A new NYT analysis found that anyone shorter than 5-foot-6 — about half of American adults — would frequently be knocked to the ground in front of today's average vehicle.
And out of the people who do need them, vans are still a much better way to go for many of them. Vans which have at least a margainally better field of view with their short, sloped hoods.
I have a large family and we drive a Transit 350 van.
One day we needed to move a pair of beds and mattresses. We asked my father in law to help us since he has a F150. But it soon became apparent how much more we could fit in the van (with the two back seats removed) than we could fit in the truck, which couldn’t even fit one mattress in the truckbed without hanging out the back of the tailgate.
From what I’ve seen my van is far superior to a truck in almost every need I’ve had. It can carry more stuff and it can do so in the rain keeping the cargo dry.
The one thing a truck could do that my van can’t is pick up a scoop of mulch or gravel dumped from a loader.
My grandmother used to have a GMC Safari and yea, you’re absolutely right. If someone offered their truck for free to help me move I’d still pay for a U-Haul and I have less than zero money. They’re fucking worthless unless what you’re dragging around is a fifth-wheel so you literally need the special towing connection in the bed. Even the tow-trucks and stuff could be cab-over-engine but we don’t live in sanity land.
I know someone who insists that a pickup truck is more practical and her example is “you can lift a bookshelf over the side of a pickup truck instead of having to put it in the back like a van”. Apparently it’s more practical to lift something like 4 feet off the ground to the side of a pickup truck bed instead of like 1 foot to the floor of a van
Similarly, I know people who bought F-150s for motorycles after going to the track only one time. We worked with actual consistent track-goers who each had vans. I used one of theirs to move my bike to the shop, and it was really funny watching them struggle with a small Ninja 250.
And it’s not just the field of view, it’s how the impact occurs. On a lower, sloped hood you bounce over the bonnet instead of a head-on bang with a higher, vertical, one.
Or COE light trucks … I had a ride a while back in a Thaco Frontier -carries 1/2 ton, available in a crewcab, available in an off-road variant, and no visibility problems :-)
There’s still an issue there with pedestrian safety, but it’s definitely better than an F-150 for sure. And maybe putting the driver up front will make them less inclined to be douchebags, too.
One of the guys in my police academy class would rib me for being less of a man because I didn’t drive a truck.
A couple months later, he would go on to commit a felony on duty in front of a half dozen of his peers, including me. Nobody bothered to report him but me, even after we had a meeting about someone from a neighboring agency doing nearly the exact same thing that had been fired and arrested for it. Being a brand new deputy, I thought it was an integrity test so I was more than willing to report it. IA dropped the case.
In hindsight, that was a clue I should’ve started applying elsewhere or quit, but I had three more years to put in before I wouldn’t have to pay back my academy pay, not to mention I naively trusted there was some other interpretation of what happened I hadn’t considered that the agency’s brass and legal team had; I wasn’t about to be the Apprentice telling the Master he’s full of shit.
This is true, but there’s also a real lack of small pickups on the market. The fuckers just seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I used to have a Proton Jumbuck and it was really useful. Used it a lot for hauling wood and soil, it was small enough to get around and park easily in the city. I got rid of it eventually because it was so hard to find parts, shame, it was a handy little machine.
It’s super frustrating because if you talk to anyone in a blue collar or rural area they all tell you they wish they still made small trucks. The manufacturers keep upping the size and cost adding shit nobody even asked for.
A front wheel drive unibody “truck” is a slap in the face to the small trucks of old. A dent in the bed and you either total it or replace a rear tire ever 6 months do to unfixable alignment issues.
You’re right it’s a lose lose. Personally I’m in the camp of not wasting money on a poorly thought out truck (maverick) and just go rent one for the 1 time in 5 years I’ll need a bed. I had a big truck that was just enough to tow my RV (lived full time to save money for a home) and now that I don’t live in an RV full time that bitch was sold. Hello New world of tiny EV. :)
The problem is, most people can only afford one vehicle (per adult, sometimes household) as such, they shop for something that will meet their edge cases and not their “90% of the times” cars. Annoyingly is also why you see hesitation for EVs.
Rather than saying “I can just rent a truck for the 1 day a year I need haul something” (and most likely would be cheaper), they think “well what if I need to haul something? Then what?”
Not saying that’s right, but edge cases are usually what drives their decisions.
Tell that to every dipshit in the US South…light kit, brush guard, spray in liner, knotted tires, extra fancy box in the back, and a pristine winch. The dirtiest it’s ever gotten is when it rains
I keep saying it, you don’t need trucks. Maybe 1 out of a thousand. No, that isn’t you.
And out of the people who do need them, vans are still a much better way to go for many of them. Vans which have at least a margainally better field of view with their short, sloped hoods.
I have a large family and we drive a Transit 350 van.
One day we needed to move a pair of beds and mattresses. We asked my father in law to help us since he has a F150. But it soon became apparent how much more we could fit in the van (with the two back seats removed) than we could fit in the truck, which couldn’t even fit one mattress in the truckbed without hanging out the back of the tailgate.
From what I’ve seen my van is far superior to a truck in almost every need I’ve had. It can carry more stuff and it can do so in the rain keeping the cargo dry.
The one thing a truck could do that my van can’t is pick up a scoop of mulch or gravel dumped from a loader.
