There are some rare legitimate reasons to own pickup trucks, but those trucks should require something between a normal license and a CDL imho.

As for SUVs, yes a ban is a good idea.

I don't think it's all that rare to need a pickup truck for certain uses, but small pickup trucks have basically disappeared.

Rather than require a CDL for any pickup truck, I'd prefer a policy to require a CDL for vehicles above a certain size/weight, or with front grills that extend more than about 3 feet off the ground, or with the ability to reach freeway speeds from a stop in under about 5 seconds.

Same thing could apply to SUVs.

Seems like a sensible policy. Just getting people to downsize is certainly a win.

Hah! I take it you live in a city and don’t have kids?

You “take it” wrong. SUVs didn’t exist prior to the 80s and are relatively rare outside of the US. People get along just fine with minivans and station wagons which are far safer for other due to their lower weight and far safer for those in the car due to their lower COG.

Minivans didn’t become mainstream until the mid-late 80s, and anyway pickup trucks were common well before that. Moreover, station wagons that were popular in the 80s were huge and they guzzled gas.

Are SUVs better than minivans?

They’re comparable. Minivans are a bit better with kids, SUVs are often better for recreation (e.g., pulling a camper). Lots of people also depend on pickup trucks, contra the parent’s viewpoint that they’re rarely legitimate.

Pulling a camper is something that most people do rarely - no reason to drive that pickup to work every day when you could just rent it for trips.

Yes there are certain areas where most people will need a bunch of hauling capacity due to their professions. But most people who drive a pickup in the USA are doing it for stupid (prestige related reasons)! I don’t mean to sound too extreme here, I’m just tired of hearing people (who I know IRL) with expensive gas guzzlers complain about the cost of diesel when a compact sedan would suite their needs!

Firstly, if you have a camper you probably want to take it out many times a year, and even if you just have a tent, an SUV is pretty nice for all of your other supplies. Moreover, it’s not any one use case that justifies an SUV as much as a combination. If you have kids and you camp and you bring bikes and you have jet-skis, ATVs, dirt bikes, snow mobiles, or other toys then it quickly becomes worthwhile.

My wife and I upgraded to a small (electric) SUV and it’s absolutely been worthwhile just for extended roadtrips and camping with our dog and maybe a friend or two.

I’m sure plenty of people get big vehicles for prestige/whatever, but I was refuting a specific claim that use cases for pickups are rare and SUVs should be banned altogether.