4 ms·

I completely agree on all accounts. Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL... and drivers should lose it when they are found driving reckless

I completely agree on all accounts. Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL... and drivers should lose it when they are found driving recklessly. I have no interest in unproven high-tech approaches when we haven't even implemented very basic proven pedestrian safety measures like eliminating street-level parking around pedestrian crossings to increase visibility, or mandating pedestrian safety tests for motor vehicles.

echelon 2y ago
> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL... I'm guessing you don't live in the south. Pickup trucks are a major way of life for a lot of people. They certainly wouldn't be happy about increased regulatory burden. Attitudes on roads vary wildly based on the community in question. There's a large surface area of this country that doesn't care to have non-vehicular traffic sharing the roadways. Urban communities will prioritize different needs than suburban and rural communities. The two ends of the spectrum aren't really compatible because these are wholly different lifestyles that are geographically separable.
- dmd 2y ago
  We don’t let people carry around lethal weapons just because some people think it’s a “way of life”, so why should it be diff…… oh wait
  - SoftTalker 2y ago
    Not relevant. Neither the right to drive, nor the right to drive a pickup truck, is guaranteed in the constitution.
    - r-w 2y ago
      Does that make it any less entrenched?
- darkhorn 2y ago
  Okay, then they should require CDL when entering a town or any other urban location.
- chad_oliver 2y ago
  I grew up in rural New Zealand, on a dairy farm. I agree that the needs of suburban and rural communities are very different from the needs of urban communities, but what confuses me is why Americans (and increasingly, Kiwis) need a vehicle the size of a Dodge Ram rather than one the size of a 1990 HiLux ute [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)#/media/File:1990-1997_Toyota_Hilux_(LN106R)_DX_4-door_utility_(2007-09-28).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)#/media/File:1990...
  - jjav 2y ago
    > what confuses me is why Americans (and increasingly, Kiwis) need a vehicle the size of a Dodge Ram rather than one the size of a 1990 HiLux ute Well depends what you need to do with, of course. A quick search suggests that this Toyota can tow 3300lb (if the trailer has its own brakes, or only 1650lb if not). So if you need to tow more than that, it won't work. 3300lb is very little, even our tiny (19ft) and light travel trailer is over 4000lb. Of course, what is silly is the people with trucks that are never used to tow or carry anything heavier than a bicycle!
    - walleeee 2y ago
      The reality is that many people with a Ram are towing toys (boats, ATVs, etc) or, as you say, a travel trailer, not a work trailer. Which brings us to the question of need vs want. Plus, if work vehicles became lighter, work trailers would be forced to as well.
      - jjav 2y ago
        > Plus, if work vehicles became lighter, work trailers would be forced to as well. Try shopping for utility trailers. Anything affordable is very heavy steel & lumber. You can get light(er) trailers in aluminum but the price is much higher. I've never actually seen a contractor with one of those, too expensive. And of course there is all the materials & equipment they're towing on it for the job. How do you suggest any of that become lighter?
    - sgu999 2y ago
- marssaxman 2y ago
  > Pickup trucks are a major way of life for a lot of people. That is the problem which needs to be solved.
  - Spooky23 2y ago
    The industry is taking care of that - the trucks cost has increased like 200% in 20 years.
  - micahdeath 2y ago
    Several SUV's are the same size as trucks. Even some Vans. Small cars don't usually fit families well. =( LOL - I'm imagining a Prius for a family of 6 =P
    - marssaxman 2y ago
