As an American, nobody has to buy them at first. “Light trucks” like pickups and SUVs weren’t always big in the US, but because they were more profitable, aggressive advertising campaigns turned SUVs from being something mocked for being unsafe, unwieldy, and inefficient into being what nearly everyone drives.
I hate it. Infrastructure has shifted to accommodate them to the detriment of everyone else. Don’t let it happen to you. The last several years the top 5 best selling vehicles in the US have been pickups. Not because anyone needs them, but because advertising has turned them into a cultural staple, despite their inconvenience.
It’s hard in Europe as everything is constrained by pre-existing buildings. There just isn’t the space to expand many roads without knocking stuff down that has been there hundreds of years. In the cities and towns, it’s buildings, in the country it is stone walls.
Though I would also road tax the bloody things extra.
As an American, nobody has to buy them at first. “Light trucks” like pickups and SUVs weren’t always big in the US, but because they were more profitable, aggressive advertising campaigns turned SUVs from being something mocked for being unsafe, unwieldy, and inefficient into being what nearly everyone drives. I hate it. Infrastructure has shifted to accommodate them to the detriment of everyone else. Don’t let it happen to you. The last several years the top 5 best selling vehicles in the US have been pickups. Not because anyone needs them, but because advertising has turned them into a cultural staple, despite their inconvenience.
It’s hard in Europe as everything is constrained by pre-existing buildings. There just isn’t the space to expand many roads without knocking stuff down that has been there hundreds of years. In the cities and towns, it’s buildings, in the country it is stone walls.
Though I would also road tax the bloody things extra.
As they should be. Heavier vehicles do exponentially more wear on roads.