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…
the good, the bad, and the dodge ram.
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.
Reminds me of an old NES game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoadBlasters
Yessss, what a blast from the past!
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 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?
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.
Also chicken tax
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.
They generally don’t meet safety requirements.
We citizens need to change the laws to highly tax those oversized vehicles. And we should make them commercial use only. Average people don’t need huge trucks. K-cars are quite cool.
I feel like the gas and the monthly cost of the loan they took out against their mortgage is probably tax enough.
I genuinely believe most of these super-truck owners already have one foot in the financial grave and are just in denial about it.
The flip side of this is that people who actually want a small, practical truck for utility purposes cannot buy one in the US. Doesn’t exist. Those supertrucks are all you get now, and yeah, the finances don’t make sense for this utility use, either.
And for fucks sake, nobody point me to the Maverick. That is not any kind of small utility truck and you know it. The Maverick is “well, there’s spam egg sausage and spam, that’s not got much spam in it” except for trucks.
Hence the need for a higher level of licensure in order to operate one.
OP is not talking about semi trucks
Most of these new trucks might as well be
I’m not either.
Unfortunately taxes are kinda the reason why we see so many oversized trucks on the market and the reason you don’t see any small trucks anymore. It’s a result of manufacturers and lobbyists gamifying the EPA regulations that came out like 10-15 years ago.
Basically trucks under a certain weight have to meet a certain mpg standard otherwise they’d be taxed at a higher rate. However, there was a bypass for heavier “super-duty” trucks, so now most every truck being sold is classified as a super-duty which were originally meant to encompass “working” trucks meant to haul things like equipment.
It’s really just another symptom of our government being a joke and the result of regulatory capture.
They’re “light” trucks under CAFE standards as opposed to real trucks like semis and utility trucks. If they were smaller I think they would be lumped in with all the other normal passenger vehicles.
Japan basically takes those cars off circulation by taxing the ownership to the point that its better to get rid of them as they age. Its great for us who want them in their sub-par age. But we might also want to think about doing the same.
For three years we’ve used this GEM[global electric motors] LSV[low speed vehicle] as our primary vehicle.
Legally I’m restricted to roads with 35mph speed limits or less, my maximum legal speed is 25mph, I never bothered to modify the top speed. I’m registered & insured in Reno. Driving the GEM is like towing a trailer, if the line of cars forms behind me, I pull over & let them pass Maybe 4 times a year someone rage passes me & generally ends up waiting next to me at the next light
With the lumber rack, beacon & safety triangle, I probably appear to be a city or university worker.The notion that everyone must drive at or above the speed limit isn’t true in my experience. Every trip does not require getting on a limited access highway & blasting along at 70 mph. The time saved is minimal, Small mistakes become serious accidents at higher speeds Every vehicle forum I’ve ever been on has a large contingent of Boys who want their toys to go fast.
The older model Kei mini trucks is too short & narrow to go faster than 40 mph or so safely. Making it wider reduces the ability to lane split :DI used to ride my bicycle in a medium sized city and I’d get to the destination sooner because I burned the lights. I know it’s wrong but I did and I would get there before them. It’s funny, people just don’t think about anything really, they just accept society as it is. Clearly we don’t need all these big giant fucking trucks, and I fucking hate it. I think to myself, a lot of these motherfuckers are running their trucks like Halliburton with the beds empty, with a nice coat of wax. They call themselves cowboys, but they’re just goofballs and they look so beta. I mean, unless they’re at like a left-wing protest and they want to drive people over. People get these trucks because they’re fucking scared anti-social fucks. Anybody that drives a monster truck is a douchebag. We are a servile people in America. I look at Europe and I’m envious. The way they protest against things and the government has to listen and the cops are not like full-blown military. I just love it. I just love Europe. It’s just so much better than here. Now, I do understand that the same influences are polluting Europe and Europe is not a perfect place. But I’ve been there and it feels so much better being there. When I went, I specifically set my mind up to look at infrastructure, the health of the