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I don't know about other country, but this truck rider in my country (Indonesia) are relatively safe.
People usually using this for everything, like portable shop, human transportion on the back (only legal on small village or remote area), etc.
I still remember riding one on the back for scout activities :)
Yeah we have them, and similar vehicles, on the roads here in the UK. They are fine for carrying medium loads, they're great in busy cities, economical, easy to park.
Suzuki Carry everywhere...
I live in Japan and drive a kei-car that's kinda like a van. 660cc engine (my motorbike is 400cc). I plan on probably eventually getting one of the trucks like in the thumbnail for my farm business. Ask me anything, I guess, if you have questions about them.
You're not allowed to drive those? Why not?
Edit: article touches on it. Low top speed and missing safety features. They aren't fit for highways but not all roads are highways, so outright bans are stupid.
The other thing to keep in mind is that a lot of US vehicles are missing the same safety features. Where's the seatbelt and airbag on a motorcycle, for example? A lot of semis also don't have airbags at all.
Even at 55mph they're actually not that unsafe in a sane country with sane cars- the driver is so high up that they're 'above' the crash (t's the same reason semis don't have air bags- they're not as needed)
... unless you're in the US and driving around a dick-measuring contest pavement princess that puts you eye level with a semi truck so you can murder small children easier, that weighs 8000lb.
Yes, they can't go 70mph, but that basically just limits them to not being able to go on highways and interstates, which is perfectly fine- frankly, we need to have less things being hauled that way, the highways will last longer and our microplastic issue will be largely solved if we stop shipping things in the single dumbest, least efficient manner.
Finally... modern kei trucks DO have a lot of those improvements. They have airbags, seatbelts, all the modern safety features, and can go 60mph. Keep in mind, in most cases semis have to go 5-10 under the speed limit anyway, which means they can basically hit the same speed limits as semis. We just aren't even currently allowed to import the modern kei trucks.
That's one of the laughable things in the article. They keep talking about the emissions and safety but they're talking about the older vehicles that are being used in the US because the older vehicles are the only ones that are allowed to be used in the US. They don't even come close to mentioning the new vehicles that are being made that have all those safety features and better emissions.
It's a plain and simple fact is that these vehicles threaten profit margins of the dealerships that sell the unnecessary monster trucks that are primarily sold in America.
P.S. The emissions thing is especially stupid since trucks tend to be exempt from a lot of emissions regulations anyhow.
why aren't they allowed now?
us auto industry has reletively higher crash saftey requirements. part of the reason why everythings so damn big.
the kei trucks are basically rear end death traps if you hit US sized vehicles.
its why the only ones you can legally drive in some states are the ones that pass the 25 year car import law.
some areas explicitly ban it (e.g NYC i believe)
EU: Your truck is unsafe because it is unusually large and has razor sharp edges at head height.
US: Your truck is unsafe because it is too small to withstand a direct hit from one of our super safe giant axe head shaped cars.
"The only way to protect yourself from a giant truck is to have your own giant truck"
Now where have I heard of this logic before? 🤔
These are all over the place in Victoria. It's still idiots in big pickups that are smoking all the pedestrians. Weird huh?
They banned fucking tuktuks?!
How the hell am I supposed to be Cruisin' USA without my Sardine Supreme?