"But why do you care if oversized trucks are street legal?" one user asked of transportation content creator Moles are Cool (@molesrcool) on TikTok.
"Where do I begin?" he replied.
@molesrcool Replying to @user8865192156226 why I care about oversized trucks being totally legal #truck #liftedtruck #liftedtrucks #f150 #silverado #pedestriandignity #walkablecities ♬ Yacht Club - MusicBox
One issue, he points out in his video, is how "ridiculously high the hoods are on some of these trucks, making them have terrible visibility."
Showing a picture of a full-sized pickup next to a similarly sized unlifted van, he continues, "Look at these two work vehicles right here and tell me which one is safer to the world around it."
Many TikTok commenters had encountered the dangers and inconveniences of lifted trucks themselves.
"Not to mention people who need to use wheelchairs can't use the sidewalks when trucks park like that," one person commented, referring to a photo from the video of a truck parked with its rear end halfway across the sidewalk. "[Same with] blind people," another pointed out.
Commenters noted a problem with similar cars parked (mostly) in spaces designed for compact vehicles.
"Also, don't forget the obnoxiously bright headlights at the perfect eye level for a standard sedan," one person wrote.
Pickup trucks are statistically deadlier in crashes than other vehicle types, as Consumer Reports noted. They reported that a large contributor to this is the increasingly large blind spots; average hood height increased by an average of at least 11% from 2000 to 2021.
And yet, Americans won't stop buying giant pickups. The three bestselling vehicles in the U.S. earlier this year were all full-sized pickups, according to Car and Driver, and one in every five new vehicles purchased is a pickup truck, Consumer Reports detailed. "It's part of a cultural phenomenon of enduring consumer demand for bigger everyday trucks, some of which don't come with important safety features as standard equipment," CR wrote.
"If you get hit … these lifted trucks will hit you straight in the vitals," one person commented grimly on the video. Another referred to this type of truck as a "pedestrian masher."
Not only are they dangerous in close encounters, but large trucks emit noxious pollutants into the air. Tractor-trailers, delivery vans, and heavy-duty pickup trucks collectively spew more than half of the transportation sector's deadly particulate matter pollution, Forbes reported. This pollution is linked to heart disease, lung cancers, stroke, childhood asthma, and premature death, per the International Council on Clean Transportation.
Many groups are urging the adoption of zero-emission trucks instead. The Federal Highway Administration recently announced $148 million in grants to address truck air pollution near ports, including transitioning to zero-emission trucks and building out more EV-charging infrastructure.
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