• AcidSmiley [she/her]
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      252 years ago

      It’s wild how there’s this kind of evolutionary pressure to turn the grills into ever bigger and more menacing threat displays and it just keeps spiralling out of control because the cars in the rear view mirror only keep getting bigger and more intimidating and you constantly need to buy a new ego prosthetic in the form of a suburban tank like this to keep up with the other drivers that signal “I’M GONNA EAT YOU ALIVE” to you during every commute and grocery run. I’m sure manufacturers love that.

      • @Duamerthrax@lemmy.ml
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        162 years ago

        I need a pickup truck for farm work, but I hate how big these things have gotten. I wouldn’t buy anything made in the past 20 years. All this height for no practical benefit.

        • @CrowAirbrush@lemm.ee
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          52 years ago

          Legit, like i understand having a use for that big open storage solution but seeing how they are now too tall to reach is odd as heck.

        • Cethin
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          32 years ago

          Old trucks are actual working trucks. The bed is low enough to easily lift heavy objects into. Modern trucks have no practical purpose in mind. They’re purely aesthetic. Nearly any load you’re lifting into that thing can also be hauled in almost any other vehicle easier. You’d need a forklift to load anything substantial, in which case an old truck or a van would be easier.

    • @Grass@geddit.social
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      82 years ago

      A used ranger accommodated all of my hauling needs with room to spare when I needed it for work. I drove the company pickup which had the double rear tires once and it was awful and I couldn’t recommend it even just for doing pickup truck things.

    • Melonius [he/him]
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      62 years ago

      It’s so fucking annoying when I’m trying to turn and check for oncoming traffic and one of these or its smaller cousins pulls up next to me so I can’t see

    • @M0oP0o@lemmy.world
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      02 years ago

      The issue is not so much size but height. These things are all over where I am as fleet vehicles and even the good ol’ type will comment that they can not see anything in front. Just look at the door or normal car in the background of that picture and you get an idea. These hoods are no joke 1.7 meters high for no other reason then to look mean.

    • @grue@lemmy.ml
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      -282 years ago

      So it would’ve been fine and dandy if the cyclist had been killed by someone driving a Prius?

      'Cause that’s what you imply by placing this bullshit emphasis trying to single out big trucks in particular. Comments like yours reek of implied small-car apologism, and I, for one, am getting sick and hired of it!

      There’s a reason this community is called “fuck cars,” and not “fuck big trucks” or something. it’s because the problem is cars — all of them!

      Any car, even the smallest, can turn a pedestrian or cyclist into a red smear when driven negligently.

      Every car, even the smallest, takes up an entire lane on the street and an entire parking space.

      Every car, even the smallest, contributes to car-dependent urban design.

      Singling out big trucks as if they’re materially worse than all the other death machines is nothing but a distraction from the real problem at best, and an active disinformation campaign at worst. Our goals should be to get people out of cars entirely, not just into smaller ones!

      • @RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca
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        2 years ago

        No, it probably wouldn’t have happened in the first place, because the driver of a sensibly-sized car can see things that are less than fifty fucking feet ahead of the dash.

        Monstrous behemoths like this should be prohibitively expensive to own for personal use and/or be restricted to industrial/ag use only. Fuck your camping or hauling one chair or whatever the fuck you do twice a year. You can rent for something that seldom.

        • @grue@lemmy.ml
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          -52 years ago

          No, it probably wouldn’t have happened in the first place, because the driver of a sensibly-sized car can see things that are less than fifty fucking feet ahead of the dash.

          [X] doubt

          If big trucks were banned, muderous MAGA psychopaths would just mow down cyclists using Dodge Chargers or whatever instead.

          • 7bicycles [he/him]
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            62 years ago

            I’m pretty fucking far as anti-car sentiment goes but to think that a meaningful amount of cyclists killed via cars is people doing it intentionally is insane. You can kill a man dead in a Smart ForTwo easily but let’s not pretend the giant driving blind spots and especially the cultural messaging that goes along with HUGE ANGY TRUCK (/ CAR) doesn’t help

      • @verdigris@lemmy.ml
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        282 years ago

        The thing is, they are materially worse than other consumer vehicles. They do all the bad things but more, and their normalization makes it all worse for everyone – have you seen the size of parking spaces in Europe?

