Between this and the Headlight situation, it's bad out there. One of those issues where the two-party politics are really toxic and prevent any action.
Realistically, we need a new license class for vehicles >3T. This would mean anything from the biggest F-150 on up. It doesn't have to be any harder to get than a motorcycle cert, but we should put some burden on the driver to show that they know how to handle a big vehicle.
That and a common sense rule on headlights could get pedestrian deaths back where they were a decade ago.
Why not address the actual problem: ability to drive responsibly? Otherwise you’re just creating another privilege for the wealthy. Licensure is already an established practice.
Edit: I do want to clarify that I’m not entirely opposed to taxing them if needed. There should be fewer of those vehicles on the road. I’d just rather explore ways that don’t further exacerbate wealth inequality.
You don't understand! I NEED to drive a one-ton pickup every day to and from work! I MIGHT stop by the feed store on the way home to pick up some fence posts and fertilizer for my hobby farm. I HAVE to have the flexibility of a daily driver F350 just in case! It doesn't make sense for me to have a farm truck AND an economical Honda for daily driving!
You know I think people might be more flexible. When I was last in the US I was driving a 15 seat minibus and at the moment I'm using an e-bike. Doesn't make that much difference to me. I'm pretty flexible depending on what seems cool / convenient / good value. I think some nudging might work.
My country proves time and time again ego and profits matter more than lives. It’s always so depressing watching it all happen and if you try and point out the cost it’s hand waived away or seen as a personal attack.
As part of a large research organization, I was involved in multiple studies about increased traffic fatalities. This work began in 2020, and was part of a larger epidemiological effort. Our findings contradict the headline, but are in agreement with the body of text. The most significant causal factor we found was the rise of mobile device ownership and usage. In fact, mobile device usage is the reason for the inflection of year over year decrease in traffic fatalities in 2012.
The article states that 10% of the fatality increase can be attributed to vehicle size. This is far below the actual increase, and while a contributing factor, not the primary one.
Between this and the Headlight situation, it's bad out there. One of those issues where the two-party politics are really toxic and prevent any action.
Realistically, we need a new license class for vehicles >3T. This would mean anything from the biggest F-150 on up. It doesn't have to be any harder to get than a motorcycle cert, but we should put some burden on the driver to show that they know how to handle a big vehicle.
That and a common sense rule on headlights could get pedestrian deaths back where they were a decade ago.
Just a 100% tax on monster vehicles and maybe some subsidy for normal cars / evs would sort it.
Why not address the actual problem: ability to drive responsibly? Otherwise you’re just creating another privilege for the wealthy. Licensure is already an established practice.
Edit: I do want to clarify that I’m not entirely opposed to taxing them if needed. There should be fewer of those vehicles on the road. I’d just rather explore ways that don’t further exacerbate wealth inequality.
Just make car registration fees proportional to the odds of killing or injuring someone:
Cost ∝ mass² × blind spot ratio
You could also add another mass⁴ term to compensate for road damage.
You can tell by a comment's content whether the user drives a normal car or monster suv/truck lol.
You don't understand! I NEED to drive a one-ton pickup every day to and from work! I MIGHT stop by the feed store on the way home to pick up some fence posts and fertilizer for my hobby farm. I HAVE to have the flexibility of a daily driver F350 just in case! It doesn't make sense for me to have a farm truck AND an economical Honda for daily driving!
You know I think people might be more flexible. When I was last in the US I was driving a 15 seat minibus and at the moment I'm using an e-bike. Doesn't make that much difference to me. I'm pretty flexible depending on what seems cool / convenient / good value. I think some nudging might work.
The NYT article they link to is worth looking at, and I believe it's free for everyone: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/21/us/trucks-suv...
(this is at the merged thread - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648727 - and there's an additional gift link in the top text for people hitting the wall)
My country proves time and time again ego and profits matter more than lives. It’s always so depressing watching it all happen and if you try and point out the cost it’s hand waived away or seen as a personal attack.
Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347
Ok, since that submission has the original source, we'll merge the comments thither and re-up it.
As part of a large research organization, I was involved in multiple studies about increased traffic fatalities. This work began in 2020, and was part of a larger epidemiological effort. Our findings contradict the headline, but are in agreement with the body of text. The most significant causal factor we found was the rise of mobile device ownership and usage. In fact, mobile device usage is the reason for the inflection of year over year decrease in traffic fatalities in 2012.
The article states that 10% of the fatality increase can be attributed to vehicle size. This is far below the actual increase, and while a contributing factor, not the primary one.
It is like an arms race :)
people who went to large SUVs got better views and a greater false sense of security. Soon everyone was driving the same size SUV.
So what happens, people way bigger, the everyone is buying bigger. Rinse and Repeat. Something has to be done to stop this.
The size of these SUVs is getting absurd.
[dupe]
Discussion on source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623347