      Who says the car has to be small? There were no SUVs when I was a kid; people drove small families around in sedans, and larger ones in station wagons - later, minivans. It worked fine, and this could all be done again.
      - mattw2121 2y ago
        I'm not a fan of the truck driving crowd, but why do you get to dictate that someone should drive a minivan instead of a truck?
        marssaxman 2y ago
        Who's pretending I should - I'm just some schmuck on the internet! But it's a matter of plain historical fact that trucks and SUVs took over the American market as a consequence of policies established by the US federal government which made trucks more profitable for manufacturers and ordinary cars less so. Why should we not propose that the mistakes made in one session of Congress ought to be corrected by another?
        david-gpu 2y ago
- david-gpu 2y ago
  > They certainly wouldn't be happy about increased regulatory burden. And many of us aren't happy about the number of pedestrian deaths caused by these behemoths. Which one should we prioritize?
  - forgetfreeman 2y ago
    As a southerner and an owner of a 1500 I say absolutely prioritize to cut down on pedestrian deaths. I can get a different truck and it'd piss off all the right people.
- impendia 2y ago
  I live in the Deep South, where I've gotten around on foot, on a bicycle, and by car. It's clear that some drivers see me as a nuisance when I'm walking, but I don't really see that as my problem. In my observation, vehicular traffic anywhere doesn't care to have non-vehicular traffic sharing the roadways. That doesn't mean that pedestrians, cyclists, or regulators should necessarily defer to their wishes.
candiddevmike 2y ago
> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks What about electric vehicles?
jjav 2y ago
> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL Just note that looks can deceive on weight. A Ford Maverick pickup truck is under 3800lb. A Tesla Plaid Model X is over 5300lb!
toast0 2y ago
> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL Pickup trucks don't need to be heavy. Japan has kei pickups, in the US, we had small pickups in the 80s and 90s. And then they disappeared throughout the early 00s. A small truck with a small engine does small truck things, and has decent fuel economy and tremendous visibility. But we can't buy those new anymore because you can't get a small truck to hit cafe standards, so large trucks it is.
- forgetfreeman 2y ago
  It's even more ridiculous than all that. We had "large" work-ready trucks as long as vehicles have been on the road that were all noticeably smaller in every dimension except payload. At some point suburban dads flipping the fuck out over their own notional masculinity drove the truck market off a damn cliff. Now 100/1500 series trucks are complete bullshit for towing and can't even fit a full sheet of plywood in the back without dropping the tailgate or propping it up on something. I swear I'm -this- close from trading my full sized truck in for one of those weird little Japanese deals with the actual full sized bed and built in dump (!!) and just hire out my towing to someone else.
  - rpcope1 2y ago
    It's really silly how few trucks you see with 8 foot beds anymore. Half of the stuff built now has a shorter bed than one of my S10s (6-7ft), and loading sheet lumber in a shorter bed really really sucks (you've either got to leave the tailgate open or prop it up on the tailgate, and either way you've now got a pretty serious liability that you've got to strap down real well). The trend towards unibody trucks is also strange since it means you can't pitch the pickup bed for a more useful flatbed or a Reading bed. I used to wonder why trucks didn't come off the lot with at least a tommy gate and a ladder rack, but I've since come to realize the vast majority of people (especially people purchasing half ton trucks) would never use or even know what to do this those. The kei trucks aren't really a good replacement even for an S10 since so far as I can tell they won't run at highway speeds, but they're really good replacement for the Canam and Polaris money pits people buy (and are certainly way more capable of real work).

