• Fell@discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 days ago

    In Japan, there is tax benefits if your car fits certain dimensions. That’s why there are so many small boxy cars in Japan. I don’t understand why this isn’t a thing anywhere else. It has so many benefits: Fuel economy, parking space, pedestrian safety, …

    But no, “I can see better if I sit higher” is still the #1 killer argument for these urban tanks.

    • Digit@lemmy.wtf
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      1 day ago

      Japanese import here. :)

      One woman nearly broke into tears when she saw how little I had to spend to fill it with fuel.

    • zaphod@sopuli.xyz
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      2 days ago

      I think I can see better on my bicycle than in a car, nothing blocking my view and you also sit relatively high compared to cars.

    • Jolteon@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      It’s at least partially the American emission standards, which loosen the emissions requirements as the size of the vehicle grows.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I’m not buying that. Sure, what you say is absolutely true but we’re talking pedestrian deaths. That’s more of the fault of the high steel wall at the front, and that is purely a style choice.

    • ethnss@ttrpg.network
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      2 days ago

      I don’t understand why this isn’t a thing anywhere else.

      A lot of it is because companies want to support the macho American image of guns, trucks, and bacon.

      They know these insecure losers will spend more money to look tough in front of their idiot peers.

    • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
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      3 days ago

      In Finland, car sales tax and yearly tax are based on the Co2 output, and it worked quite well to keep most cars small, light and efficient. Until hybrid and electric cars arrived on the market, that is…

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        Canada had a carbon tax. Pickup sales soared, people will eat dog food before giving up their $200 fill-up trucks.

        • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz
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          1 day ago

          Do you mean the “fuel charge” tax on gas, at 17.6 CAD cents (0.11€) per litre?

          Because that’s a rather adorable try.

      • ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        And their relationship with reality. It always reminds me of that graph that shows a modern tank is less likely to hit a child in the road than a GMC Sierra.

        • mirshafie@europe.pub
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          2 days ago

          Yeah, for sure. There’s an element of failing to grasp basic concepts of physics here, intertwined with a psychology of not wanting to feel small I suppose.

          I tried to explain to my sister that you don’t actually see more of the road when you sit higher up, it’s just that the road takes up a larger portion of your field of view. You actually see less of the road because the part directly around your car (the most important part) is obscured. She thought I was twisting words and got angry. If we lived in the USA her 150 cm ass would be driving an F-150.

          • Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip
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            1 day ago

            If the other vehicles around you are blocking your view, she is technically right, and you are technically wrong.

            And so many vehicles now have [what I would assume to be factory standard but still illegally] overtinted windows, you can’t even reliably see through the vehicle in front of you

            • mirshafie@europe.pub
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              1 day ago

              You’re trying to tell me that we need an arms race of taller cars, so we can see past the cars in front of us? For road safety?

    • justaman123@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      There really does seem to be a kind of social cohesiveness in other countries. In America it’s dog eat dog and fuck everyone else as long as I get mine.