The ‘kei’ cars and trucks are growing in popularity in the U.S. But many states have explicitly banned them in recent years. A bill at the statehouse would allow them on Colorado roads.
Well the larger trucks are exempt from the safety regulations is the reason it plays out that way. The spirit of the law I think is that they have a special use case and aren’t supposed to be the default vehicle someone would be driving. But it’s a loophole probably written in by the manufacturers themselves and that’s just how it was billed to whatever legislator that signed it.
Cause they’re not really safe to drive. Older US made cars are technically grandfathered in because as time progresses, there will naturally be less and less of them to the point where they won’t be much of an issue on public roads (when was the last time you saw a model t driving down your road other than for a parade or something?). However, a lot of kei trucks were really meant to just be farm vehicles with more utility, so safety wasn’t ever a real hallmark of their design. I considered buying one a while ago, but came to the conclusion that they might actually be less safe than an old S10 which wasn’t really that much bigger.
Newer kei truck in the video, safety standards are different (and higher). The US only allows ones from the 90s, and while a most of them had the engine behind the cab, the cabs are often a bit top-heavy and a forward roll risk.
I understand now allowing them on the freeways, but they’re perfect for cities with their smaller footprint and lower driving speeds. These aren’t allowed in NYC, but Escalades are?
Kei trucks have basically no crumple zone or front bumper. They are cab over designs, so if you hit something, you’re basically the first thing that takes the impact.
Even huge semis with cab overs have that issue… Here in Europe where’s they’re essentially all cab overs, sometimes you see some grisly scenes on the highway. Luckily they have other safety features like automatic braking and warnings.
Because they used emissions standards in the 80s to remove light trucks from the market. Which is why everything is bigger now, blowback: unintended consequences of shitty legislation.
They used the “Chicken Tax” to remove light trucks on the 80s, not emissions issues.
Ford used to skirt the law by having Transits made in Europe shipped to the US as passenger vehicles. Once in the states they would recycle the seats and replace the rear windows with panels.
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.
No pre installed firearms… Very unsafe…
Yeah, I swapped the third cupholders for the pistol holster on my dodge.
I’m thinking of buying a ford F1-9001 for my next truck. They have quick-access assault rifle holsters.
Get the Ferd F-teen Thousand
the good, the bad, and the dodge ram.
Reminds me of an old NES game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoadBlasters
Yessss, what a blast from the past!
“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? 🤔
With nuclear weapons.
Mutually Assured Destruction.
Well the larger trucks are exempt from the safety regulations is the reason it plays out that way. The spirit of the law I think is that they have a special use case and aren’t supposed to be the default vehicle someone would be driving. But it’s a loophole probably written in by the manufacturers themselves and that’s just how it was billed to whatever legislator that signed it.
I don’t understand how states can ban an otherwise legal vehicle
They don’t make inflated profits for US companies. That’s what this is about
Cause they’re not really safe to drive. Older US made cars are technically grandfathered in because as time progresses, there will naturally be less and less of them to the point where they won’t be much of an issue on public roads (when was the last time you saw a model t driving down your road other than for a parade or something?). However, a lot of kei trucks were really meant to just be farm vehicles with more utility, so safety wasn’t ever a real hallmark of their design. I considered buying one a while ago, but came to the conclusion that they might actually be less safe than an old S10 which wasn’t really that much bigger.
Safety standards for family vehicles: ok, sure
Safety standards for non-family vehicles: fascist overreach
I’d love to see the state of autos in the US flipped on its head.
None of us want to be killed by the Ford F150 ,000,000.
Are you right about them being unsafe? Timestamped this crash test vid here for y’all. Older video but sticks in my mind.
Newer kei truck in the video, safety standards are different (and higher). The US only allows ones from the 90s, and while a most of them had the engine behind the cab, the cabs are often a bit top-heavy and a forward roll risk.
That’s a newer one and it’s still a death trap? Sigh.
Ah-mazing for private property etc. though!
I understand now allowing them on the freeways, but they’re perfect for cities with their smaller footprint and lower driving speeds. These aren’t allowed in NYC, but Escalades are?
Yeah, I wonder how many NYC traffic deaths involve pedestrians, and how many are just between drivers. This truck would be much safer for pedestrians.
If something goes max 5 kph, shouldn’t it do fine on all the crash tests?
You don’t have to make something bigger. Sometimes just making it slower works too.
Maybe they could tweak the design a little. Make it like a Chevy Spark with a rear bed.
A compact car ute
The Mini, Yaris, and many other modern cars pass crash -test standards. I do not consider them big.
Kei trucks have basically no crumple zone or front bumper. They are cab over designs, so if you hit something, you’re basically the first thing that takes the impact.
The newer ones have all the modern safety features (crumple zone, bumper, ABS, etc). But of course we aren’t allowed to import the modern ones.
Even huge semis with cab overs have that issue… Here in Europe where’s they’re essentially all cab overs, sometimes you see some grisly scenes on the highway. Luckily they have other safety features like automatic braking and warnings.
Also chicken tax
They generally don’t meet safety requirements.
Because they used emissions standards in the 80s to remove light trucks from the market. Which is why everything is bigger now, blowback: unintended consequences of shitty legislation.
They used the “Chicken Tax” to remove light trucks on the 80s, not emissions issues.
Ford used to skirt the law by having Transits made in Europe shipped to the US as passenger vehicles. Once in the states they would recycle the seats and replace the rear windows with panels.