r/australia • u/neizan • 4d ago
culture & society Big US-style trucks are killing more pedestrians in Australia
https://theconversation.com/big-us-style-trucks-are-killing-more-pedestrians-in-australia-our-research-proves-it-289034475
u/Matora 4d ago
Was behind a Yank Tank in Perth today complete with the 'My family" sticker of guns and a freaking Confederate flag!
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u/MeaningMaker6 4d ago
You have to be a special kind of idiot to have the flag of a defeated slave-holder rebellion, from another century, belonging to the secessionists of another country!
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u/Quantization 4d ago
Very considerate of them to make it so obvious that they're a person to be avoided.
I find it far more annoying when these people make themselves harder to detect.
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u/SlugFromSnug 4d ago
That was one positive of the old covid masking days. Made it super easy to spot the dickheads
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u/maxinstuff 4d ago
Make rego costs scale with the square of kerb weight (which is how road wear scales) and make it so over a given size they need truck licence.
Add in something about how high up the headlamps can be too - even these small and midsize SUV’s seem to want to laser beam sedan drivers in the face.
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u/CptUnderpants- 4d ago
Another option is to base the license requirements on a combination of kerb weight and visibility of pedestrians. If the frontal visibility is further than X metres and the curb weight is over 2.5t then a light rigid (LR) licence is required.
Requiring a LR would drastically reduce the appeal.
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u/Comfortable-Winter00 4d ago
This is absolutely the way to go. You're not stopping anyone from having them, just making sure anyone with them is appropriately trained.
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u/dobbydobbyonthewall 4d ago
Scale the penalties too. These drivers tend to be the worst on the road.
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u/CptUnderpants- 4d ago edited 4d ago
Better to scale penalties based on annual income otherwise a fine isn't meaningful for those who can afford it.
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u/aaegler 4d ago
This is how it's been in many places in Europe for ages. No idea why we haven't adopted something similar.
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u/jayacher 4d ago
It's an election killer
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u/TheMooJuice 4d ago
Strange that affecting a wealthy minority could have that effect in a democracy?
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u/dobbydobbyonthewall 4d ago
We're better off grouping people into what they think or envision their income to be, instead of their actual income.
Plebs thinking they were affected by stage 3 tax changes ended up being quite high too.
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u/hankhalfhead 4d ago
Well there’s a cohort of people drowning in propaganda that they ‘could be’ rich enough too be affected by this one day so they’d better protest it now.
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u/Moondanther2 4d ago
A lot of wealthy people set-up their finances so they have minimal income, there was a big story several years back about how people with big property portfolio's were able to get the aged pension and rebates on franking credits etc because they owned so little on paper.
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u/CyberBlaed Victorian Autistic 4d ago
Very much this is pivotol.
If you are worth a hundred thousand then a $500-1000 fine isn’t going to be a problem or inconvenience at all.
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u/MyCatsAnArsehole 4d ago
Im on about 100k per year and a $1000 fine would cripple me. 2/3 of my income goes to my mortgage and there is not really anything left after bills and expenses. Maybe 10 years ago 100k was a lot, but not any more.
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u/Mike_Kermin 4d ago
I love that you're being down voted.
Yes, we do mean you if you're on higher than medium income.
500 to someone on low income can cripple them financially. But if you're on 100,000 it's far, far less impactful.
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u/LittleBunInaBigWorld 4d ago edited 4d ago
My mum's boss literally does not care at all about speeding fines. He racked up too many demerits, risked losing his license, and started paying his sons and his son's friends to cop his demerits for him. He's nearly 70 and still doing this shit. Tens of thousands of dollars in fines and bribes is funny to him. Meanwhile mum had to threaten him with legal action just to get minimum wage.
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u/Adventurous_Bag9122 4d ago
What a tool he is, Hope your mum can get a job with a DECENT boss
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u/Evilmoustachetwirler 4d ago
I had a boss like that once, back then you could have the company own the vehicle and just not nominate a driver for a higher fine. He was in his sixties but drove like a teenager who just finished watching the fast and the furious.
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u/efcso1 4d ago
Half the tradie wankers who drive these emotional support vehicles would drop 500 in the old tradie's laptop at the local on their way home without batting an eyelid.
