# How is it legal for so many ridiculously tall vehicles to be on the road?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-legal-for-so-many-ridiculously-tall-vehicles-to-be-on-the-road/326973>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 19, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-legal-for-so-many-ridiculously-tall-vehicles-to-be-on-the-road/326973 "2005-10-19T20:24:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-legal-for-so-many-ridiculously-tall-vehicles-to-be-on-the-road/326973/61 "2005-10-25T20:25:38Z")

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> [@zenith](#):
>
> And just how does the taller vehicle a recommended 2 seconds in front of you prevent you from seeing the kid about to dart out from between two cars just ahead of you? You’ve lost me there.
> 
> You seem to me to be an habitual tailgater who drives way too fast for conditions if you’re having all of these troubles seeing around tall vehicles.

Dude, you live in NEBRASKA. I travel down the I-80 from Oakland to Albany for work. This is one of the most heavily trafficed stretches of freeway in America- I wish I could remember the number of people who cross it daily. It’s in the millions. If you leave that much space, you will never get to work. The entire Bay Area will merge in front of you. It is unsafe to drive in a way that wildly diverges from the way the drivers are driving around you.

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**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-legal-for-so-many-ridiculously-tall-vehicles-to-be-on-the-road/326973/62 "2005-10-25T23:51:37Z")

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Dude, you live in OAKLAND! Try commuting from Westchester to Queens. I don’t have a problem with taller vehicles, because I know how to drive.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-legal-for-so-many-ridiculously-tall-vehicles-to-be-on-the-road/326973/63 "2005-10-26T10:15:04Z")

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Regarding headlights.

I have had SUV’s behind me, and have not been blinded. I have had sedans behind me and have had terrible problems, especially with crappy aftermarket lights.

The reverse of this is of course true.

More important than light positioning is the type of light used and its aiming. Headlight aiming isn’t checked in these parts in safety inspections. It wasn’t when I lived in Pennsylvania either.

I would support a move to add this to the safety check. It seems reasonable.

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**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-legal-for-so-many-ridiculously-tall-vehicles-to-be-on-the-road/326973/64 "2005-10-26T16:09:58Z")

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Headlight alignment is part of the required safety inspection here in NJ. I can usually tell if the lights blinding me are misaligned or just too high up; it’s rare that both headlights would be mis-aimed and still both projecting at the same angle.

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