        • @grue@lemmy.ml
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          -112 years ago

          they are materially worse than other consumer vehicles

          Not in the way that actually matters, which is their effect on low-density zoning and minimum parking requirements. A parking space is a parking space is a parking space — they’re all (roughly) the same size!

          • huf [he/him]
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            2 years ago

            no they arent lol, you try parking one of those american cars in this city…

            you can get away with owning one in the suburbs, but just parking on the side of the street like most people do? forgetaboutit

            i do agree with the wider point though. get rid of all of them, nobody needs private cars. in fact, life on earth desperately needs us to ban private cars.

        • @grue@lemmy.ml
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          32 years ago

          Yes, it is funny that folks here apparently just want to circlejerk scapegoating big trucks while downvoting any actual urbanist who dares to point out that they’re focusing on the wrong problem.

          • @Default_Defect@midwest.social
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            82 years ago

            I just wish that those of you with actually good points were capable to conveying it without coming across as a fucking insane person.

            • @grue@lemmy.ml
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              42 years ago

              That’s fair. My frustration about the truck circlejerking has been building for a while, and I was venting.

      • @Grass@geddit.social
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        12 years ago

        I find as cars get either bigger or more expensive or both, the driver’s get proportionally more reckless, ignorant, and entitled. It’s always the big trucks, bmw’s, and teslas that seem intent on running me off the road or flat when I’m biking to work. I don’t know about the more recent ones but the early Prius I rented on a vacation before had shit visibility so I wouldn’t give that one a free pass at least. All this shit seems so futile though. I just want the jumbo sidewalks with a bike lane to be everywhere.

        • @grue@lemmy.ml
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          12 years ago

          All this shit seems so futile though. I just want the jumbo sidewalks with a bike lane to be everywhere.

          Sidewalks and bike lanes don’t get used unless (a) destinations are packed closely enough together for enough trips to be in reasonable walking or cycling distance, and (b) the experience is reasonably pleasant (i.e., not a no-man’s-land sandwiched between a stroad and a bunch of parking lots).

          In other words, it’s the zoning that has to be fixed first, by increasing density and removing minimum parking requirements.

  • @M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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    292 years ago

    in case anyone does not want to click the link here is the whole article:

    Brian Hammons, 55, faces hit-run and criminally negligent homicide charges.

    SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A man turned himself into investigators on Sunday after fatally striking a bicyclist on a highway, then leaving the scene, according to Oregon State Police.

    Brian Hammons, 55, faces hit-run and criminally negligent homicide charges.

    Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police say they responded to the collision in Marion County on Hwy 64 near milepost 5. According to investigators, the bicyclist, Harley Austin, 42, was riding south in the bike lane on Hwy 164 through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE when Hammons, who was driving a Dodge Ram 3500, turned onto the highway and collided with Austin. New Level 3 ‘Go Now’ evacuations issued for Bedrock Fire

    Austin was taken to Salem Hospital, and was later pronounced dead, OSP said.

    Authorities allege that Hammons left the scene after the arrival of medical personnel but before law enforcement arrived. He turned himself in the next day and was lodged in the Marion County Jail.

    The investigation is ongoing. Any witnesses of the incident are being encouraged to contact OSP, referencing case SP23-252845.

    • @unipadfox@pawb.social
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      82 years ago

      The article seems fine to me…the title is just a little bit strange probably because they wanted to mention “bike” in it to differentiate it from a crash that doesn’t involve a cyclist.

  • asparagus9001 [none/use name]
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    2 years ago

    Ram 2500 Drivers Have the Most DUIs, More Than Twice the National Average: Report

    Roughly 1 in 22 Ram 2500 drivers have been cited with a DUI before, a study claims.

    Now back to the story at hand…

    Authorities allege that Hammons left the scene after the arrival of medical personnel but before law enforcement arrived. He turned himself in the next day and was lodged in the Marion County Jail.

    Hmmmmmmmm, really makes u think

  • iAmTheTot
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    212 years ago

    I think you’re reaching for something to be angry on this one. I read the title as “[car] crash [involving a] bike”. Shorthand is not at all uncommon in headlines, which need to be snappy. They’re not trying to frame the incident as caused by the bike or anything.

    • @pkulak@beehaw.org
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      2 years ago

      Yeah, this is about as good as you’ll ever find:

      A man turned himself into investigators on Sunday after fatally striking a bicyclist on a highway, then leaving the scene

      Most places would just say that there was an auto accident involving a truck and a bicycle.