people, and all things other than being a tourist, just even how people communicate with each other, looking at families, the food. I didn’t go to fancy restaurants. I went to hole-in-walls. It’s just so much better. It’s so much better of a place. And don’t get me wrong. Europe is suffering because the Yankee was trying to separate Russia and its cheap energy from Europe. And really the leaders of Europe have screwed themselves because now America is turning their backs on them. The Ukraine War was started in 2014 when they… The United States supported a coup and overthrew the democratically elected president of that time. And then the nationalist or fascist ended up gaining more power. And so I guess now the Yankee is supporting the fascist in Ukraine. And we, in the United States, are living under a fascist regime. Biden is an example of the old Neo-liberal order nato fascist and Trump is something new. He is a response to populism. He is a response to capitalism in crisis.He is a fascist, a full-blown fascist. people in America thinking that they’re western civilization, that’s ridiculous. This place is a casino of stupidity. They think the decisions that they make about life are theirs, but in reality, it’s the choices you’ve been given. You have no say in your community, your society, at the end of the day. I don’t need to be hostile. I’m just looking for my opportunity to jet and get the fuck out of this empty vessel of lesser things. If I left, I would never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, never return to America for anything. I would just leave it all. The guilt I feel for America and its choices. Also, I do view this place as.a trap of debt slavery. And this place rewards antisocial behavior. It is truly an abysmal place and it is not just Trump. This is a continuation and Trump is just like, straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I can’t do it anymore. Life ain’t worth living if I gotta stay.i’m sick of the good-caught bad cop scenario. I’m sick of the left and right paradigm. I’m sick of American exceptionalism …i am sick of American imperialism. Either neoliberal soft power or full-blown fucking fascist.
Europe is suffering because the Yankee was trying to separate Russia and its cheap energy from Europe
Cheap oil. Oil is bad. Good it’s gone. Build solar panels instead.
The United States supported a coup and overthrew the democratically elected president of that time
In November 2013, a wave of large-scale protests known as “Euromaidan” began in response to President Yanukovych’s decision not to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), instead choosing closer ties to Russia. Euromaidan soon developed into the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989.[29] Earlier that year the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) had overwhelmingly approved finalizing the EU association agreement;[30] Russia had pressured Ukraine to reject it.[31] The scope of the protests widened, with calls for the resignation of Yanukovych and the Azarov government.[32] Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption and abuse of power, the influence of Russia and oligarchs, police brutality, human rights violations,[33][34] and repressive anti-protest laws.[33]
And then the nationalist or fascist ended up gaining more power. And so I guess now the Yankee is supporting the fascist in Ukraine
I mean, it’s probably not safe in a crash at highway speeds (if it can even reach those speeds), but then neither are motorbikes and we allow those…
It’s got to be better for the environment and wallet than those stupid Ford monster trucks. Especially since these would only attract people who actually need to carry large amounts of stuff about, rather than those who once needed to transport a fridge four years ago.
Those huge trucks are also not save in any crash. At least for the other person.
Any crash involving an “american sized” car will be worse than two of these small trucks coliding
Getting hit by one of those trucks at 30 MPH has as much force as a Honda civic at 55 MPH.
Fuck modern pickups.
They do ok against regular sized cars, just yours are insanely big.
As a five foot tall person, I’ve been in love with Kei trucks since I frist saw one. I don’t have one (I don’t have any car), but I would if I could.
It’s taller than my old mk4, and similar size to a standard 4 door sedan. I think I saw a video comparing the bed of a Kei truck to the bed of a new monster drive.tough.mydickisbig.I can’t see children ahead of my bumber so they become projectiles, type trucks… and the Kei truck holds more cargo.
Isn’t there a sin against vanity? These giant trucks are more dangerous than these smaller ones, and they dont serve a purpose outside of vanity.
Oh, those big pickup trucks do serve a purpose beyond vanity for a lot of us. My big 4-wheel drive Dodge Hemi has to do things no Kei can possibly do. I’ve got a couple of trailers that your Kei couldn’t even begin to move just half loaded. And one that it couldn’t even move empty. So your blind blanket statement shows a serious lack of critical thought on the subject.
