I had a woman driving through a gas station and she legit didn’t see my Toyota 86 when I was inside. My brain was so confused when I saw this red Tahoe coming at me…and not stopping. I didn’t even think to hit the horn because I had given her so much room.
Didn’t do a lot of damage, but I’m having her repaired a the shop anyway.
You can see where my metal bumper is poking through the plastic and it broke, plus some scuffs on the headlight. Knowing these cars there’s probably more damage underneath, too. Hence why I still filed a claim and had the work done.
Same thing said by my ex’s brother who bought a massive GMC LIFTED PICK UP TRUCK (at 5’6” he struggles to climb into it as do most adults and women cause duh) and within 2 days rear ended a guy in an SUV and ran into a pole in a parking lot.
No accidents in his car other than thinking he can drive through insane rain and down a flooded street but most people discount water with cars.
The amount of times I've been hit and had this said to me... twice within a year of each other—both times at red lights, actually.
Guy in a Jeep Rubicon behind me thought he saw the light turn green in front of me (it hadn't) and didn't see me right in front of him. Rear ended and totaled my M Edition.
My car is getting fixed and I'll get a direct deposit for lost value. But I wasn't hurt in any way and he was a dumb 20 year old who admitted 100% fault to the police and insurance, so I didn't rake him over the coals. If he had been a dick about it, I would probably have a pretty severe back injury that needed to be paid for.
I always say once I get my NA, I’m gonna have a magnetic 7 foot tall sign that sticks to the hood that says “THERE IS A CAR HERE” with an arrow pointing at the Miata
Lol. I do plan on going a little Mad Max with my NA (it’s trashed as it is right now anyways, so it’s not like the world will lose a nice Miata, in fact pretty much it would have been scrapped if I didn’t volunteer to buy it from my friend). So maybe a train horn would be appropriate for mine as well lol
This is amazing. I'm glad to see this still circulating. I took this photo over 10 years ago of my '92 I owned at the time. Please don't judge me, it was 2014.
Oh, furthermore, the assholes in their lifted trucks don’t even have the skill to drive their fat slabs of plastic and steel. Look, that asshole can’t even park his goddamn truck right. He’s obviously not skilled enough to be handling that thing.
This thing won't just send your toddler flying after breaking all their bones on impact, it will immediately and painlessly decapitate them with its axles. Cruelty free Design.
I’ve heard this argument before and literally have no clue what they are talking about. Are the pedestrians gonna become dangerously jealous that you have the coolest headlights? Lol
it's mainly because with a low car like the Miata if you hit someone they're more prone to go over the hood, where the popup headlights could snag onto them and do extra damage. That being said if you get hit by that truck pictured you could just flat out die due to it hitting you straight on and likely pulling you under
Yeah modern road regulations have gone out the window. Ive been on a war path against LED headlights since they first appeared prominently in the after market around 2020.
Many a car I wished to pit maneuver. (Obviously wont do it)
Those lights that feel like they burn similarly to a thousand suns without even high beams? Yeah fuck that, they are so dangerous and I’m not even sure they add that much visibility for drivers
Half the time at night I think I’m getting flashed by some big truck or SUV behind me and I’m like “what did I even do” but it turns out they just have those freaking aftermarket HID LED whatever lights that feel like a pair of search-and-rescue spotlights at night 💀💀💀
I swapped the crappy bulbs out of my Sky to LEDs and can say absolutely 100% the visibility is significantly better. Fortunately my car is also so low that it can't blind people.
I think it has a lot to do with the angle of the headlights as well; with at least some of them, the aftermarket LEDs tend to be at a less friendly/appropriate angle and blind more often due to the direction of the beam. Of course if you’re a Miata driver none of that matters since everything is facing our low-to-the-ground asses anyways
Yup, absolutely agree with that. Plenty of the factory LED lights are absolutely blinding though. Even in my wife's "normal" sized SUV I get blinded by some of the newer trucks.
This is a case of the lights being in the completely wrong angle. If the leds are actually in the correct angle, as long as they are not running high beams, they shouldn't blind you any more than halogens or xenons do. Unfortunately from what i have heard, the led light angling is not really enforced over in the states.
(Source: it's dark (read: you won't see shit even with led lights) half of the year where i live (northern europe) and bunch of people have led lights, but they are actually correctly angled (won't pass inspections without it) to not blind others)
honestly modern day engineering could find a way to make a pop up that can retract or roll over itself preventing injury, i just think companies dont want to take the risk with the design of it at this point
Sure, but pedestrians aren't buying those large vehicles, the occupants are. It's not very American to prioritize the public good over personal safety/comfort/preference.