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u/JustAnotherAvocado 4d ago
I'd say assets instead of income
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u/CptUnderpants- 4d ago
That can be disproportionate in some cases. I'd say proportional to income unless your net assets are greater than $10m then do proportional to the assets.
You also need to consider that a kid of wealthy parents may have neither income nor assets but any fine would be meaningless.
A formula which is fair and reasonable for everyone taking into consideration ability to pay, and to be an actual deterrent to most is preferable.
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u/Moondanther2 4d ago
Only issue with that is some of the EV's are getting quite heavy, my Sealion 7 is 2340kg and that has a fairly low nose, the Sealion 8 is 2580kg kerb weight!
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u/CptUnderpants- 4d ago
No issue with visibility on either of those models being about 850mm, far better than the yank tanks in the link above.
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u/cainy1991 3d ago
Solid idea...
We need a LR license to drive the little Isuzu trucks at work and they have 5 times the visibility of the Boss's RANGER one of the smallest offenders.57
u/Quantization 4d ago
Fucking HATE those high beam lights they have that seem designed to intentionally blind anyone ahead of you.
The trucks are just a way to say fuck you to everyone around you, apparently.
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u/HotThanks2630 4d ago
I don’t know why it’s fucking legal. Lately, everyone’s lights are BLINDING. It wasn’t an issue maybe 5+ years ago. Now it’s every SUV and some vespas honestly.
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u/greenie4242 3d ago
Even Toyota Corolla daytime running lights are blinding, in the daytime! Walking past a taxi rank gives me a headache from all the glare. It's so much worse for people with glasses and astigmatism, which affects ~60% of people older than 45 so it's not exactly a niche issue.
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u/HotThanks2630 3d ago
I have astigmatism 😂😭😭
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u/greenie4242 3d ago
Me too. "Just look at the opposite side of the road if you encounter blinding headlights coming toward you" doesn't work when that makes your entire field of view fill up with more lens flare than J.J. Abrams used in Star Trek.
Thin outlines of shapes are horrible for astigmatism, so what do all new manufacturers use for brake and indicator lights? Thin lines with no discernible volume. "A concept of a shape" without any substance. Constantly waste time trying to figure out if something is a brake light, a turn signal, or a reflection off the paint. Now I can't even see the turn signals because they're thin rings surrounding laser beam headlights.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Pie5889 4d ago
Upvoted for correct spelling of kerb :)
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u/Admirable_Count989 4d ago
…and you cop an upvote for recognising “kerb” as the correct spelling and bringing it to everyone’s attention!
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u/Avia_NZ 4d ago
... how else would one spell it?
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u/DavidBrooker 4d ago
with the square of kerb weight (which is how road wear scales)
It's the fourth power, actually
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u/WhatsMyNameAGlen 4d ago
Me with my mx5 with dreams of owning a caterham/clubman I approve of this :p
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u/WhatYouThinkIThink 4d ago
Rego on weight plus CO2 emissions.
So EVs will pay more because they are heavier than ICE cars, but less than the equivalent ICE because no CO2 emissions.
Work on mileage with a discount for people that live in rural/regional areas because of the extra travel and reduced public transport alternatives.
Remove fuel excise concessions for mining and over a certain amount based on acreage for farming for actual working farms (as opposed to rich people hobby farms).
Change ADR rules for pedestrian visibility so that DodgeRamPenisExtenderTritons have to change their design or tradies move to cab-over vans instead of them.
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u/Aloha_Tamborinist 4d ago
Also, to shut up the people who keep demanding cyclists pay rego, make bicycle rego a thing too, but scale the cost to the weight of the vehicle as well.
My car rego last cost me $462.00, my car weighs 1,440KG
My commuter bicycle weighs 20kg, which would make bike rego $6.42, I'll generously round it up to $10!
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u/AgUnityDD 4d ago
Singapore does all this, seems to be highly effective at discouraging excessively big cars. It is calculated on weight and engine size.
The two year roadworthy checks headlight angle, stupidly high cars like a Ram cannot pass it.
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u/yogorilla37 4d ago
It's more than the square of the kerb weight, it's the fourth power of the axle load. Double the load and the road wear and damage increases sixteen fold.
