Just look at that. This truck is taller than a used kid (10 years old). I assume the truck can run over pretty much any other age but probably the driver might be able to see older kid’s heads. Or we could teach our kids to jump to school rather than walk. If you see a truck, jump and make eye contact before jumping while crossing the street. Or we could tell our kids to never go outside until they are 21.
Why do people forget that not everyone lives in an urban place without deer or other dangerous wildlife encounters at high speed on the road?
The increase in height is not a narcissism thing. I agree however that trucks of this height need to be outfitted with better sensors to make sure pedestrians don’t end up dead in bad encounters.
I live in Canberra, Australia. Eastern grey kangaroos are the car killers here. The main road connecting my cluster of suburbs and the city centre is 20km of 100km/h limit through bushland. I have stopped for kangaroos on it.
The people I know who hit kangaroos were driving fast without regard for them. I have heard that deer enter the road with less warning than 'roos, but surely you can recognise dangerous places and times of day?
Meanwhile, everywhere else in the world which has the same dangers, which isn’t the US: no manslaughtering penis enlengthernes, just regular station wagons and the occasional Subaru. Curious how that is.
Idk about rest of the world, but let’s take Europe.
Fact is that European cities have smaller roads and many places in Europe are denser. Europeans have been getting bigger cars just the same as Americans, https://www.motor1.com/news/707996/vehicles-larger-than-ever-usa-europe/
Don’t care about this topic that much, I just think discounting the experience of people who are impacted by more wildlife encounters is just very narrow minded.
I live in northern Sweden, a region which is sparsely populated and mostly forests. We can encounter wildlife on the road regularly, especially when the Sámi move their reindeer herds. The observation of mostly station wagons and occasional Subaru Forester and very rarely an (old, but reasonably sized) pickup is my own.
I remember hearing about it in the mandatory risk training we have to take to get our drivers licence, that if you hit a deer or a moose (they’re also very common here) with a car they’re meant to roll on the hood and then over the car. But a semi will just hit them dead on, but they’ve got enough momentum the impact and they’re designed to be able to take the blow. Either way, I’d much rather run in to a deer with my Volvo V70/XC70 than a F150.
Slowing down helps you avoid deer too
It’s harder at night when they’re most active. My coworker’s Jeep was totaled on a local highway doing 45mph by a deer running across in a somewhat urban area.
No one forgot rural areas exist.
It is 100% a narcissism thing. The entire rest of the world does just fine with regular sized vehicles. Sensors are never going to replace actually just seeing. Really all you end up with is a vehicle with way more blind areas (because a vehicle like that doesn’t have blind spots, it’ now likes blind regions).
I vote for sensors installed under the driver’s forehead.
We can increase their scanning efficiency by removing obstructions in the vehicle’s design. Less construction, fewer moving parts, simpler design.
You know what would be a lot simpler and cheaper? Busses and trains and neighborhoods designed so that you can walk or bike to get basic necessities.
My Sprinter is taller with a shorter hood, and more cargo capacity. The increase in size and height of pickups is bad design for ego.
You’re right, it’s impossible to survive in a rural area without one of these emotional support trucks. Sucks for the rural kids who the drivers can’t see, but they shouldn’t have been so short.