The aesthetics of suburban America are questionable at best. Mostly consisting of roads as large as houses, highways with a stupendous amount of lanes, still riddled with traffic. Rarely a bus or bike in sight. Yet, despite the largely gray roads that greet me every morning and afternoon, I find myself wincing every time I see a Cybertruck. And though one would think it would be normal by now, the shiny blocky, sharp metal blob has only ruined my day repeatedly. Unrelated to the creator, the design and inefficiency of the vehicle gross me out.
Similar, but less so, is my reaction to pickup trucks. Everywhere. All of the time. Taking up 1 1/2 parking spaces. Holding nothing besides wasted space and money.
The average car is growing wider at a rate of one centimeter every two years, according to Transport and Environment. Since the invention of cars, they have only grown in size. There is no practical reason for an average person to have such big vehicles. In fact, the Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States for more than 40 years. Since then, trucks, like all other vehicles, have only gotten bigger, wider and taller.
Sure, maybe this doesn’t seem that bad at face level. Maybe a bit fuel inefficient, maybe annoying at parking spaces, but if people want bigger cars and are willing to pay for them, what is the problem?
First of all, trucks are incredibly bad for the environment. Often emitting, on average, five times above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions limit. They have lower fuel efficiency and emit significantly higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions in comparison to smaller cars. Yes, scientific improvement creates increasingly environmentally friendly trucks. But do you know what would be better? Smaller and therefore more environmentally friendly and more efficient vehicles!
The larger size of the vehicle harms pedestrians. A 2024 study estimates that pedestrians are 70% more likely to die in a crash involving a pickup truck rather than a car. Furthermore, the height of an average truck creates huge blind zones, which disproportionately leads to children’s deaths.
Bigger cars are safer for one person, however: the driver. But if everyone keeps buying bigger and bigger cars, vehicle operators are no safer than they were before. Pedestrians and bikers, however, are forced to suffer the consequences, with an increasing amount of bikers and pedestrians killed each year because of trucks. In an attempt to make oneself safer, all that is done is to hurt everyone else.
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Furthermore, if the reason for buying a truck is to be able to see over other cars, imagine those who care about the environment or don’t have the money to buy taller cars. They are forced to sit below monstrously tall trucks and suffer not knowing what the traffic ahead looks like.
“But it’s cool.” Sure! If you think jeopardizing the safety of pedestrians, bikers and other vehicle operators is cool, or if you believe that harming the environment for no apparent reason is cool, then by all means, buy that over-expensive safety hazard of a truck and make that immature decision as a full-grown adult.
The solution to this problem is quite simple. Don’t buy trucks if you don’t need them for commercial purposes. Invest in smaller cars.
The government should also create regulations for truck and vehicle sizes. The passenger seat-to-car ratio should stay consistent. Of course, a car that can fit eight people should be bigger than one that fits two. But a two-passenger seat truck with no practical use should not be allowed.
Bigger is not always better. Bigger, in this case, is dangerous, selfish and harmful. Think before you invest in a pick-up truck or a stupidly large car.
Ellen Li is a senior at Aragon High School in San Mateo. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
And whoever can afford a $80,000 vehicle to pull their horses or airplane on a trailer can also afford to pay higher vehicle registration fees based on weight.
Because heavier vehicles do create more damage.
But let's not just repeat all the car commercials we have seen during the Superbowl - we are not such easy prey. Let's get some real people giving their statements.
American car manufacturers can't compete with international quality. So they make sure the old protectionism about pickups works well.
But without real competition these trucks have become unpractical, unrepairable, super expensive, and are still of the lowest of quality and flip over rather too easy.
These are written by car enthusiasts and not environmentalists:
- Don't Buy A Ford (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ3XzMNAmYY )
- Why Ford Is Failing And I'll Never Buy Another One (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKFPcmuOdqU)
- Why trucks are getting worse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UiY20ris0g)
- These vehicles are the biggest jokes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCWwvfaeNp4)
- The Grille Trend that Kills 509 People per Year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpuX-5E7xoU )
- Why are Small Pickup truck disappearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEf9f0JbNAY)
The real reason manufacturers are pushing large SUVs and pickup trucks is simply that they are less regulated - thanks to regulatory loopholes ... and those might have been intentional.