echelon 2y ago

> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL... I'm guessing you don't live in the south. Pickup trucks are a major way of life for a lot of people. They certainly wouldn't be happy about increased regulatory burden. Attitudes on roads vary wildly based on the community in question. There's a large surface area of this country that doesn't care to have non-vehicular traffic sharing the roadways. Urban communities will prioritize different needs than suburban and rural communities. The two ends of the spectrum aren't really compatible because these are wholly different lifestyles that are geographically separable.

dmd 2y ago
We don’t let people carry around lethal weapons just because some people think it’s a “way of life”, so why should it be diff…… oh wait
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  Not relevant. Neither the right to drive, nor the right to drive a pickup truck, is guaranteed in the constitution.
  - r-w 2y ago
    Does that make it any less entrenched?
darkhorn 2y ago
Okay, then they should require CDL when entering a town or any other urban location.
chad_oliver 2y ago
I grew up in rural New Zealand, on a dairy farm. I agree that the needs of suburban and rural communities are very different from the needs of urban communities, but what confuses me is why Americans (and increasingly, Kiwis) need a vehicle the size of a Dodge Ram rather than one the size of a 1990 HiLux ute [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)#/media/File:1990-1997_Toyota_Hilux_(LN106R)_DX_4-door_utility_(2007-09-28).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)#/media/File:1990...
- jjav 2y ago
  > what confuses me is why Americans (and increasingly, Kiwis) need a vehicle the size of a Dodge Ram rather than one the size of a 1990 HiLux ute Well depends what you need to do with, of course. A quick search suggests that this Toyota can tow 3300lb (if the trailer has its own brakes, or only 1650lb if not). So if you need to tow more than that, it won't work. 3300lb is very little, even our tiny (19ft) and light travel trailer is over 4000lb. Of course, what is silly is the people with trucks that are never used to tow or carry anything heavier than a bicycle!
  - walleeee 2y ago
    The reality is that many people with a Ram are towing toys (boats, ATVs, etc) or, as you say, a travel trailer, not a work trailer. Which brings us to the question of need vs want. Plus, if work vehicles became lighter, work trailers would be forced to as well.
    - jjav 2y ago
      > Plus, if work vehicles became lighter, work trailers would be forced to as well. Try shopping for utility trailers. Anything affordable is very heavy steel & lumber. You can get light(er) trailers in aluminum but the price is much higher. I've never actually seen a contractor with one of those, too expensive. And of course there is all the materials & equipment they're towing on it for the job. How do you suggest any of that become lighter?
  - sgu999 2y ago
marssaxman 2y ago
> Pickup trucks are a major way of life for a lot of people. That is the problem which needs to be solved.
- Spooky23 2y ago
  The industry is taking care of that - the trucks cost has increased like 200% in 20 years.
- micahdeath 2y ago
  Several SUV's are the same size as trucks. Even some Vans. Small cars don't usually fit families well. =( LOL - I'm imagining a Prius for a family of 6 =P
  - marssaxman 2y ago
    Who says the car has to be small? There were no SUVs when I was a kid; people drove small families around in sedans, and larger ones in station wagons - later, minivans. It worked fine, and this could all be done again.
    - mattw2121 2y ago
      I'm not a fan of the truck driving crowd, but why do you get to dictate that someone should drive a minivan instead of a truck?
      - marssaxman 2y ago
        Who's pretending I should - I'm just some schmuck on the internet! But it's a matter of plain historical fact that trucks and SUVs took over the American market as a consequence of policies established by the US federal government which made trucks more profitable for manufacturers and ordinary cars less so. Why should we not propose that the mistakes made in one session of Congress ought to be corrected by another?
      - david-gpu 2y ago
david-gpu 2y ago
> They certainly wouldn't be happy about increased regulatory burden. And many of us aren't happy about the number of pedestrian deaths caused by these behemoths. Which one should we prioritize?
- forgetfreeman 2y ago
  As a southerner and an owner of a 1500 I say absolutely prioritize to cut down on pedestrian deaths. I can get a different truck and it'd piss off all the right people.
impendia 2y ago
I live in the Deep South, where I've gotten around on foot, on a bicycle, and by car. It's clear that some drivers see me as a nuisance when I'm walking, but I don't really see that as my problem. In my observation, vehicular traffic anywhere doesn't care to have non-vehicular traffic sharing the roadways. That doesn't mean that pedestrians, cyclists, or regulators should necessarily defer to their wishes.

candiddevmike 2y ago

> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks What about electric vehicles?

jjav 2y ago

> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL Just note that looks can deceive on weight. A Ford Maverick pickup truck is under 3800lb. A Tesla Plaid Model X is over 5300lb!

toast0 2y ago

> Heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks should require a CDL Pickup trucks don't need to be heavy. Japan has kei pickups, in the US, we had small pickups in the 80s and 90s. And then they disappeared throughout the early 00s. A small truck with a small engine does small truck things, and has decent fuel economy and tremendous visibility. But we can't buy those new anymore because you can't get a small truck to hit cafe standards, so large trucks it is.

forgetfreeman 2y ago
It's even more ridiculous than all that. We had "large" work-ready trucks as long as vehicles have been on the road that were all noticeably smaller in every dimension except payload. At some point suburban dads flipping the fuck out over their own notional masculinity drove the truck market off a damn cliff. Now 100/1500 series trucks are complete bullshit for towing and can't even fit a full sheet of plywood in the back without dropping the tailgate or propping it up on something. I swear I'm -this- close from trading my full sized truck in for one of those weird little Japanese deals with the actual full sized bed and built in dump (!!) and just hire out my towing to someone else.
- rpcope1 2y ago
  It's really silly how few trucks you see with 8 foot beds anymore. Half of the stuff built now has a shorter bed than one of my S10s (6-7ft), and loading sheet lumber in a shorter bed really really sucks (you've either got to leave the tailgate open or prop it up on the tailgate, and either way you've now got a pretty serious liability that you've got to strap down real well). The trend towards unibody trucks is also strange since it means you can't pitch the pickup bed for a more useful flatbed or a Reading bed. I used to wonder why trucks didn't come off the lot with at least a tommy gate and a ladder rack, but I've since come to realize the vast majority of people (especially people purchasing half ton trucks) would never use or even know what to do this those. The kei trucks aren't really a good replacement even for an S10 since so far as I can tell they won't run at highway speeds, but they're really good replacement for the Canam and Polaris money pits people buy (and are certainly way more capable of real work).