My grandmother used to have a GMC Safari and yea, you’re absolutely right. If someone offered their truck for free to help me move I’d still pay for a U-Haul and I have less than zero money. They’re fucking worthless unless what you’re dragging around is a fifth-wheel so you literally need the special towing connection in the bed. Even the tow-trucks and stuff could be cab-over-engine but we don’t live in sanity land.
bro pulling up with the sprinter, how many bitches you fit in there?
It officially fits fifteen. . . passengers. But normally we have two seats removed for cargo space. So, 13
I know someone who insists that a pickup truck is more practical and her example is “you can lift a bookshelf over the side of a pickup truck instead of having to put it in the back like a van”. Apparently it’s more practical to lift something like 4 feet off the ground to the side of a pickup truck bed instead of like 1 foot to the floor of a van
Similarly, I know people who bought F-150s for motorycles after going to the track only one time. We worked with actual consistent track-goers who each had vans. I used one of theirs to move my bike to the shop, and it was really funny watching them struggle with a small Ninja 250.
People with truck brain are so fuckin’ stupid.
Vans are work trucks. Pickups are poser trucks.
And it’s not just the field of view, it’s how the impact occurs. On a lower, sloped hood you bounce over the bonnet instead of a head-on bang with a higher, vertical, one.
Or COE light trucks … I had a ride a while back in a Thaco Frontier -carries 1/2 ton, available in a crewcab, available in an off-road variant, and no visibility problems :-)
There’s still an issue there with pedestrian safety, but it’s definitely better than an F-150 for sure. And maybe putting the driver up front will make them less inclined to be douchebags, too.
Exactly, nobody wants to drive that sort of truck fast, lol
One of the guys in my police academy class would rib me for being less of a man because I didn’t drive a truck.
A couple months later, he would go on to commit a felony on duty in front of a half dozen of his peers, including me. Nobody bothered to report him but me, even after we had a meeting about someone from a neighboring agency doing nearly the exact same thing that had been fired and arrested for it. Being a brand new deputy, I thought it was an integrity test so I was more than willing to report it. IA dropped the case.
In hindsight, that was a clue I should’ve started applying elsewhere or quit, but I had three more years to put in before I wouldn’t have to pay back my academy pay, not to mention I naively trusted there was some other interpretation of what happened I hadn’t considered that the agency’s brass and legal team had; I wasn’t about to be the Apprentice telling the Master he’s full of shit.
Years later they’d fire me for some complete BS. He still works there as far as I know, and the US Army promoted him to Captain.
And those who actually need them would be far better served by a VW Transporter with an aluminium bed.
This is true, but there’s also a real lack of small pickups on the market. The fuckers just seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I used to have a Proton Jumbuck and it was really useful. Used it a lot for hauling wood and soil, it was small enough to get around and park easily in the city. I got rid of it eventually because it was so hard to find parts, shame, it was a handy little machine.
It’s super frustrating because if you talk to anyone in a blue collar or rural area they all tell you they wish they still made small trucks. The manufacturers keep upping the size and cost adding shit nobody even asked for.
the Ford Maverick has been on the market for 5 years now.
The F150 sold 150K units, the F-series sold 830K units, last year.
Folks overwhelmingly choose larger cars even when smaller options are available.
Whether rightly or wrongly, without a body on frame construction they were never really trying to sell that to traditional truck consumers.
A front wheel drive unibody “truck” is a slap in the face to the small trucks of old. A dent in the bed and you either total it or replace a rear tire ever 6 months do to unfixable alignment issues.
right, so you buy a f150 instead and bitch there are no small trucks.
lose lose
you can go buy a used small body on frame truck. just expect to pay 30-40K for one, because they are highly desirable.
You’re right it’s a lose lose. Personally I’m in the camp of not wasting money on a poorly thought out truck (maverick) and just go rent one for the 1 time in 5 years I’ll need a bed. I had a big truck that was just enough to tow my RV (lived full time to save money for a home) and now that I don’t live in an RV full time that bitch was sold. Hello New world of tiny EV. :)
The increased size is to flout emissions regulations. Costs (aside from greed) is due to increased requirements from the NHTSA.
this is now typical…
If you have to break out special equipment like ladders to service a vehicle, it is no longer consumer-grade.
They’re easy enough to rent if you need one.
The problem is, most people can only afford one vehicle (per adult, sometimes household) as such, they shop for something that will meet their edge cases and not their “90% of the times” cars. Annoyingly is also why you see hesitation for EVs.
Rather than saying “I can just rent a truck for the 1 day a year I need haul something” (and most likely would be cheaper), they think “well what if I need to haul something? Then what?”
Not saying that’s right, but edge cases are usually what drives their decisions.
1 out of a 1000? Don’t be silly, way more people than that have inferiority complex.
Hence the word ‘need’ probably
BUT I HAVE TA TOW MAH BOAT.
Lol, and YouTube is full of shorts of those same people drowning their truck on a boat ramp.
Tell that to every dipshit in the US South…light kit, brush guard, spray in liner, knotted tires, extra fancy box in the back, and a pristine winch. The dirtiest it’s ever gotten is when it rains
it isn’t about need. it’s about want.
no doubt you own many things other people don’t think you need, but you think you do.
Ban individual owned large vehicles. Force them to be licensed under a business, or force a rental agreement with extra tax and duration limits.