This author seems like a full blown Communist. She advocates for government regulation and censorship of things she is "grossed out by." Which seems pretty arbitrary and nihilistically existential. She wants to revoke people's ability to choose what tool works best for their lives. Its crazy work to see she believes it to be inconceivable for a person to have a regular use for a Pickup Truck outside of a commercial situation. People have dirtbikes or ATVs or trailers or watersports equipment they need to move - people who are rowers or surfers - people that need to move a lot of small pets around. People who own horses or other bigger animals need a truck. You absolutely need a truck if you have a big family and have to move a bunch of kids into colleges and out of houses into their own places - if you are actually self skilled and can fix things in your own home it behooves you to have a truck to move heavy materials and gardening equipment. And I dont know what you are talking about regarding safety - trucks are the safest vehicles on the roads. A truck is a utility vehicle to anybody who owns it - you dont need a business license to justify its usage. Sounds pretty Communist. You need to show me your usefulness permit to own that truck. America is the land of liberty - I can own something because I want to and I can afford it. She's got that disdain for her fellow citizens with opposing viewpoints like a Communist - she thinks we are "dangerous, selfish and harmful". Harmful to your fragile and deluded sense of reality. The selective outrage here is pretty cringeworthy - there are so many more important battles to put energy into. Stop telling other people how to live their lives - this is why the Democrats lost and will continue to lose forever. You gotta adjust - just as the times rapidly changed in 2020 with the DEI era - they are changing again - life moves in cycles and you have to be dynamic along with it. If you become spiritually + Intellectually stagnant like David Hogg - the rest of the country will no longer take you seriously - and unfortunately you will get a dose of you own medicine in not being given the opportunity to engage in a debate. I implore you to try to find a philosophical middle ground. Ideological absolutism isn't the answer - neither is government regulation of liberty and quality of life choices. We should support each other with unbiased information and encourage each other to make healthy choices - not blame each other for the worlds problems - especially "climate change" - that needs to be thrown in the garbage yesterday.
Thank you Ellen. Well said and well researched too, it seems.
There is a fun video to watch about England: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fpu2qM8pWo
Just look how he suffers at the pump.
The 'cybertruck' is currently illegal to drive in the EU and UK - as the car wouldn't make it through the pedestrian safety evaluation. It also wouldn't make it into small and narrow streets or neighborhoods and it wouldn't make it into any downtown car garages either. It would be fairly useless to drive.
Pickup trucks make little to no sense in an urban environment.
They are great for "dirty jobs" like gardening, tree trimming, carrying dirt of gravel.
For most other jobs an enclosed van is much more convenient, since stuff won't get stolen that easily.
They are also less save as they flip over way too easily.
Pickup trucks don't exist because they are practical or good looking. They actually go back to something called the post-WWII "Chicken Tax", basically a 25% tariff on foreign pickup trucks.
Because of that tax, the market for pickup trucks is limited to only a few domestic manufacturers.
But because of that protectionism, car manufacturer have been pushing all advertising towards these trucks and away from sedans, where there is international competition.
At least pickup trucks used to be cheap. But now that Americans think they are cool, (peer pressure) the prices are shooting up like crazy. And because of bad mileage and high insurance cost, they have become luxury cars now.
But the problem is political as people can easily be incentivized into buying
Thanks for your amusing column today, Ms. Li. I hope you realize you’ve argued against yourself. Not only that, I believe women are buying SUVs more than any other type of car, and for several of the reasons you demonize – able to see over other cars, being safer for them and passengers/kids and other kids. And why are two-passenger seat trucks being demonized? Two-passenger seat cars and trucks use less air conditioning and we know air conditioning contributes to carbon emissions. You’d rather air condition stupidly large cars than a two-passenger truck? “Greenies” aren’t going to be happy with you.
And trucks have no practical use? How are you going to move large loads, such as 2x4s, plywood, many things from Home Depot, couches, furniture, etc. without a truck, or someone who has a truck? Would you rather have an even larger truck, say a cargo truck (which may be half empty, or more) deliver it? Isn’t that less “green” than a pickup truck? Sometimes bigger is better, along with being efficient and convenient. Now I’m considering buying a pickup truck…or a stupidly large car.
If Ellen had her way, every student at Aragon High School would be required to walk to school because all styles of Tesla's cause damage to our roads, they take up twice as much space as a Smart Car, they have toxic batteries that poison our planet when their life is over and they cost more than Tundra's, F-150's and most trucks. It appears along with DEI training, critical theory indoctrination, transitioning solutions, our educational system is teaching students to be snowflakes, ignoramuses, but certainly not critical thinkers.
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(6) comments
And whoever can afford a $80,000 vehicle to pull their horses or airplane on a trailer can also afford to pay higher vehicle registration fees based on weight.
Because heavier vehicles do create more damage.
But let's not just repeat all the car commercials we have seen during the Superbowl - we are not such easy prey. Let's get some real people giving their statements.
American car manufacturers can't compete with international quality. So they make sure the old protectionism about pickups works well.
But without real competition these trucks have become unpractical, unrepairable, super expensive, and are still of the lowest of quality and flip over rather too easy.
These are written by car enthusiasts and not environmentalists:
- Don't Buy A Ford (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ3XzMNAmYY )
- Why Ford Is Failing And I'll Never Buy Another One (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKFPcmuOdqU)
- Why trucks are getting worse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UiY20ris0g)
- These vehicles are the biggest jokes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCWwvfaeNp4)
- The Grille Trend that Kills 509 People per Year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpuX-5E7xoU )
- Why are Small Pickup truck disappearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEf9f0JbNAY)
The real reason manufacturers are pushing large SUVs and pickup trucks is simply that they are less regulated - thanks to regulatory loopholes ... and those might have been intentional.