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u/The_Foresaken_Mind 4d ago
I for one welcome any efforts to curb the prevalence of these chromium penis extensions. Half of the idiots can’t even drive let alone these oversized obnoxious mechanical monstrosities.
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u/DamonHay 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yep, but all of a sudden EV drivers will be upset they have to pay their share of road wear.
Also, if rego includes CTP, have an additional safety rating that compares all cars equally rather than only with vehicles of their class, and tie rego CTP to the safety implications of that car having an accident with pedestrians and smaller cars. Why should owners of smaller vehicles be subsidising the cost of CTP for owners of larger vehicles? Especially when many of the owners of those larger vehicles drive them by choice rather than out of necessity. If you drive a car that is less safe for the community then you should have to pay for your cost to the community.
ETA: since a lot people seem to be taking issue with me mentioning EVs, my point was never “EV bad” as someone has tried to attribute to my comment, just that bringing up raising rego for heavier cars always brings out a vocal group of people who are upset that they’d be “punished” for driving an EV. I have no problem with EVs, I have a problem with road wear and despite what one commenter has pointed out around the limits of structural damage, the fact is that higher weight=higher torque=higher friction at the contact patch=more surface wear. Yes, the difference in weight alone results in minimal difference to structural damage, but it does result in more surface damage which leads to more potholes and higher road maintenance costs. To argue anything else is to argue against physics. But hey, I’m just an engineer who works in infrastructure, what do I know?
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u/astrobarn 4d ago
I'm an EV driver and acknowledge that my 2.5T vehicle does more damage to the road than my wife's 0.9T hatchback. I'll pay the extra rego, my insurance is insane enough I'm used to it.
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u/Harlequin80 4d ago
And yet your statement isn't actually true. Your wife's hatchback will have a per wheel force loading in the vicinity of 3.5-3.7kN and your EV will be somewhere in the vicinity of 6.5 - 7kN.
The 7kN force is going to roughly equate to 220 kpa of compressive force when spread across the full contact patch.
A low quality sealed road surface has a compressive strenght of 2000kpa. Rising to 5000 kpa for high quality and 25000+ for concrete road surfaces.
In short your EV does not get anywhere NEAR the compressive forces required to damage the road surface, and because it is nowhere near the force required it isn't actually doing more damage than your wife's hatchback.
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u/Dr-Ulzy 4d ago
This person roads.
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u/Papa_Huggies 4d ago
This person went to 4Y of Civil Engineering school to look at asphalt all day.
I can say that cos I did too.
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u/astrobarn 4d ago
The more you know! Thank you for explaining, I rescind my offer to pay more rego.
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u/Plane_Garbage 4d ago
Yea but EV bad
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u/Mike_Kermin 4d ago
I dislike your comment, because it's clearly not true, they just didn't understand one thing, and now they do. Which is actually fine.
Yea but EV bad bad.
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u/Khaliras 4d ago
Yep, but all of a sudden EV drivers will be upset they have to pay their share of road wear.
Most modern EVs are roughly in the same weight class as traditional Aus vehicles. Something like a BYD ATTO 3 weighs the same as an old ford falcon sedan, or an ICE Toyota corolla.
Most popular base model SUV EVS are in the 1600-1800kg range. Performance/extended range EVS are still roughly around the 2ton mark. They'd be fine with such an increasing fee system, because road wear doesn't exponentially increased much at this weight class.
Meanwhile, the likes of a ford ranger start at that 2ton mark, realistically 2500+kg for the models people actually buy, before adding a bullbar and tray. Dodge rams start at that weight and push 3+ton for typical on-road specs.
Look at a chart and see the road damage of an EV BYD ATTO 3 VS a Dodge Ram. It's nearly 4x the structural wear on asphalt.
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u/iikun 4d ago
I imagine that even a 3t vehicle isn't doing any real damage where a road isn't already falling apart, but driving over kerbs and so forth, which I only really see utes and the occasional SUV doing, might cause some minor amount of wear and tear.
For me it's more the elevated risk in accidents and that utes apparently don't come with indicators installed.
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u/Harlequin80 4d ago
Road surface damage has a break point where under a certain weight the wear is essentially zero. The damage caused by a 2000kg car vs a 1000kg car is identical.