If you had seen me in town earlier this week at the clinic with my what you refer to as a “monster drive.tough.mydickisbig” truck, you wouldn’t have seen the oils, greases, and other sundry items that I need to live in the middle of a very rural forest. And they were all things I do not want to haul in the “family” vehicle.
Now while I do sort of agree that many people that don’t need a large pickup, there is no way to tell if they do or don’t unless you know them personally. Perhaps they are a trades person who needs to pull and enclosed trailer filled with tools and supplies or maybe it’s a family that has a fishing boat or pontoon boat they use when the weather is nice, maybe a couple of jet skis or a camper/ice fishing house. (Unless you want to outright ban the existence of such things) If you can tell the difference between someone who owns one for sheer vanity vs a need at a mere glance, then scientists really need to study you in a lab somewhere.
Kei trucks have a niche and reason to exist. And they are a great idea and can solve some issues in dense urban areas most definitely. But my big Hemi also fills a niche and has a reason to exist that no Kei type truck or Tuk Tuk can even start to fill. They both fill two very different types of needs and uses. They are both dangerous in their own ways, (what tool isn’t dangerous). And they can both exist in the same space.
What value does your very rural lifestyle in a forest provide to greater society, to such an extent that society and the environment should subsidize the infrastructure and fuel required to support your large truck?
By all means live your very rural lifestyle with a massive truck, jet skis, campers, and fishing houses, but you are a special snowflake in a blizzard of millions - if not billions - of people who can and want to live as part of a flourishing and sustainable society. You should pay the real costs of driving your big truck.
what tool isn’t dangerous
I can think of one who owns a Hemi and won’t shut up about it.
You’re welcome to own a Grand Cannoneer for all I care. Just pay for the fucking externalities of doing so is all I ask. I’m sick of leeches demanding a free ride for their choices.
I have no need of one. But I do need to own a heavy duty pickup truck.
I’ve hooked a trailer to my fuckin jetta, my sister still has a trailer hooked to her civic. There are other countries that have workers who do the same thing you are doing, but with practical sized vehicles.
Growing up we had a 1950’s model ford, and a 1990’s Chevy s-10 as our two farm trucks. I drove that S10 starting at 11 years old. We had the big tractor and the little one. More than enough to get the job done. Dont know why you’d want to move used oil in the same truck you drive to the clinc, but that’s a choice.
I grew up likely with similar people/way of life you did and yet my opinion is different. Doesn’t mean I’m not informed. My jetta pulled a motor boat to a lake. Little vr6 with big fuckin balls. My sister is building her own house by hand, and uses her civic with a trailer. Other nations/cultures favor vans to harbor tools and such.
Im mostly seeing vanity trucks with four foot beds out in my small rural community, bordered by university “small city”. My redneck uncles back in the 90s even agreed extended cabs were for yuppies, and my god how the culture has changed.
Have you heard of Land Rover?
Why yes I have. Not available within 800 mile of me. But a Suburban is bigger. Still, a bumper hitch is not as good as a 5th wheel hitch for my 24,000lbs tandem tilt bed trailer…
You can fit a fifth wheel hitch on a Land Rover, and tow more.
Stop trying to justify stupidly over sized vehicles.
An SUV Land Rover, (with all it’s mechanical unreliability), isn’t suitable for long heavy tow loads at high speeds. Nor have I ever seen a Land Rover with a 5th wheel hitch in my life. And there is no dealer within 300+ miles of me.
So Stop trying to get me to buy a Land Rover.
At lower speeds perhaps. But at highway speeds probably not. Remember: You are the crumple zone in those Kei trucks. As an old and now retired Medic and Firefighter, I’m glad I will never need to cut a dead body out of one those things-- I bet it would be a messy and bloody affair. Because while cutting the first one or two wreaks is sort of fun and exciting, it quickly becomes depressing after that and leaves mark that ain’t ever growing back. And I carry enough marks to take to the grave with me.
The acceleration is also poor due to the small low and powered engines. I would not want to try and merge onto a freeway in a metropolitan area in one. And you can bet long money that some suburban weekend warrior Bob Villa wanna be is going to try to do exactly that with the back end loaded with 10 sheets of plywood, 2 dozen 2x4’s, a roll of outdoor carpeting and 8 bags of concrete. And then be super surprised when he becomes a hood ornament for a semi truck rolling along at 60mph or some SUV.