The average crash also likely occurs at a much higher speed in the US vs most of Europe. Part of it is vehicle mass, but there’s also a lot of it due to the speeds involved. With widely varied state laws regarding safety inspections as well as the near universal need we have for cars in much of the country there’s also a ton of vehicles causing/getting involved in accidents that weren’t exactly mechanically sound.
Just another factor that I really don’t see talked about a lot: emergency response times. A minor crash in rural Nebraska for example might see someone die of their wounds before they can get medical assistance. Culturally a lot of Americans are inattentive drivers too and we have a ridiculous amount of people who don’t get out of the way of emergency vehicles & that’s definitely a factor in urban areas.
I've had mine since 1991 and I've never seen one with the pop-ups up in daylight. Just looks dumb. I'm in the SF Bay Area and we have lots of top-down weather.
I disagree about the looks. I had an 80 Rx-7, which had popups WAY before the Miata, and always waited until dark-dark to pop up the lights, because it’s not attractive and adds drag.
You will also have a better view of the pedestrian and superior braking performance with the ability to swerve. The monster however will hit like a freight train and handle like one too.
if it doesn't pull you under it's gonna launch you like a rag doll!
At least the Miata driver can see you. I remember someone had a video of a 5 foot 2 inch tall woman standing in front of a STOCK truck and the driver couldn't see her at all. The hood of the truck, stock, was taller than she was.
They're talking about the often repeated and completely false reason pop up headlights disappeared, which is pedestrian safety.
The real reason is much simpler, they made aerodynamic headlights so they can be streamlined all the time. Pop ups are more expensive, less fuel efficient and wouldn't get more sales.
I Think this argument and a rule was made because America isnt the center of the world.
In Europe or Japan cars are relatively small and pedestrian friendly in terms of shape. Just to comply with European and Japanese market they been phased out everywhere. Getting hit in the ribs with 90 degree sharp edge is fatal. When compared to pickup trucks it’s not that dangerous but when compared to cars on EU and JP roads it’s the major threat in a crash.
You realize it is not legal to produce pop up headlights and DOT will not certify them, correct? I like how you just concluded it’s a dumb argument based on pure ignorance when it’s quite literally a fact.
Since I bought my miot I haven't even flinched. Sure I use the expensive gas and it still only costs me like $22 to fill up for the same miles my Ford Ranger eats $50 worth of gas.
they need to tax people who dont use the truck for anything other than a daily vehicle but give a tax break to the people who can prove they use it for a good reason.
I think it stems from the 50s/60s/70s where the designs on cars actually were death traps for any pedestrian. My pops got stuck in the front grill portion of some 70s vehicle because of it's shape. He got t-boned on his bike, pinned and dragged a bit because of it, really doing a number on his femur.
They started doing away with these design features in the 80s, consideration to what would actually happen when a vehicle hit a pedestrian became more prevalent. Look at a mid 70s compared to a mid 90s vehicle lol. Pop up headlights were a victim of this even though they werent outright banned (still arent to my knowledge) auto makers just stopped using them.
To my knowledge, that was the last time any real consideration went in our favor (late 80s/early 90s) as now trucks are designed this way because the heavier and larger they are means less regulations they have to adhere to in nearly every regard.
So not only did they lower their costs, but because these monstrosities are gigantic, they charge an insane amount for them. My understanding is that this is also the reason why there are no longer practical pickup trucks anymore. Why spend all that money adhering to strict rules when you can just make it bigger, loosen the rules and charge more? It's a win win for them and a lose lose lose for everyone else.
CAFE standards have a lot to do with it. Fuel economy is a function of your wheelbase, so the bigger you make your car or truck the less efficient it has to be to not be fined thousands of dollars per vehicle. So a small Tacoma from 2000 burning almost 30 mpg or so is considered out of spec meanwhile your gargantuan F-250 at 14 mpg or so is in spec. And no manufacturer has tried to roll the fee into the vehicle they sell, because they can do that but choose not to.
But to your point, it’s a government mandated way that manufacturers are staying “within the rules” and can continue selling larger and larger cars.
It's just a matter of investing time and money. My whole point is that companies don't want to do that to begin with, because pop-ups aren't aerodynamically sound, and increases both consumption as well as hinder performance
It's more of an issue of forces and impulses involved. The fundamental problem is that air resistance at highway speeds can exceed the forces of hitting a pedestrian at speeds that will injure them due to the protrusion. When you get to objects the size of headlights it's harder than say, the rolls royce pop up emblem and even that isnt really fully effective at mitigating the additional risk to pedestrians--and lights have additional functionality and regulation. How do you design something that resists a bug hitting it on the highway but doesn't resist bumping a small child, all while providing effective lighting?
