[HN Gopher] Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Legal fights over kei trucks in the U.S.
        
       Author : impish9208
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2024-12-16 22:10 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
        
       | impish9208 wrote:
       | Gift link: https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/pickup-truck-
       | drivers-kei-...
        
       | slwvx wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/lgUsJ
        
       | nothercastle wrote:
       | Ban the victims not the perpetrators (cybertruck)
        
       | Terr_ wrote:
       | It would be nice if cars got more of a bonus to their safety
       | rating based on how they _won 't_ pulp _other_ people in an
       | accident.
        
         | blacksmith_tb wrote:
         | It would be nice if non-cars, like SUVs and pickups, paid more
         | for insurance (but they pay less, because being tanks they
         | protect their occupants even as they lay waste to everything
         | else - unfortunately insurers care more about the former than
         | the latter).
        
           | rascul wrote:
           | Insurance on my 1999 Chevy pickup costs more than my 2001
           | Olds Intrigue.
           | 
           | Or at least it did a few years ago when the car was insured
           | and on the road.
        
           | tppiotrowski wrote:
           | Sounds incorrect. I think the insurance rate is based on the
           | value of the vehicle and SUVs and trucks are much more
           | expensive than compacts and sedans.
        
             | singleshot_ wrote:
             | The part of your insurance that pays the medical bills for
             | a person you smush (third party liability) is entirely
             | separate from the part that rebuilds your car if it gets
             | wrecked (collision/comprehensive damage). They should be
             | priced separately on your binder, but you can call up your
             | insurer to price compare relatively easily.
        
               | potato3732842 wrote:
               | Insurance doesn't cover legal expenses and their civil
               | liability is capped pretty low. They'd rather you kill
               | the pedestrian.
        
         | ricardobeat wrote:
         | Pedestrian and cyclist protection, emergency braking, etc. have
         | been in the criteria for Euro NCAP for a while. American
         | regulations are probably under siege by the auto industry.
        
           | r00fus wrote:
           | s/under seige by/on the payroll of/
        
       | gorkish wrote:
       | Anyone who thinks that kei trucks shouldn't be on roads and
       | highways and motorcycles should ought to have their head
       | examined.
       | 
       | For the record I support both, with the exception of 3 wheel
       | delta configuration motorcycles such as Harley's 3 wheeler.
       | Riding one is a death wish; selling one should be a crime.
        
       | xnx wrote:
       | Good to see this getting more attention. It's hard to make sense
       | of a system that allows motorcycles but not kei trucks.
       | 
       | 4 months ago on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41180154
        
       | nyx wrote:
       | I've rambled about this on here before, but I'm pretty bothered
       | that the media coverage of these always mentions the 25-year
       | import law, but also always frames it simply as a matter of
       | exemption from safety and emissions standards, never deigning to
       | mention that the law originated in the first place as a
       | protectionist measure.
       | 
       | In the late 80s, Mercedes in North America was getting its lunch
       | eaten by grey-market importers who were bringing European models
       | over and undercutting the American dealers on price. So they blew
       | millions lobbying the government to crack down on these imports,
       | and found a not-wholly-unsubstantiated justification in safety
       | concerns around modifications not complying with American safety
       | standards. So the US just enacted a sweeping ban of any new
       | imports; you can bring in dodgy old cars from the 1990s
       | unmodified, but you can't bring in a 2024 European Mercedes or
       | Japanese kei truck, because they're "unsafe". The new cars can't
       | be titled, and if the feds find out you got one in anyway,
       | they'll literally confiscate it and throw it in the crusher.
       | 
       | Seeing Whistlindiesel in the article makes me realize that there
       | could be a bipartisan coalition here of "government should let me
       | do what I want" conservatives and libertarians, and urban-design
       | lefties who resent having to drive everywhere and would love to
       | buy the minimum amount of car possible to meet their needs if
       | such a thing were possible. My conspiracy theory is that burying
       | the lede on this is intentional because people buying $12,000
       | Japanese imports wouldn't be buying $60,000 F-150s.
        
       | GuestFAUniverse wrote:
       | Yeah. No problem to drive a tank sized child killer with a hood
       | so long that it's close to driving blind, but these small trucks
       | are a risk... You're allowed to risks others lives, but when
       | you're willing to risks your own the nanny state is on high
       | alert.
       | 
       | Go, go! Land of the free!
        
       | potato3732842 wrote:
       | The part that drives me up the wall is how much the group of
       | people who complain about the safety impact of people over-
       | provisioning their personal vehicles (massive pickups and
       | whatnot) overlaps with the group who complains about any
       | automobile design that trades away safety in pursuit of another
       | engineering goal.
       | 
       | I can understand drawing a line on a subjective issue but at
       | least be ideologically about it if you want me to respect you in
       | the slightest.
        
       | xrd wrote:
       | Next, do Chinese EVs, right? Or, am I wrong?
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-12-17 23:01 UTC)