"In Japan, a new kei car or truck typically sells for under $15,000."
Show me the big SUV with an insignificant price difference to that.
Trump wants to bring Japan's tiny kei cars to US roadways
- Thread starter Skye Jacobs
- Start date
Show me the big SUV with an insignificant price difference to that.
Just because people don't know how to use the passing lane and want to 90 in a 65 does not mean these things should be banned on highways. They drive on forgien highways with other cars just fine.
Melkor Unlimited
Posts: 341 +316
My post begins with .. In US
Yours with .. In Japan
Different countries, different habits, different regulations, different taxes, ....
PS: In November I have bought Suzuki Vitara under $20,000.
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This mixes a few different things together. Periodic inspections (TÜV/JCI) are about maintenance and roadworthiness, not crash safety standards. The US absolutely has federal safety standards for crashworthiness, airbags, crumple zones, etc....they’re just enforced at manufacture, not via biannual inspections.
Also, kei cars are statistically less safe in multi vehicle crashes, not because they’re “badly built,” but because physics doesn’t care about intent. Mass and ride height matter, especially in mixed fleets. That’s exactly why regulators consider compatibility, not just whether a car is small.
You can argue for smaller vehicles on cost, congestion, emissions, and pedestrian safety grounds (those are real tradeoffs), but pretending size has no safety downside...or that the US has no standards at all........is just replacing one oversimplification with another.
This is a false chain of inevitability. Distracted driving exists everywhere, including Europe and Japan, and it’s addressed through enforcement, UI rules, and ADAS...not by turning cars into “tanks.”
Vehicle bloat didn’t happen because people are uniquely irresponsible, it happened because of regulatory incentives, market segmentation, and consumer preference interacting over decades. That’s a policy problem, not a moral failing.
Nice try. Watching simple arguments masquerade as insight is good for a chuckle.
You’re arguing with yourself more than anyone else here. No serious person claims inflation was created by one political party, but pretending policy has zero effect is just as unserious.
Inflation was global, driven by COVID supply shocks, stimulus under both administrations, and an energy shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. actually recovered faster than most peer countries, with inflation falling from 8% to under 3% without a recession....that’s not nothing, whether you like the administration or not.
Cherry picking post WWII inflation spikes to argue “this wasn’t real inflation” is odd. For people buying groceries, paying rent, or renewing insurance, 8% absolutely counts as “record” for their lifetime, which is the context people are speaking in.
As for “impossible promises” welcome to politics. Every modern administration overpromises, underdelivers, and compromises. Trump promised to eliminate the deficit, bring back manufacturing overnight, replace the ACA, and end wars...none of that happened. Holding one side to a purity standard you don’t apply to the other isn’t skepticism, it’s team sports.
On corruption ... yes, money in politics is a problem. That’s not a Trump only issue ... it’s systemic and bipartisan. If your standard is “rich politicians don’t understand regular people,” that disqualifies most of Washington, including the guy you’re implicitly defending.
You’re right about one thing ... politicians rarely work primarily for average Americans. But pretending that outcomes are never affected by who’s in power, or that “nothing matters,” is just nihilism dressed up as realism.
“They’re fine unless something bad happens” is a weird standard. Motorcycles, convertibles, classic cars, and even side by sides are far more dangerous in crashes, yet no one suggests banning them from normal roads.
This isn’t about safety...it’s about people being uncomfortable with anything that doesn’t look like a 5,000-lb SUV.
Melkor Unlimited
Posts: 341 +316
Should I feel not safe enough in 2800lb car?
With some psychos on the reads I wont feel enough safe even in some thing like armored Tatra T 815-7 or armored Humwee
Tatra 815-7 - Wikipedia
Humvee - Wikipedia
Made me laugh ...Should I feel not safe enough in 2800lb car?
With some psychos on the reads I wont feel enough safe even in some thing like armored Tatra T 815-7 or armored Humwee
Tatra 815-7 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Humvee - Wikipedia
demonicmaniac
Posts: 32 +60
I fully agree with what you said about my post, I guess I didn't quite spell out what I meant - my first reaction hearing usa and safety just seems odd because of the strict regular inspections vs what I see on dashcam footage and stuff online and shows like "just rolled in". I did not mean to say the US doesn't have standards for crumple zones and crash tests, that was not my intention. Over here we also have rules about minimum speeds for vehicles to be allowed on bundesstrassen and autobahnen and slower vehicles only allowed on the slow lane. Kei cars are not legal in most european countries because they do not fullfill the safety standards for passengers due to lack of crumple zones and such. So, yes, it absolutely does have something to do with it! What I meant to say was that kei cars are technically safe for when they crash into something stationary at their rated slow max speeds but not safe in a crash with another moving vehicle - which, again, is also why they are illegal in most european countries for good reason.This mixes a few different things together. Periodic inspections (TÜV/JCI) are about maintenance and roadworthiness, not crash safety standards. The US absolutely has federal safety standards for crashworthiness, airbags, crumple zones, etc....they’re just enforced at manufacture, not via biannual inspections.