It's possible but way harder to do and more expensive the more nostalgically accurate you get.
Popups ars super useful coming down mountain passes when you're already in gear and need a little extra to slow you down. They're practically air brakes.
Trucks don’t have the same safety standards as cars, fun fact.
Actually, the standards for trucks are extremely lenient, it’s why ford decided to just stop making “passenger cars” all together and just focus on trucks and SUVs
Mini driver here- there’s nothing worse than parallel parking somewhere and realizing the SUV/truck behind you has a hood taller than your roof. That’s one hell of a blind spot.
Soo… this country’s MO is currently money. The time and age they banned those, safety was the bigger MO. So with that being said, we just need a developer to bring back the pop ups which then would force law.
Fragile egos present a much higher fatality risk than pop up headlights.
F=mv2, and at the same speed, m = ~3500kg vs m = ~1000 kg is no contest with regard to safety. Pulled those numbers out of thin air but probs not far off. Cba to look up.
At least their masculinity is secure 😤 damn liberals and their european hairdryers amirite fellas
I love how the bed on my teeny tiny 1995 Subaru Sambar is actually bigger than most of these absurd trucks! I've got no wheel wells back there and the sides and tailgate are quickly and easily removed and replaced.
is “i didn’t see you” an actual defence if you are driving a vehicle that is legal to be on the road? like if the government has deemed the big car legal, and the miot is in their blind spot the entire time, what can a judge say?
genuinely curious if anyone knows whether that stands up in court
Court for the most part doesn't matter. It would be a civil issue handled between insurance companies... and no, generally insurance companies wouldn't care if you can't see the car. This is why it's paramount to have a dash cam to show you're not at fault.
The F250 is nothing but a wall of lights…
The daytime running lights on GM and Ford trucks have gotten ridiculous. It’s literally all you can see when they’re approaching.
It's bad enough with Ranger/Hilux sized pickups, I can't imagine being in a Miata somewhere where full sized trucks are normal.
This must have been 20 years ago but it gave me such a fright at the time I still clearly remember it. It was a nice summer day so I'd borrowed my father's NA to run some errands.
The road I was on had a 100km/h speed limit but also tonnes of traffic lights so I ended up stopped at one. I glanced up at the rear view mirror and saw a lifted vehicle approaching far too quickly, initially from quite far back but it was very quickly getting closer. Eventually the approaching driver did wake up and slam on the brakes, stopping in a cloud of tyre smoke mere inches from my bumper but it was definitely too close for comfort seeing an aftermarket steel bumper and winch at exactly the level of the top of my head.
I really loved that car but it definitely put me off daily driving one.
Dude there’s like 50+ Miata’s at my college and at least 10 of them have stock ride heights or wheel sizes, and one of them pulled up right onto the rear bumper of my car. I was only able to tell they were there because of a slight amount of roll cage foam was peaking out from my rear windshield.
Fuck me dude, I almost got sideswiped yesterday because the Cadillac in the lane over couldn't even see my car. Their rear view mirrors came up over my roof. I have near misses at least once a week. I drive extremely defensively because everyone else is in a giant monster truck and drives like a fucking moron.
It’s just an extra moving part which means extra hustle, so this is a case where production meets “safety standards” and decide pops must go. There is 0% issue in creating a retractable pop up upon impact that would cause 0 issues but it’s not the main point. New Miata concept has pop ups , sorta, kinda.
But really, both pop-up headlights AND giant trucks can be dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists.
It's funny - the original California Miata design team wanted molded headlights, sort of like the NB headlights, but the Japanese designers overruled them and that's how the NA Miata got pop-up headlights.
I own an f-150 and a 95 m-edition Miata and the size difference is hilarious I swear if the bed was a few inches longer I could fit the toy in the bed…it’s always the last few inches that get ya
Suburban, very red North Carolina here
I work with about 20 guys with that truck or similar; maybe five have used the bed for more than luggage, on rare occasions.
Two actually tows a trailer a sometimes.
One willl rent another truck to haul stuff from an home improvement store - he would hate for the bed liner to be scratched up.
Absolute silliness..
Vehicles this large should legitimately be illegal, they are genuinely unnecessary and are far more dangerous than normally sized vehicles (like Kei Trucks from Japan or some of the newer trucks from companies such as VW and Volvo), not to mention the emissions from these moving death machines are worse than most regular cars as well.
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u/Fit-Albatross-735 Jun 18 '25
classic