger sized pickups folks normally drove.
- simonblack 4y agoNot just American cars. My Mercedes SUV just squeezes between most parking-space lines. It's hard to open the door when other cars are parked in the next spaces. I yearn for the days when I owned a real Mini: https://i.etsystatic.com/19141424/r/il/d27dc6/2416723291/il_794xN.2416723291_5npy.jpg https://i.etsystatic.com/19141424/r/il/d27dc6/2416723291/il_...
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- chitowneats 4y agoDon't buy one then?! I have no sympathy for those participating in the arms race.
- simonblack 4y agoWhen it comes to my SUV, I'm afraid I have been hoist by my own petard. For many decades, I used to throw shit at urban drivers of monstrosities like SUVs. Serves me right, that we were forced to get an SUV so we could put my wife's mobility-scooter in the cargo area. My personal preference is for small, nippy cars with tiny turning-circles that can fit in anywhere.
- red-iron-pine 4y agoMinivans exist for a reason mon ami
- simonblack 4y agoDon't think I haven't considered them. :) We jokingly say that we'll get a 'hearse' the next time. Turning circle and length is why I decide against them. "Hearse": https://carsales.pxcrush.net/carsales//cars/dealer/7vqz79av21dq70rqidstbpy6f.jpg?pxc_method=gravityfill&pxc_bgtype=self&pxc_size=720,480 https://carsales.pxcrush.net/carsales//cars/dealer/7vqz79av2...
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- _hypx 4y agoOr cars can get smaller...
- goosedragons 4y agoBut then I wouldn't be able to buy lumber once every 3 years or a couch every 10! And how to do you expect Billy to get to school?? It's so unsafe on the roads these days. /S
- hedora 4y agoThe real problem with the old, smaller pickup trucks was that it was possible for people to steal your lumber without climbing up on top of the bumper or rear tires. Also, the beds were bigger back then, which was a waste of space.
- Arainach 4y ago>the beds were bigger back then, which was a waste of space. What? The entire point of a pickup truck is bed space. If you don't need bed space, get any other kind of vehicle. Extended cab pickups are an abomination.
- substation13 4y agoFor many the point is aesthetics.
- klyrs 4y agoYou can't fit "lumber" or even a bicycle in most pickups today. The F150 is just an SUV with a wet trunk, the original el Camino was a more suitable truck. And yeah you didn't risk tearing your rotator cuff loading and unloading them. That's actually a feature.
- hellotomyrars 4y agoNot sure I understand where you're coming from. I have a Santa Cruz and the bed isn't exactly huge, but it can still fit a bike and I still carry lumber in it. It isn't illegal to lay down the tailgate either. I've carried 8x12 timbers in it, and it has specific cut outs so you can fit 4x8 sheets of plywood (tailgate down). It is very capable as a truck and also nice as a general road vehicle.
- Camillo 4y ago> It is the subject of much debate whether this was a trend driven by consumer preference or the fact that automakers can charge a lot more for bigger cars where the profit margins are significantly higher and therefore consistently invest billions of dollars a year in marketing campaigns to convince people they want or need bigger cars. No mention of the CAFE standards that favor larger vehicles by imposing less stringent efficiency goals on large footprints? They were predicted [1] to cause an increase in vehicle size, and it happened. [1]: https://me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/news/cafe-standards-could-mean-bigger-cars-not-smaller-ones/ https://me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/news/cafe-standards-c...
- tmnvix 4y agoI sometimes wonder if the best solution to these sorts of issues is to do nothing. If vehicles keep increasing in size to the point that they become less convenient then that provides a disincentive to purchase large vehicles. Similarly, if a thoroughfare becomes less efficient because too many vehicles start using it then that provides an incentive for people to consider other means of getting around. No street parking where you live? Fine, you can park some distance away, sell your vehicle, move somewhere that does have it, or provide your own off street parking.
- ecf 4y agoHa! Never gonna happen. Lifted truck driving concrete cowboys who live in my area get their rocks off at the stares they receive diagonally parking and taking up 2-3 spots. It’s a hobby for them.
- Mechanical9 4y agoIt's hard to consider other means, such as busses, when low-occupancy vehicles are causing traffic on every road the bus would use. This problem does not solve itself.
- amf12 4y agoFortunately, some cities have good underground or overground network to get around this.
- vanilla_nut 4y agoSadly, when towns and cities become dominated by large vehicles that barely fit in parking spaces, can't see pedestrians over their hood and around their enormous pillars, and shine their bright LED headlights directly into the eyes of folks driving more sensibly sized vehicles... everyone pays the cost of the large vehicles. I've experienced a lot of crosswalks, sidewalks, bike lanes, and car lanes that enormous vehicles have blocked because they don't fit in a normal parking space. It creates dangerous situations very easily. And with the poor daylighting (cross-traffic visibility at intersections) in US cities, these giant vehicles make it even harder to drive, walk, or bike across town because parked or stopped vehicles completely block your view of traffic. Growing car sizes is a failure of government safety regulation, and unfortunately I don't see much benefit for society from it.