Also, kei cars are statistically less safe in multi vehicle crashes, not because they’re “badly built,” but because physics doesn’t care about intent. Mass and ride height matter, especially in mixed fleets. That’s exactly why regulators consider compatibility, not just whether a car is small.
You can argue for smaller vehicles on cost, congestion, emissions, and pedestrian safety grounds (those are real tradeoffs), but pretending size has no safety downside...or that the US has no standards at all........is just replacing one oversimplification with another.
This is a false chain of inevitability. Distracted driving exists everywhere, including Europe and Japan, and it’s addressed through enforcement, UI rules, and ADAS...not by turning cars into “tanks.”
Vehicle bloat didn’t happen because people are uniquely irresponsible, it happened because of regulatory incentives, market segmentation, and consumer preference interacting over decades. That’s a policy problem, not a moral failing.
Nice try. Watching simple arguments masquerade as insight is good for a chuckle.
That’s fair, and I appreciate the clarification. I think where this often gets muddled is that people use “safety” as a single bucket when it’s really several different systems layered together....vehicle condition, crashworthiness, traffic rules, and fleet mix.
Dashcam compilations and shows like Just Rolled In mostly highlight maintenance and enforcement gaps, not the absence of crash standards. The US model assumes roadworthiness at manufacture and relies more on enforcement afterward, the EU/Japan model adds recurring inspections. Different philosophies, different failure modes.
On traffic rules, the US also uses minimum speeds and lane restrictions on many highways to manage speed differentials, precisely to accommodate slower vehicles and less confident drivers (including seniors), even if it’s applied less uniformly than on autobahns or bundesstrassen.
On kei cars, I think we’re largely in agreement. They’re engineered to be compliant and reasonably safe within their design envelope, low speeds, compatible mass, and a constrained operating environment. Once you put them into mixed, high speed traffic with large mass and ride height differentials, the physics works against them, which is exactly why Europe restricts them.
So yes, size and crumple zones absolutely matter, but so do speed regulation, lane discipline, enforcement, and fleet compatibility. No single rule explains “safety,” and focusing on just one piece tends to produce misleading conclusions.
And, of course, safety isn’t just hardware and rules...it also depends on responsible drivers and behavior. But I digress.
demonicmaniac
Posts: 32 +60
For what it's worth, europe has safety standards conforming mini cars between 9000 and 11000 Euro - so it's not like you can't make cheap small cars, they're just not Kei Cars. Dacia Sandero or Mitsubishi Space Star or Fiat Panda Life. They're 2+2kids Seaters tiny hatchbacks with around 60 to 70 PS able to do 120 km/h on german highways. Those sub 10000 models all come super barebones though, any amenities like AC and what not will drive the price up, but still, it's very much possible to make sub 10000 cars adhering to safety standards.
"racheted up social unrest"? Now that's comedy given the divider in chief that's currently in office. An objective look at history will tell you that the deep divisions that currently exist in this country really only began when Agent Orange took office. "Good people on both sides..." said it all.
I would certainly take a long look at buying one of these if they were available in the U.S. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was getting rid of my Ford Ranger pickup truck. Now the price of pickups, even used ones, is sky high and I constantly find I have need of a small pickup to haul this or that.
BadThad
Posts: 1,731 +2,001
Looks like Trump was winning before Biden even got in! Biden gets the record for the highest consecutive, cumulative 4 years of inflation in modern US times at 20%!
2016 1.3%
2017 2.1%
2018 2.4%
2019 1.8%
TOTAL CUMLATIVE TRUMP INFLATION = 7.6%
GrayDragon
Posts: 125 +34
And to top it off, you get protection from the rain. Motorcycles don't give you that.
GrayDragon
Posts: 125 +34
You can blame Covid 19 for some of that uptick. It wasn't Biden's fault and the pandemic started under Trump.
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