A Redditor sparked a heated debate over automobile choices after posting a photo of a large, lifted pickup truck with what appeared to be an LED light bar among other off-road accessories.
"This idiot gets to drive on the same roads as the rest of us, blinding everyone with his (undoubtedly) bright as hell lightbar," the Redditor titled the post. "... Pray for me in my Honda Fit."
Redditors rushed to the comments to offer their thoughts on the decked-out pickup, with many debating the legality of the light bar and other upgrades.
One Redditor from Australia chimed in that such modifications would be "super illegal" there, asking: "Does your country not have road laws?"
"I live in America, so things like this, while technically illegal, are never enforced," replied the original poster.
The online conversation is part of a broader debate over large, heavy vehicles like trucks and SUVs and the outsized impact they have not only on the environment but also on local communities and consumers' pocketbooks.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, transportation accounts for 28% of all heat-trapping pollution released in the United States, making it the nation's No. 1 source of planet-warming gases. Transportation is responsible for more such pollution than either electricity generation or industry.
This means that lowering transportation-related pollution is crucial if we are to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants entering the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the growing popularity of trucks and SUVs runs counter to that goal.
"The shift toward heavier and less fuel-efficient conventional vehicles increases growth in both oil demand and CO2 emissions," found the International Energy Agency. "On average, SUVs consume around 20% more oil than an average medium-size non-SUV car."
By consuming 20% more fuel, SUVs produce 20% more pollution while costing 20% more to power. And yet the popularity of SUVs and trucks as passenger vehicles continues to soar.
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Yes 💯 Combined, the world's more than 300 million SUVs release roughly 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide every single year, per the IEA. Additionally, heavier vehicles like trucks and SUVs require more materials to build, which causes more pollution than the manufacture of smaller, lighter vehicles.
As The New Yorker pointed out, if SUVs were their own country, they would be the sixth-most-polluting nation in the entire world, releasing nearly as much heat-trapping pollution as Japan.
Responding to the OP's photo of the raised pickup, a number of Redditors objected to the size of the vehicle itself, pointing out that pickups and SUVs take up more space on the road and in parking lots while posing an increased safety risk to others.
"I just want them to have a different class of drivers license," commented one Redditor. "If you need one for a semi, you need one for these."
If you are looking for ways to reduce your transportation-related pollution, consider increasing your use of public transportation or even switching to an electric vehicle.
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