- rcarr 4y agoThe thing with pick up trucks is that they're actually really fucking practical. For people who want to be self reliant and can afford one, they're a no brainer. You've got one vehicle that can function as a car, a van, a camper van (with a demountable pod) or tow a trailer. They can go off road, and they've got enough power to help other people out if they've got into a sticky situation. Environmentalists can protest all they want but people, particularly outside of cities, do need them for very valid reasons. Inside of cities, yes you're not taking it off-road regularly, but you could well need one if you do lots of DIY projects, spend time out in the country regularly on weekends, or just don't want to be reliant on other people or renting a van every time you want to move something large or buy furniture. Smaller versions, because they really are too big for UK parking spaces, are catching on this side of the pond but primarily because of tax advantages rather than practicality reasons.
- dmonitor 4y agoTrucks are great, but is there any practical reason for a general purpose vehicle larger than a 2004 Toyota Tacoma? Truck cabins can be smaller without losing any functionality.
- thinking4real 4y ago[dead]
- iancmceachern 4y agoYeah, I've had a truck for 20 years, can't go back
- acdha 4y agoThey’re practical for certain tasks but it’s not like they’re the only thing which can go off road or tow something. The bigger thing is that you’re giving up fuel economy, ride quality, seating, and handling so it really depend on how often you need those extra things versus the cost you’re paying all of the time. For many people a rental (or delivery) the times they need more construction supplies than fit in a car but not enough to need a bigger truck, or want to go car camping, will be a significant savings. Mostly, I wish we’d stop subsidizing them - let every pay the same taxes, add a pollution tax, and charge for parking by the square foot. That’d bring back the smaller trucks which did the job for years, but since they’re a popular lifestyle accessory in certain circles there’s basically no chance of that.
- TexanFeller 4y agoI feel like I'm being gaslit. Here in Austin it's the parking spaces that have been getting noticeably smaller. I have a modest sedan that's not even midsize and it barely fits in the lines in most spaces.
- dendrite9 4y agoI think it is both. I've driven the same car for the last 5 years and lived in the same region for much longer. I've noticed new parking space are smaller than before and it seems to go by age of development. There is a grocery store nearby with undergound parking built around 2005 with comfortable parking spaces. It roughly has 4 columns for every 2x4 block of spaces. Down the road there is another built in 2018 with tight but doable spaces and columns every 3 spaces. Across the street is a building finished in the last year or two where the spaces are small enough that every other is usable. That one has columns for every 2 spaces. I no longer park there because frequently people park in a way that effectively claims 2 spots.
- jen20 4y agoI have noticed the same. I too have a sedan and usually cannot find a space which is not at risk of having the doors bashed in by some careless prat parked next to me.
- ETH_start 4y agoLarge cars impose negative externalities that a gas tax doesn't capture, like greater danger and less space for other people who share the road. In the case of large electric vehicles, a gas tax also doesn't capture the cost they impose in terms of the wear and tear of the roads. What's needed is a road use tax predicated on the size and weight of a car, and how congested the roadways it uses are. The latter point implies paying less tax if you use the car at times of the day when roads are not congested, or use routes that are less congested.
- harimau777 4y agoIs it possible to do that without also allowing the government to track people's movements?
- vanilla_nut 4y agoTax vehicles by weight? Those of us who choose to drive a sedan or a subcompact should be rewarded for wearing the road less and more efficiently using space. Large vehicles are fine to use for trips and jobs that require that large vehicle... but clearly gas prices aren't enough to disincentivize a huge chunk of American suburban residents from owning 4runners and F150s.
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoI greatly look forward to getting my "reward" for using a compact pickup to an extent that offends the sensibilities of upper middle class types.
- seanmcdirmid 4y agoEVs, even small ones, are going to get dinged on that measure (~an extra 700 pounds compared to an ICE of similar size).
- danny_codes 4y agoThat seems reasonable to me.
- vanilla_nut 4y agoI thought this was interesting: the 85th percentile method is not capturing the changes in the car sizes. The size of the 10th percentile car has exploded. The size of the 50th percentile car has grown tremendously. The size of the 70th percentile car has also grown. But the 85th percentile car is essentially the Ford F-150, which is much taller and longer than it used to be, but no wider. ... In 1987, Scheeman says, the design vehicle used for parking space standards was three inches narrower than it is today. But, that same year, the best-selling car in the U.S., the Ford Escort, was a whopping 13 inches narrower than the best-selling car in 2022, the Ford F-150. So basically the majority of American cars have gotten bigger over the past few decades, creeping up in width, height, and length. But there's a cap on car sizes because parking spaces are only so large.
- quantified 4y agoSubstitute "bodies" and "airplane seats" and the tenor of the discussion changes.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- fooker 4y agoFor everyone who living city unable to comprehend this, think about how many times a month you see a large government vehicle from your window. For a large fraction of the population, these services either do not exist or are unreliable. You need a truck for all of these.
- dmonitor 4y agoSmaller trucks exist, or at least they used to.
- jjeaff 4y agoExactly. Where I grew up, you had to either burn or bury your garbage in your back yard or haul it to a collection point every week. No one wants to put leaky trash bags in the back of their Civic.
- substation13 4y agoFilling our cities with pickups is a ridiculous solution compared to having a few local authority (not big gov / federal) garbage trucks do the rounds.
- seanmcdirmid 4y agoParking spots in cities have also been getting smaller. No, you can't park your huge SUV in a compact parking space :p. My parking spot in my house is restricted to a compact size car (or I guess small SUV). I don't remember things being so tight when I was growing up in the suburbs.