Smart article on trucks

Though this article is presented to a Canadian audience, more American drivers need to contact their local bureaucrat for assistance with this issue.

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You can read the above-linked article for the first page or two, and ignore most of the technical reasoning behind it unless you're interested; you'll get the point within the first couple pages. Nicely written article by Ted Mitchell, in structure as well as reasoning.

If you live in Massachusetts, you know many folks from New Hampshire commute down I-95 and I-93 each day to work. While Massachusetts pickup truck drivers are guilty of this as well, the image in my mind of NH license plates on the backs of trucks doing 85 in the left lane and tailgating someone going 85, is forever burned in my mind. I'm surprised there aren't more multi-car wrecks on the highways each day; I just don't understand why people drive like this. The best part is when they have their fog lights on but not their driving lights - see Daniel Stern's website for proper vehicle lighting; this is blatant ignorance of vehicle safety. I have a friend who owns a large pickup, the largest GM makes before the trucks have to be diesel-powered (more torque, more fuel-efficient). He works in an office all day and has zero need for a truck bed.

What's my solution? Glad you asked. How about only selling pickup trucks and SUVs to vehicle owners with commercial license plates? That would be a start. If you're not a business and can't get a commercial plate, you should be paying an annual gas-guzzler tax to own a pickup or SUV, and you should have to renew a special type of license to drive this vehicle every single year, to remind you of the safety hazards of driving this beast on highways designed for commuter vehicles.

I think the idea makes a bit too much sense for anyone to support. Just drive defensively; that's what you can tell yourself while avoiding being jackknifed or back-ended by some idiot in a pickup who's driving it because it looks cool.