• NumbersCanBeFun@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    No shit. I got creamed by one of these oversized emotional support vehicles last year while riding my bicycle to work. That asshole hit me from behind and nearly killed me. I’m lucky I got out of that wheelchair.

    He said he didn’t see me 🙄

      • NumbersCanBeFun@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        You don’t want to see them. He shattered and dislocated my hip requiring me to be in traction. My foot was broken in several places as well as
        almost all my ribs on my left side.

        The pain was so horrible I almost passed out when there needed to move me from gurney to gurney. I only finally fell unconscious when they took me into surgery to stop the internal bleeding.

        You sure you want pictures of that?

      • NumbersCanBeFun@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I hit the limit allowable by state for this accident. They also covered my entire hospital stay, multiple surgeries and physical therapy sessions.

        Without getting into specifics, It’s not a lottery ticket but I’m looking for land to buy and build a house on.

        • alienanimals@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          That’s good. Thank you. I’m sorry you had to go through all that pain. I hope what you have now helps.

          • NumbersCanBeFun@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Without making this your problem the biggest struggle I have is being 90% there but plateauing and being unable to progress any further.

            I was highly motivated when I went from the bed to the chair to the crutches to the cane and finally back to my own two feet, but I limp aggressively and I can’t sit on a bicycle anymore.

            One day I have to accept this is as good as it ever gets but I’m not quite ready to let go of hope yet. Thanks for well wishes my friend 😁🍻

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The problem is worst for small children, that the driver can’t see because of the tall hood. Funny enough the same mostly right wing people who are anti abortion, are also the people most likely to drive these cars.
    So in their mind, an abortion to save the mother is immoral, but driving a car that increase the risk of accidentally killing a child is not?

    • sour@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      babes should be protected until the very minute they’re born

      when thaht happens they’re on their own

      no handouts

      frbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbbbb

    • Neato@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Anti-abortion is just anti-women. If pro-lifers cared even a little about children there’s literally dozens of things they could do to ensure children are cared for.

      For instance: free meals in public schools.

  • dubs@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I drive a little ol beetle and being next to those behemoths and trying to see around them is… scary.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My boss just bought a brand new Tacoma and sitting on my FZ6R or Shadow in the parking space next to it I literally cannot see over his door sills.

      I parked my 90’s Silverado nose-to-nose with his truck the other day and the top of my hood is like 18" lower than his, despite my truck having more ground clearance, a bigger engine, and a larger bed. It’s baffling.

      • FollyDolly@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I just got a used Takoma and I hate the hood hieght for exactly this reason. I don’t need to feel tall, I need to SEE things in front of me.

  • Neato@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Trucks are commercial vehicles. The vast, vast majority of the US doesn’t need a truck on a daily basis. And when they do, it’s often because of their job, even if self-employed. In almost all cases pick-up trucks should be classed, and taxed, as commercial vehicles. And the exceptions have strict size restrictions.

    If you need to haul some wood, gravel or other such semi-regularly, there’s plenty of places to rent them.

    • Seleni@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Or maybe just make a law to reduce their size, and have any truck over a certain size be taxed?

      I like my truck. It was my grandfather’s; I inherited it after he passed away. It’s great for hauling soil or wood for my casual home improvement projects. Not having to go to all the hassle of renting some horribly-maintained junk is great.

      Of course, it’s a 2009, so not some tall coping thing. It was his farm truck.

      • Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The article talks about hood height of 40 inches or more. My pickup is tiny compared to these american beasts but I’m pretty sure that the hood is that high even on mine.

    • halferect@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I think it would be fine to Tax vehicles over a certain Size, my truck is a small truck so don’t lump my truck into the giants on the road. Or better yet force car manufacturers to provide smaller vehicles, its hard to find a small truck in today’s market unless you go used back to 2002

      • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        But the reality is the opposite! Part of the reason for the death of the small truck in America is the batshit ratio of vehicle size to acceptable fuel consumption. The current “footprint” CAFE model defines the footprint of the vehicle by multiplying the vehicle’s track by wheelbase, and the MPG target is drawn like a curve on a graph such that vehicles with a larger footprint are allowed a lower fuel economy score and vise versa. So the manufacturers, who really don’t feel like designing new more efficient engines every few years to meet the requirements, can just cheat by making their vehicles bigger to qualify for a lower MPG target.

        If that scheme sounds completely asinine to you, that’s because it is. It is effectively not possible to sell a small pickup truck in America anymore unless it delivers the same gas mileage as an economy sedan – which is not going to happen. For the 2020 model year, a truck the size of an oldschool Chevy S10 would have to deliver ~39 MPG. My Crosstrek can’t even do that.

        So we get giant trucks for no reason other than to be giant instead.

        • halferect@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          That is Insane and extremely depressing, I love my small truck and will keep it going as long as possible.

          • Agreed. I have a ‘99 Silverado with a single cab (bench seat, crank windows!) but an 8’ bed, and it is the most amount of truck I ever predict needing. I will drive it until it either falls apart and I can’t weld it back together, or gasoline is no longer available. And before the latter happens, I will probably get around to converting it to electric. It wasn’t a “small” truck at the time it was new but it is now, yet somehow it can still carry more than today’s “big” trucks – including two entire motorcycles with the tailgate shut or a stack of 4x8 ply or drywall.

            The current trend of bloated trucks that may as well just be SUV’s is beyond stupid. You can’t haul anything useful in the back of them, nor can you put anything in the cab for fear of tearing your leather or scratching the screens on your DVD players. Most people who buy them would be better off with a station wagon instead.

  • comrade19@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They’re here in Australia now. Something to do with us pickup trucks having a lower tax for the manufacturers, so they tell us we need them.

  • Pazuzu@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    I drive trucks for a living, my freightliner has better forward visibility than my friends ram 2500. At least semi’s slant the damn hood downwards, modern pickup hoods are nearly level. Ffs they put a forward facing camera on the bronco

  • ChihuahuaOfDoom@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I have an older 4wd Toyota Tacoma and I love it but I’d happily trade it for an AWD Ute. They should bring those back to the US with a usable bed, less Baja more Brat.

  • FontMasterFlex@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’d argue that cellphones are more responsible for pedestrian death. Both in the hands of pedestrians and drivers.