Illegally smol cars
The DMV had a problem because owners were exploiting a loophole to get these on the road even when they don’t meet safety standards.
If that argument held any water they’d ban motorcycles too.
That is a woefully incorrect correlation.
For example, not that it was mentioned in the article, but lots of research and regulation go into hood design to minimize pedestrian injury in an unfortunate collision or reduce additional risks such as being pulled under the hood or exposed sharp point. Except the sharp edges, neither apply for motorcycles, but which have their own, unique safety requirements. And there could be hundreds of other examples I’m unaware of. That’s sort of why we have a government organization such as a DMV.
The DMV has zero bearing on vehicle safety. They’re only denying and trying to revoke legally issued registrations. So your makeshift argument is moot. You’re trying to say the registrable F150 is more pedestrian safe than a Daihatsu Hi-Jet………which is definitely not the case. It’s quite the opposite.
Not to mention they’re making golf carts road legal which don’t even have seat belts or any other crash verified safety equipment.
These reports have been around for years.
I’m not saying a F150 is more or less safe than a Hi-Jet at all.
I’m thinking like a bureaucrat and saying: if it complies with regulations, it can be registered.
Results: ✅ F150 ❌ Kei truck
This isn’t really up for debate. It’s legal to import anything 25 years or older under Federal law. They don’t have to comply with regulations outside of maybe smog. And even then if you import anything 1974 and older you don’t even have to smog that in California.
I could maybe see an argument where they shouldn’t be allowed on roads above 70mph since most kei cars aren’t capable of that, and those that are run such high rpm’s it’s just not practical.
As far as I’m aware the US doesn’t have any(or at least not many) pedestrian safety standards. That’s actually the reason the Cybertruck isn’t sold in Europe, it didn’t meet Euro pedestrian standards. I mean just look at the fucking thing, it’s all sharp edges and corners lol
Huh, that hood is a head scratcher. I think I have some homework tonight.
I also read that neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS rated the Cybertruck in crash tests, and that all testing was done in-house.
The things is they aren’t even that small. I visited my friend in Japan on a ski trip and he owns one of these trucks. It fit the two of us in the front seats extremely comfortably, and we put my ski bag and all my gear in the bed with tons of room to spare. It was way more comfortable than traveling with the same gear in a sedan would have been. It feels like we only have a problem with it in America because our roads and our vehicles are so goddamn gigantic.
I believe the issue with these is a lack of crumple zones, and therefore safety ratings. They probably don’t have 85 mph highways in Japan.