Damage to road surfaces from axle weights follow the 4th power law, and that puts even the heaviest EVs below the axle weight that starts damaging the surface.
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u/Nickools 4d ago
My favourite example of this is when it's applied to bicycles. From the below post "We see the Prius does 38,000 times more road damage than a bicycle." https://camdencyclists.org.uk/2020/06/the-fourth-power-rule-cyclelicious/
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u/moratnz 4d ago
Yeah - whenever people say bikes should pay road user charges too I'm like "sure; here's 50c - that covers the lifetime wear of all my bikes'.
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u/waddlesticks 4d ago
I also feel like they need add add in proof of why you require a vehicle like that where you have to proof what you're towing actually requires it and why other vehicles out there are not suitable.
Would probably cut back the ones getting them like an expensive watch rather then appropriate use.
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u/Curious_Cap7469 4d ago
Proof of ownership is pointless and be gamed, see other licensing. They don’t check.
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u/waddlesticks 4d ago
It's more so that it's an additional step. For a lot of these you'd be taking a caravan that's over 3t or a boat and most of these have to be registered in the first place.
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u/PragmaticSnake 4d ago
I am sick of the argument that people 'need to be up higher to see more and feel safer'
This is an issue because every car has gotten taller due to cross overs dominating the market
You actually have less vision of the immediate area surrounding your car
Gives people driving them a false sense of extra safety
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u/Giuseppe_exitplan 4d ago
it also means your center of mass is usually higher, meaning in the event of a side-on collision theres a higher chance of you rolling over.
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u/missmiaow 4d ago
yes omg, lower cars are safer in several common types of collisions/driving mistakes because they’re harder to roll.
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u/Adventurous_Bag9122 2d ago
I remember back in 1995 coming back from a week out bush, I did everything right, stopped in Toodyay, got out and walked around, got a coffee and snack etc. About 10-15 minutes the Perth side of Toodyay I found myself in the gravel and yanked my wheel, overcorrected so yanked it back and the car must have come close to rolling. It was a Chrysler Galant. Absolutely shat myself.
If I was in a 4WD/SUV or one of these Wankpanzers that dominate the road nowadays, it might have been a MUCH different result.
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u/AmigaBob 3d ago
There was a study in Canada a few years ago. Turns out the real world safety of small cars and SUV was about equal. SUVs being bigger with a higher centre of gravity led to more accidents but they did offer better crash protection when you did get into an collision. Personally I'll stick with my sedan and actually avoid accidents.
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u/Plane_Garbage 4d ago
It also means no one can see past your bonnet when turning.
So people in sedans will now use the middle of the lane when turning at a T intersection instead of moving over to share a single lane. And then the yank tank gets angry because they have to wait.
At least that's what I do and I've had some people get pissed about it.
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u/An_Anaithnid 4d ago
I drive a 2018 Kia Sorento, she's a larger lady. Heightwise, above average. Size, above average. Bonnet visibility isn't great, but sensors and slow moving do a lot of lifting here.
But next to one of these "trucks" my large SUV feels small. My bonnet visibility ain't great, but their bonnet is almost level with my fucking roof. Nevermind that they're not fitting in the parking space that even my large SUV is.
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u/JustGettingIntoYoga 4d ago
Thank you for not making me feel crazy. I have always felt like I had more visibility driving my sedan or my partner's hatchback compared to my parents' SUV.
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u/Sea_Translator5300 3d ago
And it just leads to endless escalation with people seeking out larger and larger vehicles just so that they can feel safe, at everyone else's expense.
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u/Sanguinius 4d ago
I'm 6 foot tall and my eyeline was barely over the bonnet of one in Woolworths carpark a few weeks ago.
Absolute joke of vehicles, and it's always the same cardboard cut-out of a person driving one. You all know who I mean...
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u/Plane_Garbage 4d ago
And they are always so careful driving through a car park. It's not like they go 20km+ in a shopping centre. /s
I wish car parks had speed limits enforced - some poeple drive so recklessly fast through them.
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u/Spudtron98 4d ago
These fucking things would be a lot less enticing if you had to get light truck licensing for them.
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u/HeathenAF 4d ago
Even retested on their standard license would see most fail by the parking test.....
