TRUCK STOP

Re Those Obnoxious Kings Of The Road (July 24): To the delight of manufacturers, many pickup truck owners don’t simply like them – they are obsessed with them. Fear and insecurity have now been weaponized to convert city dwellers into truck owners.

Meanwhile, survival rates for pedestrians hit by trucks plummet dramatically versus accidents with sedans. Multivehicle collisions, flip-overs, etc. – all are deadlier with trucks.

Add pollution to the equation, and what we get is a host of negative externalities created by a growing population of vanity truck drivers – with the costs borne by others.

Pete Reinecke Ottawa

Is the “cowboy” or “contractor” not allowed “bells and whistles?” Or are those reserved only for the white-collar workers driving European sports cars on our plagued Canadian streets?

John Thiele Ottawa

I am a skilled tradesman with two pickup trucks for work (one also doubles as a comfortable vehicle for our family of four). While pickups may have gained 1,300 pounds since 1990, keep in mind that during the same period, the Volkswagen Golf ballooned a much larger percentage – from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds.

Pickups have made huge efficiency gains: My 2001 Ford F-350 Diesel is rated to tow roughly the same weight as my 2015 F-150 V8 gas engine. Pickups have also kept the same width for about 60 years. Some are taller because of government emissions regulations forcing larger cooling systems, and larger wheels required by larger brakes for reduced stopping distances.

Pickups are versatile vehicles and tools for many people. Urban Canadians may forget that pickups can travel more than 1,000 kilometres on a single tank of fuel, while electric vehicles currently have a hard time travelling 400 km on a single charge.

Brent Edmonson

310T Truck & Coach Technician; Hamilton

As my wife astutely points out, maybe ergonomics play a key role in the rising popularity of pickup trucks; so many North Americans are obese, and it is just too difficult for them to squeeze into most passenger vehicles.

My wife knows this certainly applies in my case. But she refuses to let me buy that red F-150 I hanker after.

Peter Saunders Toronto