Comic Strips

FR though the one in the upper right corner is a real thing. When I inherited my grandfather’s truck I swear suddenly everyone in the family needed something moved. I get asked at least once a month to help move something or lend it out lol.

Nothing at all in this about how few actual cars are still being sold. Because the NHTSB have made it so that passenger vehicles require a certain number of safety features and fuel efficiency, bigger vehicles means more money for auto makers and not having to produce vehicles that are as fuel efficient or safe as their larger counter parts.

You can have my Corolla when you pry my cold, dead body from it

The last one is a significant concern. Huge trucks and SUVs are so prevalent and they're so big it seems like the drivers aren't as aware of their surroundings. I'd love to see us move to taxing based on vehicle weight/mileage since it's the true measure of how much wear a vehicle puts on the roads. You want that insane Hummer EV? You're paying 20x what the guy in a Civic is paying.

My local roads are shit, the SUV prevents me damaging my vehicle in all the potholes / construction zones.

I would totally rock a Slate, though.

The biggest reason that was never mentioned is ..

They need a vehicle that can accommodate and carry a 300lb human.

I have a friend who is over weight, his wife is over weight and their four teenage children are all overweight.

One of their previous vehicles was a small car and it looked like a clown show to see four of them stuff themselves into an average sized car and watch the suspension dip.

I couldn't believe they got a newer F150 that they paid about $50,000 for ..... a used vehicle! It's a great truck and they got it just to fit four of them comfortably. They parked next to my 2010 F150 and theirs looks like a transport.

And when they step into the truck, they look normal and you no longer notice how big they are because their truck is huge.

One of the sadder reasons: I need a pickup but they stopped making small pickups in the 90's.

CAFE standards base fleet fuel economy targets on wheelbase. It’s cheaper for manufacturers to produce large trucks and SUVs, which don’t have to meet as stringent a standard due to their large wheelbase.

Those are also classified as light trucks, which means they don’t have to comply with the higher safety standards that “passenger cars” do, another reason they’re cheaper to produce.

How do we sell those? Marketing to make people think they need them.

Who was Thorstein Veblen

pecuniary emulation drives consumers to spend more on displays of wealth and status symbols, as opposed to more useful commodities.

aka, Keeping Up With The Joneses, Conspicuous Consumption.

My Subaru Forester is not a tiny SUV. I was parked between two pickup trucks the other day, and my roof was only slightly higher than their hoods. The Simpsons' Canyonero is no longer a parody.

Giggling in hatchback at this.

Americans can't count because that is eleven reasons.

There's one big one missing, no viable public transit options. America has half a rail system and a tenth of the bussing it actually needs. We're blessed and cursed with an abundance of space, and we sprawled out across the land on the assumption that everyone would have a car.

There isn't an easy fix. It's not just a matter of adding more busses, it's where and how people live and work. It's how highways and neighborhoods are laid out. I'm fortunate to live close to a rail hub, but I still have to drive there from my house, and I would need a car at any destination. We don't even have sidewalks or bike lanes between here and there.

The last one is understandable from the standpoint that she needs an mpv to transport all those kids

I live in Germany where people usually drive reasonably-sized cars. Something like a Škoda Karoq SUV is already considered unreasonably large.

A while ago I saw someone drive a Ford F-150 past our house. That thing is almost 1m (~3 feet) longer and 30 cm (~1 foot) taller than those SUVs. In its smallest version. How the hell do Americans live like that?

Also: Because my truck can't be smaller than my neighbor's.

That last one is actually legitimate. My wife was rear ended twice at a red light. Her physiatrist, recommended she gets a slightly bigger car because it would change the angle of impact if it happens again. The lower more reclined angle could potentially kill her if she's hit again.

She went from a car to a compact SUV. Small change, but she is now in a more upright seated position.