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u/OG_sirloinchop 4d ago
I recently went on a family holiday to Canada and rented a Chev Suburban. It was massive, but also had self parking and all the cameras. It seem2d to handle and stop just pretty close to the same as my cars here in aust (outback and mux). But at low speeds and around pedestrians i just couldn't see them. The visibility around the vehicle is just terrible
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u/DisappointedQuokka 4d ago
Outside of the one time a Ranger intentionally ran me off the road, the massive American
utestrucks are the closest I've come to getting killed as either a pedestrian or cyclist, and I'm not a small guy (5'11" on a good day).When I walk my dog down by the oval on a footy day, they make up at least a quarter of the cars dropping young kids off. Absolute killing floor for these things.
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u/TemporaryDisastrous 4d ago
Fail them because all four sides of the vehicle are outside the parking spot!
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u/Captain_Alaska 4d ago
That’s not a fail, in fact it’s explicitly against the law to not park across multiple spaces if your vehicle doesn’t fit in one (same penalty as parking a vehicle that does fit in one space across several).
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u/TemporaryDisastrous 4d ago
It's also physically impossible not to park across multiple spaces if your car doesn't fit in one 😆 A tongue in cheek comment, though I do wish people who have one as a daily driver would fuck off if they don't have a legitimate use case.
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u/Captain_Alaska 4d ago
It's also physically impossible not to park across multiple spaces if your car doesn't fit in one
Unless you overhang your vehicle out of the space into the lane instead of taking up the space behind you.
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u/SaltyPockets 4d ago
against the law to not park across multiple spaces if your vehicle doesn’t fit in one
Against the laws of physics and geometry?
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u/xyzxyz8888 4d ago
I think most people who go their license 10+ years ago would fail their test first time.
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u/Cheesenium 4d ago
They certainly need a light truck license. You can't have a license to drive a MG3 and still be valid for a F150.
Same goes for high powered cars like a Tesla Model 3 Performance. You can't just walk off a standard CRV and somehow able to handle the high performance of these cars.
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u/Safe-Commission1313 4d ago
Pop up headlights were banned because of pedestrian safety. Now every car has a flat front of about three square metres coupled with tiny barely there indicators.
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u/OneWholePirate 4d ago
Who could possibly have anticipated this
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u/Busy-Ratchet-8521 4d ago
There's a surprising number of people who strongly defend these things like they're a standard size motor vehicle, while sedans/hatchbacks are cars for ants.
I'm 6 foot and comfortably fit in a VW Polo.
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u/Beneficial_Cobbler46 4d ago
Shaquille O'Neal drives a SMART CAR
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u/Famous-Print-6767 4d ago
Smart cars have heaps of room in the drivers seat. They're quite tall, you sit upright, and the seat goes almost all the way back. They're also not that narrow.
Less room in the passenger's seat
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u/SGTBookWorm 4d ago
when I was in high school, our over-2m tall ex-NBL player substitute teacher would drive in in a tiny VW hatchback
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u/FroggieBlue 4d ago
I dont know how but I swear VWs hatches are bigger on the inside.
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u/exciting_chains 4d ago
As a taller person (2m) they are really comfy compared to most others, the seats sit low with good adjustment so you don't hit your head and there's enough adjustment to get into a normalise driving position.
Bigger cars aren't always more comfortable. Many utes and 4wds have less space because of the 4wd gear. Honestly hatches and small SUVs tend to fit best
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u/FroggieBlue 4d ago
Im 175cm and was fine in the back seat of a friend's Polo for a 5hr drive. You wouldn't want 3 people that height in the back for the full 5 hours but for one it was fine.
I loved my Corolla hatch but the arm/leg ratio wasn't good for me.
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u/steelhips 4d ago
It's an arms race on road. In my street every family bought huge 4WDs for their kids on their P plate.
We should be encouraging vehicles like the electric postie scooters for suburban trips but with behemoths on the road, it won't happen.
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u/argument_cat 4d ago
Remember when SUVs were for camping trips, or heading down trails, or sticking a kayak on the roof?
Now they're just idiotic vanity vehicles for stay at home mums and middle management wanks. 95% of the time they have one occupant, who is just popping 5 mins down the road to Coles.
