There is a reason the guy in the article bought a 1990. The US has a 25 year rule for importing vehicles that weren’t sold here. These became legal in Utah a few years ago because they made off road side by sides legal as long as you made some modifications (horn, turn signals, mirrors, etc). There’s a particular weight range they need to fall between. They also have to hold the same insurance requirements and registration as any other road vehicle. I don’t think they can be used on any road above 45.
this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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And I think that's a good set of regulations for Kei trucks. Particularly the speed. It should keep them off of high speed roadways and more on urban side streets where the speeds are supposed to be slower. They can find a good use in those situations.
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We citizens need to change the laws to highly tax those oversized vehicles. And we should make them commercial use only. Average people don't need huge trucks. K-cars are quite cool.
I feel like the gas and the monthly cost of the loan they took out against their mortgage is probably tax enough.
I genuinely believe most of these super-truck owners already have one foot in the financial grave and are just in denial about it.
Clearly not, because these dickheads are out there driving vehicles that are way over-specced for their use cases, all because they have tiny penises and need to compensate! Some of these things are that tall that you can't see an average height adult standing in front of the grill from the drivers seat.
Yeah, and they're not even needed, except as an emotional support vehicle for their impotent owners. Very few are working vehicles - how often are they seen with the bed loaded up?
A coworker was telling me all about how "once you own a truck, you realize all the things you can do with a truck that you couldn't before"
And like, he's not wrong but all the things he listed were my non-urgent to-do list that I keep written down and when it has 3-4 items I rent a truck from Uhaul for the day. I spend about $20 while they're spending thousands on their monthly payment, not to mention gas.
In 2018, i had to talk a roommate out of buying an F150. He wanted to buy it because we were moving... Two miles down the road. We lived in the valley, and he was going to school in Hollywood. Imagine driving 30-40 miles, daily, on the 101, in bumper to bumper traffic, with Los Angeles gas prices. I showed him some napkin math and he ended up getting a Honda Civic and renting a uhaul.
This made me think of the SNL Californians.
It's not a joke.
I still remember the route to my Moms place
101 to the 126 to the 5 to the 210 to the 57 to the 71 to the 15 to the 78.
All to try and bypass LA traffic.
The 405 is always bumper to bumper around LAX, even at 3 AM.
That route was the fastest. Or it was like 15 years ago.
I play a game if I'm ever like, waiting at a red light with one. Could I fit my couch in their truck bed? This massive, beefy truck that may have cost nearly a 100k..
I dont think my couch would fit in most of their truck beds. And I laugh at the idiocy of owning such a machine that is useless.
I remember my redneck hick uncles talking so much shit when extended cabs became a thing in the 90s. I don't know the bigots anymore but I think they called in right with this non practical trucks.
I rarely see anything in the back of these Earth killing things. And where I live, every idiot owns a diesel version. Louder and dirtier.
Hence the need for a higher level of licensure in order to operate one.
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I don't know about other country, but this truck rider in my country (Indonesia) are relatively safe.
People usually using this for everything, like portable shop, human transportion on the back (only legal on small village or remote area), etc.
I still remember riding one on the back for scout activities :)
Suzuki Carry everywhere...
Yeah we have them, and similar vehicles, on the roads here in the UK. They are fine for carrying medium loads, they're great in busy cities, economical, easy to park.
I live in Japan and drive a kei-car that's kinda like a van. 660cc engine (my motorbike is 400cc). I plan on probably eventually getting one of the trucks like in the thumbnail for my farm business. Ask me anything, I guess, if you have questions about them.
How common are the EVs versions over there?
I didn't know about this so I did some searching. Per https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250507/k10014798141000.html
昨年度、国内で最も売れたEVは日産と三菱自動車が共同開発した軽自動車で、会社はそれと同じ水準の260万円程度の販売価格を目指すとしています。
Last year, the most domestically-sold EV was a kei vehicle which I didn't know.
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You're not allowed to drive those? Why not?
Edit: article touches on it. Low top speed and missing safety features. They aren't fit for highways but not all roads are highways, so outright bans are stupid.
The other thing to keep in mind is that a lot of US vehicles are missing the same safety features. Where's the seatbelt and airbag on a motorcycle, for example? A lot of semis also don't have airbags at all.
Even at 55mph they're actually not that unsafe in a sane country with sane cars- the driver is so high up that they're 'above' the crash (t's the same reason semis don't have air bags- they're not as needed)
... unless you're in the US and driving around a dick-measuring contest pavement princess that puts you eye level with a semi truck so you can murder small children easier, that weighs 8000lb.
Yes, they can't go 70mph, but that basically just limits them to not being able to go on highways and interstates, which is perfectly fine- frankly, we need to have less things being hauled that way, the highways will last longer and our microplastic issue will be largely solved if we stop shipping things in the single dumbest, least efficient manner.
Finally... modern kei trucks DO have a lot of those improvements. They have airbags, seatbelts, all the modern safety features, and can go 60mph. Keep in mind, in most cases semis have to go 5-10 under the speed limit anyway, which means they can basically hit the same speed limits as semis. We just aren't even currently allowed to import the modern kei trucks.
That's one of the laughable things in the article. They keep talking about the emissions and safety but they're talking about the older vehicles that are being used in the US because the older vehicles are the only ones that are allowed to be used in the US. They don't even come close to mentioning the new vehicles that are being made that have all those safety features and better emissions.
It's a plain and simple fact is that these vehicles threaten profit margins of the dealerships that sell the unnecessary monster trucks that are primarily sold in America.
P.S. The emissions thing is especially stupid since trucks tend to be exempt from a lot of emissions regulations anyhow.
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My electric golf cart goes up to 33 mph max. I had to put lights on it but I got it titled, insured, and plated. I have to keep it on 35 and under roads but I take it all over the place instead of driving my car. Seems silly these trucks couldn’t be approved for at minimum 45 and under roadways.
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why aren't they allowed now?
us auto industry has reletively higher crash saftey requirements. part of the reason why everythings so damn big.
the kei trucks are basically rear end death traps if you hit US sized vehicles.
its why the only ones you can legally drive in some states are the ones that pass the 25 year car import law.
some areas explicitly ban it (e.g NYC i believe)
EU: Your truck is unsafe because it is unusually large and has razor sharp edges at head height.
US: Your truck is unsafe because it is too small to withstand a direct hit from one of our super safe giant axe head shaped cars.
"The only way to protect yourself from a giant truck is to have your own giant truck"
Now where have I heard of this logic before? 🤔
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They banned fucking tuktuks?!
How the hell am I supposed to be Cruisin' USA without my Sardine Supreme?
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These are all over the place in Victoria. It's still idiots in big pickups that are smoking all the pedestrians. Weird huh?
This is what is so dumb. Safety is only ever considered for the people INSIDE the vehicle. It's insane.
Pedestrian fatalities have been increasing in the last few years, even as vehicle (i.e. inside the vehicle) fatalities have been trending down.
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