  • @ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works
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    192 years ago

    They’ve been doing this talking about e-bike fatalities non-stop. “E-bikes are dangerous…. 42 people died on e-bikes…” they cite the statistics, but never mention how many of those people were ran over by assholes who don’t respect the danger of their cars.

  • @some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    152 years ago

    Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police say they responded to the collision in Marion County on Hwy 64 near milepost 5. According to investigators, the bicyclist, Harley Austin, 42, was riding south in the bike lane on Hwy 164 through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE when Hammons, who was driving a Dodge Ram 3500, turned onto the highway and collided with Austin.

    Why is there a bike lane on a highway?

    To be clear, I’m not taking the side of the driver. Fuck people with unnecessarily huge vehicles. I side with cyclists almost 100% of the time. But this just sounds unsafe.

    To me, a highway means speeds in excess of 50mph. That isn’t a place where we should have a body unprotected sharing the road.

    • asparagus9001 [none/use name]
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      2 years ago

      To me, a highway means speeds in excess of 50mph.

      I suppose it’s perfectly fine that it means that to you, but US highways run through every little dying town and the speed limits are usually 25-35mph in town, usually for the sole purpose of being a revenue generating speed trap. In fact I just looked it up and this intersection is a school zone with a 20mph speed limit.

      • 7bicycles [he/him]
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        72 years ago

        usually for the sole purpose of being a revenue generating speed trap. In fact I just looked it up and this intersection is a school zone with a 20mph speed limit.

        You think maybe there’s other reasons bar revenue traps at play here then?

          • 7bicycles [he/him]
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            82 years ago

            There’s also the word “usually” there, and I stick by it. Nice gotcha tho.

            Maybe even if it’s not a school zone there could be reasons you might want to limit car speeds that have nothing to do with revenue traps is my point

            • asparagus9001 [none/use name]
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              02 years ago

              Yawn

              I’m an urbanist, I live in a dense city, I literally do not own any motorized transportation

              There are hundreds of shitty little towns across America that survive solely off of ticket revenue by putting up a gas station, a church, and a dollar general on a road that’s primarily designed for cross-country travel by slamming the speed limit from 65mph+ to 25 within a 200 meter distance, and anyone who lived in that area without a car would literally die due to lack of a job, income, access to food, etc etc etc so I’m really not buying this argument

              • 7bicycles [he/him]
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                62 years ago

                Braking really isn’t that hard in a car and it’s not like you lose a meaningful amount of time doing the speed limit for a podunk town. This entire argument can only begin to make sense with a lot of carbrained entitlement

    • Sleazy_Albanese [comrade/them]
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      52 years ago

      Bikes are fine on highways. On freeways that are enclosed and its impossible to roll onto ground or terrain probably not, which is why freeways have rules against it.

      • @AKADAP@lemmy.ml
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        42 years ago

        In California, if there is not a parallel alternative route for bicycles to take, they are allowed on the freeway. Many parts of the 101 freeway fit this exception. State highway 130 (look it up on google maps) is a favorite of cyclists. It is a two lane state highway with a 40 MPH speed limit. for most of its length, there are no shoulders. In many places, the white line on the edge of the lane is also the edge of a vertical cliff. There are places where I have seen an SUV in front of me with one wheel on the white line, and the other on the double yellow line because the lane is so narrow. The road is so winding that there are very few places where you can even get to the speed limit, let alone exceed the speed limit. But bicyclists love it because it was built to allow horse drawn wagons to haul heavy loads to the top of a 4000’ peak, so it has a very gentle grade, and there are great views along its entire length.

        • In Kentucky some freeways have signs saying “no horses on freeway”. I always took that to mean there were some freeways that allowed horses.

          We live in such a strange world.

      • @some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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        32 years ago

        Huh. I use “highway” and “freeway” interchangeably. Just did a search and found the following, so thanks for enlightening me:

        Highways have controlled areas, and traffic lights, tend to be placed in rural areas and always allow you to drive off. Freeways have higher speed limits and are, in essence, a faster way to get from one city to the other with minimal traffic control.

        I guess maybe this is a result of my having grown up in a midwestern state where both could exist without distinction. TIL.

  • Narrrz
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    42 years ago

    curse all these bugs, committing suicide on my windscreen