Trucks and sport utility vehicles with hood heights greater than 40 inches are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than shorter vehicles with sloped hoods, according to new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Because it’s cheaper, more fuel/energy efficient, I already have a larger, more capable, more durable vehicle with more displacement than my stock pots, and I’d prefer not to incur excessive wear and tear on my nice vehicle when I don’t need its capabilities on the overwhelming majority of my drives. I only need it once or twice a week, but I use it for everything because it’s what I have, and I can’t get something small enough and cheap enough to justify an additional vehicle.
A Kei truck would be perfect. I could save about 90% of the miles I put on my good truck if I had a Japanese mini-truck. It would pay for itself in reduced wear and tear on my good truck in about 4 years. Unfortunately, they aren’t street legal in my state.