Lots of us in a survey say trucks, SUVs are too big; many more of us buy them

The sales charts prove Americans’ wide and enduring love for pickups and SUVs. Last 12 months’s top 10 sellers were three pickups, three compact SUVs, one other pickup, the lone sedan, a compact SUV, and a midsize SUV. Surveys and studies, nevertheless, prove Americans’ wide and enduring ambivalence for pickups and SUVs, specifically the massive ones that get accused of more antisocial behaviors yearly, from outsized rates of killing children and pedestrians to their outsized effects on the Earth. A YouGov release on a brand new survey about American feelings on these two body styles comes with the provocative title, “Many Americans think SUVs and trucks have turn out to be too large and needs to be regulated.” The wanting it’s that out of 1,116 survey respondents, 27% “consider that carmakers should voluntarily regulate the scale and design of vehicles with the security of pedestrians in mind,” and 1 / 4 of those classify themselves as truck drivers.

An excellent greater number, 32%, “consider that the federal government should step in and impose regulations,” and 1 / 4 of that portion also classifying themselves as truck drivers.

We’d like just a little clarification concerning the word “truck” here. The information research group YouGov says it’s referring to all pickups and SUVs as trucks, the combined segments forming 78% of light-vehicle sales within the U.S. last 12 months. Based on what we have covered up to now few years, Americans generally don’t include compact SUVs just like the Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V, and even compact pickups just like the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, as among the many problematic behemoths tabbed as the most important threats to every little thing that may not a behemoth. So far as we will tell, YouGov includes these compact offerings within the “truck” classification. So when the outcomes show that 47% of survey respondents own or drive a truck, they might be referring to a Ford F-Series or a Tesla Model Y.  

The information showed 41% of respondents saying trucks have “turn out to be too large in recent times,” with 39% of the truck drivers in agreement. We have like to see a finer breakdown of auto sizes; it is simple to assume a Nissan Rogue driver pointing the finger at a Silverado 2500, just a little harder to assume a Ram 2500 driver doing the identical.

One among the surprising findings was 51% of those surveyed saying one among the most important problems with big trucks is that they are hard to park, ahead of trucks being dangerous to other road users.

And there is the duality of size that help drive the acquisition decision and the ambivalence. YouGov said a majority of Americans consider trucks are safer than non-trucks for occupants, similtaneously nearly half of Americans “consider that giant vehicles reminiscent of trucks and SUVs are more dangerous for other vehicles on the road (49%) and for pedestrians and cyclists (50%).”