Thoughts? (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
 

Image description:


Text: Amazon's electric cargo bikes have arrived in DC.

Image: A four-wheeled vehicle that appears to be a cross between a bicycle, a go-cart, and a mini-truck

Response text from high t alpha shemale @gluetaster: that's not a cargo bike man that's a loopholemobile


Edit: I found a slightly higher-quality version of the image:

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[–] 9 points 3 months ago (4 children)

A lot of it has to do with well-intentioned but stupid regulation.

The auto companies in the 2000s started calling everything a truck in order to get around fuel economy standards, so in 2008 the EPA announced that beginning in model year 2012, standards would be based on vehicle footprint instead of vehicle classification.

Notice how all the small trucks stopped being made after 2011? It's because small cargo vehicles suddenly had to somehow have better fuel economy than a sedan.

It's also why trucks have gotten stupidly big over the last 15 years. As standards increase, they can just make the footprint bigger.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I may be wildly misinterpreting what you’re saying but calling the chicken tax well-intentioned is bafflingly naive.

    Your “representatives” are laughing at you all the way to the bank while they cash their oil checks. They knew exactly what the inevitable outcome would be of their shit legislation.

    And miss me with the BuT DeMoCrAtS WrOtE aNd PaSsEd tHe BiLl So iT mUsT hAvE bEeN an aCciDeNt.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago*

    It wasn't a bill, and even if it had been it would have been signed by Bush. It was the NHTSA that changed the rules, back when they were actually trying to do things in service to the public. It was an attempt to close a loophole that resulted in a bigger loophole.

    And nobody wins from the current regs. Auto companies still hate it. You think it's their preference to make bigger cars that are more expensive to manufacture? You think they don't want to be able to make small, cheap trucks and vans?

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