That said, I do think thing such small delivery vehicles have a place in the urban environment. Hell, even a Tuk Tuk, a cheap and popular 3rd world motorcycle taxi/cargo hauler hybrid would be even better yet. They would be excellent for operating on side streets and residential neighborhoods making small deliveries. Just keep them off of high speed roadways. And I’m not sure that’s a solvable problem. Humans being what they are.
I’ve never seen one on a motorway, I’m not 100% sure that they’re allowed, plus in European countries small cars are far more common. We do ok.
This passed a couple days ago and will be signed by the Governor today! Takes effect July 2027.
These are all over the place in Victoria. It’s still idiots in big pickups that are smoking all the pedestrians. Weird huh?
This is what is so dumb. Safety is only ever considered for the people INSIDE the vehicle. It’s insane.
Pedestrian fatalities have been increasing in the last few years, even as vehicle (i.e. inside the vehicle) fatalities have been trending down.
A lot of today’s safety standards are based on pedestrian protection, that’s why pop up headlights aren’t a thing anymore for example.
Dude. You can’t look at modern American vehicles and tell me they are designed with pedestrian protection in mind.
I mean… It’s regulations that are in place, I don’t make the rules, all I know is that the shape of cars need to respect certain criterias to help pedestrian safety in case they get hit, including making sure they’re deflected on the hood and not under the car for example. Crash avoidance systems, obstacle warnings will be mandatory in 2029 and that’s a US regulation…
It really feels like people on here only think about trucks that are exempted from certain regulations when talking about cars, well I look at the roads around me and not all vehicles are trucks.
The US has no ped safety rules for the front end of cars/trucks. Europe on the other hand…
And most cars are built to sell in both markets, crazy right?
I don’t know what physical reality you live in that the snub nose and lifted style vehicles on the roads today, not just limited to trucks, is going to “deflect” a pedestrian anywhere but directly into the pavement.
“built to sell in both markets” my ass!! American brands are virtually non-existent over there and better yet have completely discontinued any remotely normal sized vehicle that would “sell in both markets”!! If they were “built to sell in both markets” Trump wouldn’t be flirting with trade war just to somehow force our shitty inflated cars to sell in Europe. Beyond EU regulations, Europeans are harder to sell to at american prices because far more of them have the option not to own a car. Americans do not have that option!
Jesus christ you’re fucking delusional. Hey dumbass!! Capitalists don’t give a fuck about what you or any market or regulation wants, they care about making money!! If by some ‘supply and demand’ miracle that ends up being what you wanted in the first place, then it’s a happy accident. But most of the time, at a certain level of market saturation; they will just use their vast amounts of wealth to convince you, by hook or by crook, that “what you want” is actually “what will make us the most money”. They are not the same thing, learn the fucking difference!!!
Pop-up headlights = bad
Vehicle that sits up high enough to strike you in the fucking head = OK
Not all vehicles are truck
Manufacturers intentionally make trucks bigger in the US to dodge restrictions, they also don’t sell them in Europe so they can do whatever they want on that front
So you think a mini truck with the front completely flat is any better?
Not all vehicles are truck
Some are all computer now!
🤖
So you think a mini truck with the front completely flat is any better?
My comment is about disallowing pop-up headlights in the name of pedestrian safety while allowing these oversized pickups and even lift kits. Also things like brush guards, which are extremely dangerous to pedestrians even if they do serve a purpose off-road.
I’ll be honest here and say that I don’t know enough about the crash dynamics of the cab-over design of these mini-trucks to have an opinion on it. Could be that they are really bad too.
Was the old Volkswagen Bus a menace to pedestrians? I don’t know.
There is no American regulation against pop-up headlights.
https://blog.betterautomotivelighting.com/why-dont-cars-have-pop-up-headlights-anymore
Guess what, manufacturers want to be able to sell their vehicles in multiple markets so they follow European regulations for cars made to sell in the US.
