This is not out in some rural town. This is in Portland, OR about 2 miles from downtown. Personal vehicles this large are simply incompatible with urban living and pressure their owners to continually break traffic law. Technically that Miata is parked as close to the stop sign as it can legally be, but as the Denali doesn’t fit in many places around here it’s owner is compelled to park across both the stop sign and the crosswalk.
Very tl;dr: In the 70s, the was a gas shortage, so Congress passed minimum mpg laws, but exempted trucks, to not kill small business. Manufacturers lobbied Congress to expand the definition of “trucks,” and now you see these giant troop carriers everywhere.
I’ve heard that insurance on a truck used to be 1/2 the price of that for a car too… cannot verify the validity surrounding that though.
You are correct. Times have changed unfortunately.
The 70s? You guys know it’s been 50 years since carter right