As an european light truck driver I find it interesting that truck drivers have such a bad reputation in the US. Here the biggest assholes drive sedans and wagons. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volvos etc. Trucks are big, slow and clumsy. We’re the people others fly by in the traffic. The only assholines I’m guilty of is drifting in the snow but I’m not doing it because I drive a truck but because it’s rear wheel drive and without traction control of any kind.
It might have to do with car culture and even urban infrastructure in the US. US is very much a “cars first” nation where a lot of areas do require a car to even get to the closest grocery store, and a lot of people who live in the suburbs like that tend to have bigger cars since it’s perceived as one-part functionality (more space for stuff = less trips to go drive 30+ minutes each way for necessities), one-part status symbol, and one-part fear and/or overcompensating, since a good whack of people here do follow the line of thinking of “if I get into an accident, I’d rather be in the bigger car” despite the fact the chance of killing the other person is greatly increased due to the bad crash collision light trucks have with other cars.
Companies also found a loophole to bypass CAFE laws and can make light trucks cheaper without worrying about safety and emissions too much, so in the US there’s a ton of marketing for comically oversized trucks and SUVs (as a 2m tall person, you can barely see me in some of those cars), with nary a station wagon in sight. Since they have to follow CAFE laws in other countries, I would assume your guys’ trucks are more “normal” and comparable to station wagons and sedans, which also might help with safety.
I would assume your guys’ trucks are more “normal” and comparable to station wagons and sedans
Yeah I guess you could say that. Here’s me parked next to an American truck. Don’t get me wrong, mine is still a big and heavy vehicle and it would absolutely suck to get hit by one, but people don’t generally buy trucks for everyday use here. They’re work vehicles like vans and intented for transporting cargo. Mine only has two seats because I need the longer bed (and lower taxes) Our infrastructure is also more designed with pedestrians in mind and I feel like drivers are much more considerate towards them. Especially when it comes to kids.
I fucking hate these things. These “American” utes have invaded my country too. As I explained to someone else most of em you can tell are driven by cashed up fuckwits who don’t actually use utes for a job.
Know how you can tell? Snap ons/tool boxes. Rarely do any of these massively oversized public masturbation devices have tool/gear on them used by people that the owners of these vehicles pretend to be.
I’ve heard roads over there are in average smaller than over here, which if true, might help with that since you would need to be more careful in bugger cars.
As an european light truck driver I find it interesting that truck drivers have such a bad reputation in the US. Here the biggest assholes drive sedans and wagons. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volvos etc. Trucks are big, slow and clumsy. We’re the people others fly by in the traffic. The only assholines I’m guilty of is drifting in the snow but I’m not doing it because I drive a truck but because it’s rear wheel drive and without traction control of any kind.
It might have to do with car culture and even urban infrastructure in the US. US is very much a “cars first” nation where a lot of areas do require a car to even get to the closest grocery store, and a lot of people who live in the suburbs like that tend to have bigger cars since it’s perceived as one-part functionality (more space for stuff = less trips to go drive 30+ minutes each way for necessities), one-part status symbol, and one-part fear and/or overcompensating, since a good whack of people here do follow the line of thinking of “if I get into an accident, I’d rather be in the bigger car” despite the fact the chance of killing the other person is greatly increased due to the bad crash collision light trucks have with other cars.
Companies also found a loophole to bypass CAFE laws and can make light trucks cheaper without worrying about safety and emissions too much, so in the US there’s a ton of marketing for comically oversized trucks and SUVs (as a 2m tall person, you can barely see me in some of those cars), with nary a station wagon in sight. Since they have to follow CAFE laws in other countries, I would assume your guys’ trucks are more “normal” and comparable to station wagons and sedans, which also might help with safety.
Yeah I guess you could say that. Here’s me parked next to an American truck. Don’t get me wrong, mine is still a big and heavy vehicle and it would absolutely suck to get hit by one, but people don’t generally buy trucks for everyday use here. They’re work vehicles like vans and intented for transporting cargo. Mine only has two seats because I need the longer bed (and lower taxes) Our infrastructure is also more designed with pedestrians in mind and I feel like drivers are much more considerate towards them. Especially when it comes to kids.
I fucking hate these things. These “American” utes have invaded my country too. As I explained to someone else most of em you can tell are driven by cashed up fuckwits who don’t actually use utes for a job.
Know how you can tell? Snap ons/tool boxes. Rarely do any of these massively oversized public masturbation devices have tool/gear on them used by people that the owners of these vehicles pretend to be.
I’ve heard roads over there are in average smaller than over here, which if true, might help with that since you would need to be more careful in bugger cars.