Hacker News Reader

Comment by impostervt | Hacker News Reader

I've noticed a growing number of people at my work's parking lot seem to have giant trucks, the type that barely fit into the parking space. Given that they work in IT (as everyone in the building does), I wonder why they need such large vehicles.

When my kids get bigger, I'm getting a Fiat (or something small). Seems like it would be more fun and less hassle.

View on HN

Living in the South, this is all too common. All time favorite was a lawyer, had a lifted F-250 such that the lower bar was about crotch height on my 6'3" frame. It's a "display of virility." The look at me, I'm a real man. I smoke Marlboro Reds and write C++.

Fun Fact: With the rear seat down, a Honda Civic can fit reams of 2x4s just fine, with the trunk closed. I've done it plenty.

Any chance you can fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood into a Honda Civic?

Based on the "barrier" between the trunk and rear seat, likely not. You could fit it about half of the way in, and tie it down. Alternatively, Thule racks make it easy to haul over-sized lumber with a sedan.

I can probably do it in the Miata, just gotta put the top down :D

Is it common for people driving sedans to need to carry 4x8 sheets on a regular basis?

Your rant reads a lot like "stop liking stuff I don't like." Who cares if your coworker likes lifted trucks?

The entire article is about people liking stuff that is bad for the environment. I suppose the reason we care is because the environment affects all of us.

The call out of "virility" has what exactly to do with the environment?

I switched from a RAV4 to a Fiat 500. I will admit I sometimes miss the old vehicle, but day to day the Fiat is just so much more enjoyable to get around in. It's quick, agile, and fits in spaces that others won't attempt.

On the very rare occasion that I need something bigger there are always hire options. The difference in running cost is appreciated as well.

Trucks are safer to ride in than small cars. They have more utility than small cars. Your coworkers may want to have a vehicle that has the ability to do something. Parking is a bit of a hassle but as long as you don't have solid traffic, they're fine to handle. Small cars are more fun to race. Trucks and Jeeps are more fun to run trails.

Not necessarily. Historically (though I couldn't find recent hard data in 60 seconds of searching the nets) cars have been safer [1][2], and in particular, less likely to roll over in an accident. Furthermore, when a SUV or truck collides with a car, it's more dangerous for the occupants of the car than in a car-to-car collision [3].

[1] https://www.trucks.com/2017/03/15/pickup-trucks-struggle-saf...

[2] https://www.quora.com/Statistically-are-you-safer-in-a-lifte...

[3] https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/suvs-are-sa...

Full disclosure: the last transport I owned was a 2001 Toyota Tacoma pickup. My current transport is the London Underground.

Has virtue signalling become that bad in HN that this perfectly fine opinion gets downvoted?

I see zero responses to it with the stats disproving his assertion.

If you think something is down voted inappropriately, just silently upvote it. If you've got additional substantive material to add, by all means do. It does no good and is against the guidelines to comment on the downvotes.

> "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Thanks, I'll try next time.

The sea of gray I see lately doesn't feel right.

Yes, it has.

HN is about one step above high school in that regard.

> Given that they work in IT (as everyone in the building does), I wonder why they need such large vehicles.

It's perfectly feasible to operate a small farm on nights and weekends.

On the road it feels quite different driving a big truck and a small car, let alone a motorbike or a bicycle.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com