I would kill for one of these trucks, its so fucking stupid that they are banned
I’d go for it with a slight caveat: They need to uprate the engines a bit so they can cruise on US highways at US highway speeds. While they can reach 75mph ungoverned, you generally don’t want to run an ICE at close to its limit. That’s why you aim for 85-100mph max speed for US highways; it means it’ll be running efficiently cruising at 60-70mph.
Fortunately, this shouldn’t be difficult. The engines would likely be capable of it with a little tuning or extra turbocharger boost. And going electric makes it all a non-issue.
I’d still take one for most stuff. 70MPH is the maximum speed permitted on the majority of the US interstate system, most US highways were limited to 55 until relatively recently (at least in along the East coast).
While you can go slower, you’ll be the slowest vehicle on the road. That’s a safety concern because differences in speed are the most important issue on the highway. The safest speed there is the one where you flow with everyone else.
And going electric makes it all a non-issue.
Easier to upgrade, given, but most of the electric versions are on slightly oversized golf cart drivetrains with lead acid batteries.
I’ve seen a few YouTubers unbox them.
I drive a K6a turbo engine 5spd manual daily and at 110km/h (~68mph) it’s standing at around 3.5k rpm which is their sweet spot for fuel economy. The red line is at 8k. The car could go hours at that pace without any issue. It’s stock.
Had an aircooled vanagon that was way more picky than my kei car. Driving 55+ mph was a sure way to overheat.
I would even be happy with a small pickup like the old Datsuns or Mazdas. Instead my choices are Big-ass Toyota Truck or Ford Monster Truck or Dodge Monster Truck.
I have two Ford Rangers which are the US-branded Mazda B2000s. I am SO paranoid about anything going wrong with them because in my market I am FUCKED. I cannot work out of the trucks made after 2012.
Curious, why do you need a small truck?
When I first moved to Los Angeles I was amazed at all the small trucks still being used. NY road salt destroys them so I hadn’t seen any in years. The small Toyotas and Rangers are loved by gardeners and the prices they command show it.
I do carpentry, building, handyman stuff. LOTS of tools and blades and bits and all kinds of shit. I have a canopy on the bed . I made a sliding drawer and I need to pull it out and have all my tools at waist level. I’m watching these clowns having to constantly climb up into their truck beds and dig through packout boxes and it is silly. Also, I can fit into a parking space and not block the Lowes drive-through lumberyard
ill give you a japanese truck if…
Considering?! Just fuckin’ do it, who does it hurt?
It never ceases to amaze me how often I still learn about how much stuff is illegal in the US. All I ever heard growing up was how it’s the freedomest country in the world and that the entire concept of its government was built on personal freedoms, and yet it doesn’t even seem to be true on its own terms.
Should’ve been okay from the start.
But isn’t that the story of America? Making things illegal that would prevent you from maximizing profits to the detriment of every one of your countrymen.
100% agree and an awesome username.
Maybe US car manufacturers could, y’know, make their own compact trucks? 😀
American Auto Manufacturers are run by ancient douche bags that are desperately holding on to the past.
No, they’re run by ancient douche bags that are constantly finding loopholes in the current laws that allow (if not encourage) them to make bigger vehicles.
If they were desperately trying to hold onto the past, the new Ford Ranger reboot wouldn’t be nearly the same size as an F-150.
The only good Ranger was the Mazda B2000.
Capitalists don’t like to compete fairly.
They don’t have as much profit as large trucks. Capitalism strikes again.
This is COMMUNISM! TRUE FREEDOM is FORCING us to use OVERSIZED Cars that use a LOT of EXPENSIVE Gas! ANYTHING else is WOKE!
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 :)
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.
How common are the EVs versions over there?
I didn’t know about this so I did some searching. Per https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250507/k10014798141000.html
昨年度、国内で最も売れたEVは日産と三菱自動車が共同開発した軽自動車で、会社はそれと同じ水準の260万円程度の販売価格を目指すとしています。
Last year, the most domestically-sold EV was a kei vehicle which I didn’t know.
If I could have a modern(within the past 10 years) make of a Kei truck in my little Appalachian town I’d be so goddamn happy.
