@mac Get found to be intentionally delaying a train in Japan and they bill you a huge amount of money. Not just for the train you delayed, it’s also all the trains on the line behind it that also get delayed. 1000 Euros a minute seem reasonable considering the lost money for the tram company and the lost time of thousands of riders. Plus reduced reputation for the reliability and punctuality of the service causes incalculable loss to the train / tram company.

It’s a network. It’s not just the people in that tram. But all trams on that line and all people connecting through that line that are effected. And that specific track might actually run multiple lines as well. Depending on the country they might be applicable for an reimbursement fee. And lets not start about all the costs the passengers might incur… So €1000/min seems fine for me for this shit head

You’re right, I meant drunk driving, not speeding.

But some countries take speeding pretty seriously too (as they should). In Norway you get a short jail spell for something like a 30kmh excess. In Switzerland the fines are adjusted for income so that rich speeders pay more - one guy paid over €1 million! Same system in Finland too, I believe.

Jump down the shelters to get away
The boys are cockin’ up their guns
Tell us general, is it party time?
If it is, can we all come?

A VW transporter can carry 800kg, a Mercedes Sprinter up to 1.5t and their lengths are not absolutely absurd:

(Pictured is the VW but Mercedes is roughly the same length)

The only thing left then is the towing weight, that’s limited to 2 tons for the Volkswagen, same for the Mercedes Sprinter. But I’d assume that usually people towing more than that in Europe would go for a semi truck anyway.

What are people in the US towing that weighs that much regularly?

The thing is that large vans can also carry all that stuff and they can lock it up, protect it from the elements, and access it more easily because the floor is lower than a truck bed. They can also carry a wider variety of things since the inside of a work van is much longer and has walls to support various items. The entire benefit of a truck bed compared to a van can be defeated easily by a laying down a tarp(say, if you’re bringing in gravel) except for if you’re trying to tow a fifth-wheel or have converted the truck to be a tow-truck. I guess you could make an argument for carrying a single, small hay bale but I c’mon that’s like an American saying they need forty-five guns in case the government goes crazy while actively electing the craziest government officials; it’s clear they don’t know what they talking about and just think they’re neat but can’t simply admit it.

I watched coworkers here in Canada buy two F-150s after they attended a single track day for motorcycles. The coworker who raced regularly, though, drove a little Ford Transit and the coworker who had a small race team and actually built parts for motoGP teams had a Mercedes Metris. Watching people struggle to get a little Ninja 250 out of the F-150 was hilarious and getting my Ninja 1000, a couple hundred pounds heavier, into the Metris one time was super easy. They could have just bought a trailer like my dad did and which we towed with a Subaru Outback, later a VW Golf, and now a Subaru STi.

Trucks are largely worthless and the people who buy them very rarely use them for anything they are the only option for, often using them for things they are, in fact, greatly ill-suited to handle.