Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Japan

Why It’s So Hard to Import Small Trucks That Are Less Lethal to Pedestrians

Rural Americans are buying miniature trucks from Japan that meet their needs better than U.S. megacars — and renewing calls for Congress to make it easier to buy smaller, safer vehicles from overseas, at least while U.S. automakers refuse to produce them here.

In a recent viral article for the Economist, Carmageddon author Daniel Knowles reported that U.S. demand is growing for small-format "kei trucks," a Japanese micro-vehicle class created during World War II when full-sized car parts were expensive to produce. Those models, though, are increasingly sought-after among rural Americans today who want a pick-up that can actually fit through the doors of the average garage or barn.

Unlike U.S.-made models, kei trucks are subject to strict size and engine standards and generally top out at around 1,800 pounds. The average American pick-up, by contrast, weighs 5,000 pounds or more, and is significantly more lethal to pedestrians, cyclists and even the occupants of smaller cars because of their hulking size and massive blind spots.

Kei trucks, though, are still a relative rarity on U.S. roads, thanks in large part to the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988, which bans the sale of most foreign cars newer than 25 years old. That law is theoretically meant to keep dirty and unsafe vehicles that don't rise to U.S. safety and emissions standards out of the country, while still allowing car enthusiasts access to collectible vintage models that they're not likely to drive very much, if at all.

In the case of kei trucks — which usually don't have things like airbags and must be retrofitted upon arrival to move the steering wheel from the right side of the vehicle to the left — those restrictions make a kind of sense; many states, after all, don't even allow mini-trucks to be operated on high-speed public roads, and many kei owners operate them exclusively on farms or other private property.

In one critical way, though, kei trucks and other small-format foreign cars actually exceed U.S. safety standards: because Japanese and European regulators both factor in the safety of people outside of vehicles, while Americans don't. And when it comes to sustainability, most other countries may soon have us beat, too — particularly if U.S. automakers continue to ditch small-format EVs that make efficient use of scarce battery materials in favor of producing every more hulking E-SUVS and pick-ups that gobble those materials up.

https://twitter.com/pestpruf/status/1650705285466705921

Seen through that lens, some car fans argue that U.S. import laws are more "about protecting car companies and their dealers [from] so-called 'grey imports'[that] were eating heavily into automakers' domestic profits" before the ban was enacted, to quote Jalopnik's Alex George.

Sustainable transportation advocates might argue they're also protecting an auto-centric status quo in which Americans are too afraid to walk, bike, or roll, lest they be struck by an outsized automobile — and that to shift the balance, Congress must take action to let mini-cars in.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Delivery Worker Minimum Wage Shows Promise … For Some, Data Shows

New data from New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection shows minimum wage is bringing order to a previously wild industry.

July 15, 2024

Monday’s Headlines Go Through Basic Training

An NYU study looks into why the U.S. is lagging behind on high-speed rail, and one transportation expert ponders the impact on growth.

July 15, 2024

Sustainable Transportation Advocates Need to Talk About Sustainable Urban Design

A new book hopes to act as a "magic decoder ring" to our built environment — and a powerful tool to understand how sustainable transportation networks can fit within them.

July 15, 2024

Long Beach Leads in Traffic Circles

Traffic circles aren't quite ubiquitous in Long Beach, but they're around. Riding and walking through the city one encounters circles in neighborhoods rich and poor, new and old.

July 12, 2024

Friday’s Headlines Take Me to the River

Politico reports that the Biden administration is investing $2.5 billion in updating aging Mississippi River locks and dams like this one in Iowa. Transporting freight by barge produces less emissions than trucks or even rail.

July 12, 2024
See all posts