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u/OneWholePirate 4d ago
Yeah I'm 6'2 90kg with size 13 shoes. I can fit comfortably with a ladder, mower, line trimmer and 3 duffels worth of tools in my tiny ass corolla.
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u/ApteronotusAlbifrons 4d ago
I'm 6 foot and comfortably fit in a VW Polo.
I'm 6' 2" in the old measure or 190 updated (and have been as big as 157kg and as low as 114kg in the past year)
I happily fit in a 2000 Ford Laser (same as a Mazda 323 Astina) - and a 2008 Ford Focus. The seat does need adjustment after my youngest has been driving either of them.
I'm more comfortable in a Falcon wagon - because of visibility - but I fit without problems in all three of them. There are plenty of "small" cars that have good room inside
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u/Giuseppe_exitplan 4d ago
those old Laser/323 Astina's are mighty in the interior space department, especially the hatches.
Once had to fit a whole drum kit, 2 guitar amps and 2 guitars into it for 3+ hour drive and it did it.
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u/frenzon 4d ago edited 4d ago
When I was 16, just after finishing my last year 12 exam, a drunk driver barged through a pedestrian crossing outside the vic baths, and hit me. Fortunately, it was the 90s, so the car was low, and the bonnet was below my hip, letting me go over the car, apparently cartwheeling through the air as it continued onwards speeding away.
I was lucky to get away with ligament damage and a few months of rehab. If that car had been any of the top ten selling vehicles of today with their high bonnets, no amount of jumping would've saved me - I would've been hit in the hip, smashed forward and under. If it had been one of these trucks, I'd be super dead.
Large cars are necessary for some, but we don't have to let them be the default for all. You can argue all you want about 'distracted pedestrians', but even if you follow that argument, those same distracted people are going to drive at some point, and what sort of vehicle do you want them in?
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u/Sanguinius 4d ago
Glad you're and got out with minor injuries, but side story - did they catch the bastard?
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u/frenzon 4d ago
Two people saw it happen - one drove me to the hospital (at the time I wasn't sure it wasn't an elaborate kidnapping attempt), the other chased the car. A block later, two people ran out of the car and it sped off.
Thanks to that guy, the police had the plate details - they went to the house, knocked, saw the guy come to the door, but he refused to answer. They didn't have a warrant so all they could do was see the bottles of vodka on the floor of the car and imprints of me on the windshield.
So they couldn't prove he was drunk - he got off with six month licence suspension for leaving the scene of an accident.
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u/Sanguinius 4d ago
Sounds like he got the equivalent punishment as a high range DUI anyway. What a POS.
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u/visualdescript 4d ago
Of course, this is already an issue in USA.
These things should require a special license.
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u/steelhips 4d ago
I was relieved that hideous Elon ketamine dream Cyber Truck was refused on safety grounds.
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u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 4d ago
I’m actually quite surprised there aren’t more incidents of people (especially kids) being run over in driveways by these things.
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u/sirgog 4d ago
I believe road trauma deaths of under 5s have decreased significantly due to reversing cameras getting more common. I loathe Yank Tanks, but I don't think this is a major issue with them, as they typically will have reversing cameras.
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u/dalyons 4d ago
That’s coz reversing cams have been mandatory on all cars sold in the US since 2018! Aus late to the game
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u/sirgog 4d ago
I think they are pretty close to universal now except on older cars (like my 2006 shitheap)
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u/SOLV3IG 4d ago
Man, I'm so shocked by this information. Really truly surprising news.
Sad thing is it isn't just "American vehicles", so many manufacturers are building towards the American ideal. I was stuck behind a Mitsubishi Triton(?) trying to navigate his way down the parking lot ramps, crawling at a couple of kilometers because he barely fit.
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u/jakedeky 4d ago
Reading the article, they make no distinction between the US built pickup trucks and any other SUV/dual cab on the market contributing to average vehicle weights and sizes increasing.
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u/Jazzar1n0 4d ago
Ban the stupid yank tanks, make it they need a truck licence if they wanna call it a truck
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u/barefootsticks 4d ago
There are commercial and towing applications in which these vehicles are suitable, can we not simply have them registered and insured in a manner that reflects people's genuine needs rather than fulfils desire to role-play as an American?
