A Very Minor Rant on Trucks

I think I can understand a person's (generally a male's) desire to drive a pick-up truck. And without a doubt, the bigger the truck - the better it must feel. There must be some sort of ego rush as one drives down the road, perhaps a foot or so higher than anyone else, lording it over all the drivers of smaller vehicles. The driver may argue that he needs the truck for work (although the truck bed is frequently cleaner than my trunk has ever been) or that he has things he needs to cart to the dump or back from Home Depot, but the fact is that he seldom needs a truck and he almost never in his life will need a truck with such big tires that one almost needs a step stool to get into it.

If it wasn't for the large carbon footprint that these trucks have from both the amount of fuel they burn and the energy needed to manufacture them - I would almost be inclined to say it is none of my business. If someone wants to spend all of that money on a four-passenger vehicle, it has very little to do with me. Certainly, there is nothing that I can do change the owners' minds. Except.....

Large pick-up trucks, oversized SUVs and cans are a menace to smaller cars. Those of us who drive smaller cars do so either because it is all that we can afford or because it is environmentally responsible to do so. Every time I am on the highway, I am very aware that if any one of those pick-up trucks crashes into me - especially those with the extra chromed, extra-large bumper - I am dead. Not because I am driving an unsafe car, but because the other driver is driving something to boost his ego.

On Saturday, I found a new reason to dislike big pick-up trucks. I was downtown and needed to park my car. I found a spot in a parking lot about three rows away from the street. I got out and walked towards the street. I could not get through rows of parked vehicles. There were 6-7 big trucks in a row and their oversized side view mirrors were so close to the next truck that there was no room for me to squeeze through. It is bad enough when large vehicles park in spots clearly designated for smaller cars or when they block my sightlines but now the drivers are even making it difficult for pedestrians.

Maybe we should ban such vehicles from city streets and parking lots. I am not really serious - but I do wish someone could explain to me the value of large pick-up trucks.