Move over, Ford and Chevy: Kei trucks are pulling up as customers opt for smaller, cheaper vehicles
Move over, Ford and Chevy: Kei trucks are pulling up as customers opt for smaller, cheaper vehicles
The Japanese-made trucks have gained a cultlike following, attracting small-business owners seeking affordable alternatives to traditional pickup trucks.
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What is the too small for road safety thing? That's pure bullshit, right? Smart cars are legal, how can these not be?
Give us cheap EVs and small trucks god damnit!!!
I guess it's just the lack of any crumple zone, similar to the VW van your legs are essentially the crumple zone.
Yeah, I'd imagine it's fine down gridlocked Tokyo streets where you might be doing 20mph.
Probably not so good in a 70mph highway collision though.
IIRC, these things exist to exploit a legal loophole around vehicle registration in Japan as well. Safety is not the highest concern lol
Sounds like some lack basic safety equipment like seat-belts.
It might be more about what vehicles share the road. SUVs and pickups tend to cause the majority of fatalities in crashes because their bumper height basically being non compatible with cars and vans and their larger blindspots... That design might not play particularly well with the Keis in crash situations.
But that being said SUVs and raised pickups are menaces to road safety across the board and we should be looking at phasing them out.
They don't pass US federal crash tests, probably because of the lack of crumple zone, so they can't be imported until they're 25 years old. Which doesn't make them any safer, but I guess rules are rules:
Because the trucks don’t meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, they’re legal to import only 25 years after having been manufactured. Then, it’s up to each state to decide whether to allow them on public roads.
I have one. No crumple zone. No airbags. Slow acceleration. Can't reach highway speeds. No headrest.
But it's my favorite car ever. I just treat it like I'm riding a motorcycle. I'm dead in an accident, so I try to be hyper-aware.