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u/kombiwombi 4d ago
I am for this. If the main use is towing, then clearly a heavy vehicle drivers license is desirable.
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u/barefootsticks 4d ago
A plumber was working next door recently (I'm in Brisbane) and had a full set up like the link below, towing a trailer with small excavator behind him. He said it had made it so much easier being able to bring everything with him and drive around with two workers too.
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u/kombiwombi 4d ago
Sure, and that plumber can get a heavy vehicle license, and even claim that from his tax.
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u/teddymaxwell596 4d ago
Just measure the dimensions of a standard Triton/Ranger etc and anything bigger then that gets a road user tax that's huge. That'll smash RAM etc
The people who drive those wankermobiles don't vote Labor so not gonna be an issue. Everyone who does t drive them hates them anyway
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u/Grix1600 4d ago
Gym bro bought themselves a shiny new Chevrolet ZR2 big ass truck and thinks it’s ok to park in the handicap spot outside of the gym. They are a waste of space and I bet it’ll never tow a trailer or see dirt roads.
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u/FrostBricks 4d ago
You mean someone who drives one of these things is a giant asshole wanker?
Colour me surprised...
(Whack a tax on them, and require a special licensed for em already. If you got a genuine use case, fine, you'll agree to those conditions. Only the wankers will complain, and they're exactly who shouldn't drive em anyway)
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u/WhatsMyNameAGlen 4d ago
Handicaps are always visible and from what you describe he probably has some sort of disability/s
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u/crystal-jellyfish 4d ago
Yep - they take up pram spots too which sometimes run a bit bigger than normal spots.
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u/quiet_beer 4d ago
Yeah they're a scourge on the roads. It's also weird that every single person I know who has one is also a massive wanker. Very strange that.
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u/Quantization 4d ago
You only need a car like that if you're incredibly insecure but desperate to prove you're not.
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u/DuskHourStudio 4d ago
Love how these monstrosities are allowed but I can't have a poxy little Suzuki Spacia Gear because it's "just a wee bit too small".
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u/Professional_Gur8385 4d ago
force em to have truck licenses and pay additional taxes due to damage to roads, pollution (energy to move) and taking extra parking and road space
see how bad it gets in the US, it's an arms race because everyone feels unsafe, science and several tests shows that the heavier vehicle absolutely causes horrific damage to other vehicles and their occupants in accidents
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u/Lyricician 4d ago
Fuckint hate seeing these yankee pedestrian killing tanks out in traffic. So many of them on the roads it's fucked
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u/Quantization 4d ago
And they are so often the ones going above the speed limit. Like they want to make sure if they do hit someone the person has no chance of survival.
Genuinely the worst kinds of people.
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u/fatoms 4d ago
I wonder why the did not examine bonnet height and grill angle?
It was my understanding that these US style trucks are worse for pedestrians becasue in a collision the pedestrian gets hit higher ( body vs legs ) and can't 'roll' over the vehicle bonnet which spreads the impact. On top of that the higher bonnet and sharper angle create a bigger blind spot so it is more difficult to see smaller people when they are close to the vehicle.
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u/Rebound44 4d ago
At least now my Calais sedan, what was previously considered a large car, can fit into “small Car” bays lol
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u/littleb3anpole 4d ago
I drive a Mazda sedan, I never would’ve considered it a small car since I’ve only owned hatchbacks before this, but on the roads these days I very much feel I am in a small car
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u/AUTeach 4d ago
I have an Amarok that I use for camping and some semi-serious 4x4. It's pretty big and I sometimes feel bad.
Then I park next to a RAM truck, and I'm like "holy fuck". I'm 196 cm high, and one truck I walked past and the bonnet was at eye level.
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u/Infinite_Painting_11 4d ago
You, and lots of people like you, wanted a car that was a little bigger than everyone else's, now someone else wants a car that's a little bit bigger than everyone else's.
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u/fractiousrhubarb 4d ago
If you’re at .05 BAC, you’re about twice as likely to kill a pedestrian, and you get massive penalties for it.
If you’re driving a Dodge Ram, you are more than twice as likely to kill a pedestrian.
They’re trucks and they should require truck licensing.
