this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 46 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Speed restrictions.

Kei trucks were designed for use in dense Japanese cities, which is why they also work in European cities. They are nimble but have a low top speed. You're not going 70 mph around a street corner for instance.

It would work in places like NYC for the same reasons, but remember that most of the USA is suburban or rural. You need vehicles that are capable of going fast if you're going to get on a highway.

A possible workaround is to have a separate class for these, like mopeds or scooters, which are road legal but are not highway legal.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

That work around is what most states that explicitly legalized kei trucks have done, they can't enter roads over 55mph. It's a reasonable concession, you probably don't want to take one over 50mph anyway.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

Most places in the US are connected by 55 mph roads. I'd be hard-pressed to get anywhere but the city center in most places I've lived if I couldn't use those roads.

Farm equipment and bikes use those roads all the time, and they go even slower, so I don't think being able to keep up with traffic is a valid concern.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

Note that I said over 55, rural connection roads should still be traversable since most are 55. Basically limits them from entering the interstate highways.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Southern California is entirely navigable by surface streets, but also too, there are plenty of vehicles going only 55 in the slow lanes, which is the speed limit for trucks anyway (though few pay attention to it). I have a '72 camper that can barely do 50, and I take it on the freeway several times a year.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 5 months ago

I live in one of the most rural states in the country, where loads to haul are generally large and the posted speed limit on the highway is usually 75 mph, and the de facto highway speed is usually 5-10 mph above that. No truck that can barely push 70 is gonna keep up with that. On top of that, you're dealing with ice and snow on the roads half the year, so you'll need to be able to deal with that too.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (1 children)

In Illinois, at least, your motorcycle has to be 150cc to ride on the interstate. A Chinese GY6 scooter might be able to do 50MPH with a tailwind. You'd get killed on the interstate on one of those, yet, fully legal to do it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

You'd get killed on the interstate on one of those,

You guys in Illinois are crazy though. I learned very quickly how much that 55 MPH limit is a guideline and not a hard limit.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Depends on what part of Illinois you’re talking about, I’m from southern Illinois and we typically only go about 60/65 on highway and 75/80 on interstate. Chicagoans will honk and pass me while I am doing 80 through 2 lane construction zones, literally happened a couple months ago as I was driving to O’Hare for an overnight flight

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

A long, long time ago, I used to drive from Kenosha, WI, to Wilmette (and later Northfield), IL, for work, down I-94, in a 1986 Honda CRX. Up until about Tower Rd., I was doing 105MPH every day, and people were passing me like nothing.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago

thats honestly a problem that can be solved with a small turbocharger and a slightly higher msrp, its not like they are ever getting close to the price of one of the huge ones.