This author seems like a full blown Communist. She advocates for government regulation and censorship of things she is "grossed out by." Which seems pretty arbitrary and nihilistically existential. She wants to revoke people's ability to choose what tool works best for their lives. Its crazy work to see she believes it to be inconceivable for a person to have a regular use for a Pickup Truck outside of a commercial situation. People have dirtbikes or ATVs or trailers or watersports equipment they need to move - people who are rowers or surfers - people that need to move a lot of small pets around. People who own horses or other bigger animals need a truck. You absolutely need a truck if you have a big family and have to move a bunch of kids into colleges and out of houses into their own places - if you are actually self skilled and can fix things in your own home it behooves you to have a truck to move heavy materials and gardening equipment. And I dont know what you are talking about regarding safety - trucks are the safest vehicles on the roads. A truck is a utility vehicle to anybody who owns it - you dont need a business license to justify its usage. Sounds pretty Communist. You need to show me your usefulness permit to own that truck. America is the land of liberty - I can own something because I want to and I can afford it. She's got that disdain for her fellow citizens with opposing viewpoints like a Communist - she thinks we are "dangerous, selfish and harmful". Harmful to your fragile and deluded sense of reality. The selective outrage here is pretty cringeworthy - there are so many more important battles to put energy into. Stop telling other people how to live their lives - this is why the Democrats lost and will continue to lose forever. You gotta adjust - just as the times rapidly changed in 2020 with the DEI era - they are changing again - life moves in cycles and you have to be dynamic along with it. If you become spiritually + Intellectually stagnant like David Hogg - the rest of the country will no longer take you seriously - and unfortunately you will get a dose of you own medicine in not being given the opportunity to engage in a debate. I implore you to try to find a philosophical middle ground. Ideological absolutism isn't the answer - neither is government regulation of liberty and quality of life choices. We should support each other with unbiased information and encourage each other to make healthy choices - not blame each other for the worlds problems - especially "climate change" - that needs to be thrown in the garbage yesterday.
Thank you Ellen. Well said and well researched too, it seems.
There is a fun video to watch about England: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fpu2qM8pWo
Just look how he suffers at the pump.
The 'cybertruck' is currently illegal to drive in the EU and UK - as the car wouldn't make it through the pedestrian safety evaluation. It also wouldn't make it into small and narrow streets or neighborhoods and it wouldn't make it into any downtown car garages either. It would be fairly useless to drive.
Pickup trucks make little to no sense in an urban environment.
They are great for "dirty jobs" like gardening, tree trimming, carrying dirt of gravel.
For most other jobs an enclosed van is much more convenient, since stuff won't get stolen that easily.
They are also less save as they flip over way too easily.
Pickup trucks don't exist because they are practical or good looking. They actually go back to something called the post-WWII "Chicken Tax", basically a 25% tariff on foreign pickup trucks.
Because of that tax, the market for pickup trucks is limited to only a few domestic manufacturers.
But because of that protectionism, car manufacturer have been pushing all advertising towards these trucks and away from sedans, where there is international competition.
At least pickup trucks used to be cheap. But now that Americans think they are cool, (peer pressure) the prices are shooting up like crazy. And because of bad mileage and high insurance cost, they have become luxury cars now.
But the problem is political as people can easily be incentivized into buying
Thanks to young voters Trump won. Maybe more far left youth need to write articles like this so MAGA can retain power for decades.
Thanks for your amusing column today, Ms. Li. I hope you realize you’ve argued against yourself. Not only that, I believe women are buying SUVs more than any other type of car, and for several of the reasons you demonize – able to see over other cars, being safer for them and passengers/kids and other kids. And why are two-passenger seat trucks being demonized? Two-passenger seat cars and trucks use less air conditioning and we know air conditioning contributes to carbon emissions. You’d rather air condition stupidly large cars than a two-passenger truck? “Greenies” aren’t going to be happy with you.
And trucks have no practical use? How are you going to move large loads, such as 2x4s, plywood, many things from Home Depot, couches, furniture, etc. without a truck, or someone who has a truck? Would you rather have an even larger truck, say a cargo truck (which may be half empty, or more) deliver it? Isn’t that less “green” than a pickup truck? Sometimes bigger is better, along with being efficient and convenient. Now I’m considering buying a pickup truck…or a stupidly large car.
If Ellen had her way, every student at Aragon High School would be required to walk to school because all styles of Tesla's cause damage to our roads, they take up twice as much space as a Smart Car, they have toxic batteries that poison our planet when their life is over and they cost more than Tundra's, F-150's and most trucks. It appears along with DEI training, critical theory indoctrination, transitioning solutions, our educational system is teaching students to be snowflakes, ignoramuses, but certainly not critical thinkers.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.