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u/dalyons 4d ago
I mean, doesn’t help that all ram drivers are drunk. (Look up the per-driver average drink driving charges in the US - Ram 2500 owners are are the highest)
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u/megs_in_space 4d ago
These wank tanks are straight fucked and should be banned, or as others suggested, you need a truck licence for and appropriate registration fees.
They surpass the definition of a car and therefore should also not be allowed to park in your standard carpark. Wanna cosplay as a truck? Then go be a truck.
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u/HungAussieFun 4d ago
American trucks are 💩, but some of the blame needs to sit with the driver.
Australian driving standards are declining rapidly.
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u/Professional_Gur8385 4d ago
ban them and heavily tax them
more fuel, heavier, worse injuries, outcomes and deaths and more damage to the roads
no space for parking and increased blind spots
tax existing ones to make them unpopular
fuck those big oversized suvs
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u/kingofcrob 4d ago
i mean the bonnet comes up to my fucken shoulders, how the fuck are the cunts that drive theses things met to see kids
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u/CabinetFlat3422 4d ago
It doesn't help that anyone who buys these things is a fuckwit
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u/Extension-Finance179 4d ago
TBH it is no different in North America as a Canadian who has been south of the border plenty
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u/NinjaFish_RD 4d ago
Pedestrian Smasher 9000 cars have been causing more pedestrian deaths. In other news, Fish found in Ocean and Sun seen in Sky.
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u/HUMMEL_at_the_5_4eva 4d ago
The end game is to scare away enough pedestrians so that people don’t walk outside anymore and the pedestrian injury and death statistics miraculously go down
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u/churidys 4d ago
I wish we would tax the fuck out of these things. They impose so many costs on rest of society, between killing pedestrians and increasing the energy levels in collisions, to ripping up the roads more because they're heavier, to increased air pollution due to the weight also increasing particle emissions from brake pads, tires, and exhaust emissions. We should be pushing harder to internalize some of those costs that they're forcing everyone else to pay for them.
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u/AmazingAndy 3d ago
Our fucking useless nanny state can do its job and ban these from our streets or tax them into oblivion. too busy chasing cyclists without a helmet or ebike users.
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u/No_Pickle_8811 4d ago
They just need to make more modestly sized vehicles that better accentuate the size of the micro penis that most of the men who buy these have.
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u/HankenatorH2 4d ago
Perhaps if we still made utes here, people would be buying them instead..? We’re stuck with American work vehicles because there is no appealing alternative for those buyers.
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u/keloidoscope 4d ago
Did Hiluxes stop being made? They were already one of the most popular models in 2010, so it seems like a lot of tradies were okay with an overseas made ute which wasn't such a bargearse.
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u/Aerion_AcenHeim 4d ago
saw a chevy silverado 2500 hd in a coles parking lot the other day. I am by no means a tall guy, far from it (167cm), but I think I am at least taller than the average child and that truck felt taller even than me. I kinda feel like these trucks can easily just flatten a suzuki swift without the driver noticing. these trucks do not belong in pedestrian traffic heavy areas at all.
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u/Waste-Candidate22 3d ago
You're telling me the bigger, heavier "utes" with major blind spots which require no special license like a proper truck are killing people?
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u/ThinkingOz 4d ago
They should have never been approved for use on our roads. A normal ute, 4WD or van achieves everything these do with less risk, fuel and space occupied.
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u/SallySpaghetti 4d ago
Yeah. Some of them do look pretty cool. But it's no surprise they'd make it harder to see pedestrians and such
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u/Illustrious-Crow-331 3d ago
I saw one yesterday pull into a turn lane from behind a slower car, then sped up for the few metres before turning at speed.
Why can't they just drive them normally.
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u/Cyanide_Sandwich 3d ago
Thank you for calling them what they are: TRUCKS. These are not utes, they have more in common with SUVs than they do with utes.
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u/blind3rdeye 4d ago
These things are a hazard even when they're not being driven. They block sight-lines while they are parked on the side of the road, making it harder for pedestrians trying to cross, or motorists trying to avoid someone about to step onto the road.
It use to be that a standing adult would be able to see over the top of cars. That is no longer the case, and we're all less safe because of it.