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On topic:
I think the car can be significantly heavier and meet the requirements, assuming it has some sort of hybrid powertrain to recapture the energy spent accelerating upon braking. Assuming a car has a decently efficient version of this, then the only other concern is the amount of energy spent on the highway, as the heavier car will have more frictional losses to to increased weight on the bearings, tires, etcetera as well as requiring heavier duty drivetrain parts to deal with the added strain of the weight.
Off topic:
So now people who drive trucks that have a transfer case and a front differential are murderers? What did a transfer case/front differential ever do to you? I own and drive a Toyota Celica, which by most accounts is a very light small car. But to a motorcycle it is a giant machine of death! Does that make me a murderer for driving a 2500lb car?
I also own a 100% stock truck, because I actually build things and do productive things with my time, and sometimes I need to haul something that won’t fit in my car. Note a lot of stuff will fit in my car. My truck is usually empty when I leave my house, but full when I come back or vise versa. How on earth would I ever get anything moved anywhere if the truck has to be full of stuff when I leave or I come back? At some point the truck has to be moved empty (gasp through a residential area) if you expect to actually move anything.
The truck is also a four wheel drive truck, because my wife is a nurse and must get to work regardless of whether or not there is snow on the ground. So when there is snow on the ground I guess all the medical personnel should close the hospital and let the patients die, because they will be murderers if they drive a 4x4 truck?
And I don’t know about anyone else, but if I am in my car I would much much rather be hit by a Tacoma with a 4 inch lift kit, steel bumper, and mud tires than by a tractor trailer or other commercial truck. I would rather deal with the mismatch in bumpers than a 10x heavier vehicle. And while we are on the subject, a small truck with a 4” lift kit is probably the same height as a full size truck. So my truck is the same height as the evil machines of death.
Most places have bumper laws that specify minimum and maximum heights for bumpers. As long as your bumper is within the specified range, what is the problem? Why is the person with the taller bumper any more at fault than the person with the lower bumper?
If you want to talk about aggressive drivers, like I said I drive a Celica which is a very small car. People who drive larger cars than me, such as people who drive a Camry, typically drive more aggressively towards me, tailgating, cutting me off, etcetera. That stuff rarely happens when I drive my truck. Probably 20 to 1 difference in occurrence or more. Why do you think people want to drive larger vehicles?
Even given that, I choose to daily drive my small Celica. That is a risk based decision I made. Nobody made it for me, and if I get into a wreck and my car is dangerous due to it’s small size, I have nobody to blame but myself.
Unless you are on a 50cc moped, there is someone out there in a smaller car than you. Have you considered the problem is how you drive and not what you drive? The problem is with the people not the machines. The whole world is convinced that everything is someone else’s fault. Does anyone have a sense of personal responsibility anymore? Car manufacturers could build cars with structural bumper up higher and with bigger crumple zones that would better mesh with trucks. Does anyone know why they don’t? Because the consumers don’t demand it. I guarantee that if starting tomorrow, no consumer anywhere would buy a car without such a bumper system, every car on the dealer lot would have that system in less than a month.
I understand that there are a few true cases of people with dangerous cars/trucks that cause accident. I don’t think a Tacoma with a 4” lift kit, or a full size that happens to have a transfer case and front axle is in that category.
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