EU cave in on vehicle trade rules will cost European lives as US pick-up trucks flood into Europe
Pedestrians, cyclists and drivers are at increased risk as the rapid rise in monster US pick-up trucks on Europe’s roads is set to accelerate after the…
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So as I understand this - which seems to be totally at odds with everyone else commenting - this will actually make it harder for people to drive these things on the road in the EU. Currently you can import those things without them being subject to EU categorisation and safety requirements if it's a one off (to quote Not Stanley, "I ain't no serial killer! I killed a bunch of people but they were all one-offs!") but now these will be categorised and controlled the same as EU vehicles instead, and subject to the same standards for safety, emissions, licensing etc. It's worth keeping in mind that even in the US these aren't categorised as cars, so why would they be in the EU? So someone with a car license (normally limited to 3.5T GLW) couldn't drive one, even if they pinky-swore that they wouldn't fully load it as is the case at the moment.
The EU has different licenses for cars and trucks? Cool!
I've always found it weird that a standard license here lets you drive anything from a teeny tiny SmartCar to an F350 pulling a massive palace-in-wheels, or a near bus-sized motorhome (provided it doesn't have air brakes and is under 4600kg).
Wait. Are you telling me that the American "if you can parallel park, here's your driver license" license allows you to legally drive trucks and other heavy machinery?
Not "trucks" as in a commercial transport truck (often called "rigs" to differentiate), but a large pickup-truck pulling a fairly massive travel-trailer or 5th wheel, yes.
See here for a reference on the various options, most of which are drivable under a standard license. The big difference tends to be when you get into things with air brakes, which requires a special endorsement or the truly huge sizes. Most of the restrictions are based on the towing/hauling or hitch capacity of the vehicle pulling them though, as opposed to the license of the driver
https://www.rv.com/rv/rv-classes-explained/
Also, this is in Canada but my understanding is that the US is much the same