Trucks and sport utility vehicles with hood heights greater than 40 inches are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than shorter vehicles with sloped hoods, according to new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
No, why would you purposefully buy a less capable, cheaply made vehicle that won’t last, with an anemic engine that has less displacement than a carbonated beverage container?
Because it’s cheaper, more fuel/energy efficient, I already have a larger, more capable, more durable vehicle with more displacement than my stock pots, and I’d prefer not to incur excessive wear and tear on my nice vehicle when I don’t need its capabilities on the overwhelming majority of my drives. I only need it once or twice a week, but I use it for everything because it’s what I have, and I can’t get something small enough and cheap enough to justify an additional vehicle.
A Kei truck would be perfect. I could save about 90% of the miles I put on my good truck if I had a Japanese mini-truck. It would pay for itself in reduced wear and tear on my good truck in about 4 years. Unfortunately, they aren’t street legal in my state.