   The politics of very big trucks   See article  Readers'
comments    "these vast cars" These are not cars. They're
trucks. And before everyone starts moaning about nit-picking and
worse, let me point out that the distinction is not just
pedantry. It is the heart of the matter. For trucks and,
particularly, for SUVs, being trucks is not just a fine
distinction. It's their raison d'être. I am a truck, therefore I
am. In the USA vans and light trucks are covered by a different
set of safety, fuel economy and emissions regulations than are
passenger cars. These regulations are looser for "trucks" than
they are for "cars". The manufacturers are also held to certain
fleet averages for the complete line of their vehicles. The
average fuel consumptions of many trucks would blow their
averages right out of court. However, "trucks" are not included
in the averages for cars. The American vehicle buying public,
for some strange reason, likes big vehicles. Classifying
pickups, vans and SUVs as "trucks" allows this. If t