(not my image. I just find these comical and incredibly dangerous)

  • Impractical_Island@lemmy.world
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    49 minutes ago

    I would love to put one of those in my ass and roll with the wheel of the clearly superior being with no problems with his manhood whatsoever.

  • Polisheocket@lemmy.zip
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    7 hours ago

    Just cause they have them doesn’t make them legal. Cops probably don’t even know so they just let it go

    • Uriel238 [all pronouns]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 hours ago

      Usually, US law enforcement errs on the side of illegal since they have the presumption of good faith (or at least did until ICE went gonzo about lies and cover-ups).

      But anything that looks suspicious counts as probable cause meaning they can search you and relieve you of cash and valuables. Nowadays, they presume they can jusy rob you and it enhances the precinct budget for fun stuff.

      We see this kind of overpolicing done more to minorities than whites, but so long as you don’t look super rich (enough to have a lawyer on your contacts list) then you’re fair game.

      If this sort of thing is uncommon in their parts, it’s going to draw more attention than a red sports car.

  • Uriel238 [all pronouns]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    7 hours ago

    In the Saints Row series they’re called kneecappers and I tried and uninstalled them because they caused too much mayhem. They also appear in the Spy Hunter 1983 coin-op video game

    I remember seeing them on Speed Racer used by villains before seeing the chariot race version in Ben Hur.

    IRL they’re obviously a hazard and inappropriate in traffic where people are just trying to collaboratively get home. (And yes, traffic is a collective cooperative effort, and we see that as soon as someone gets antagonistic.)

    But Americans imagine themselves rugged individualists, a component of capitalist propaganda, and like to show they’re rebels with shit like rollibg coal and truck nuts.

    This totally looks like a FAFO moment that is going to turn into a regulatory statute.

    Since it’s not a firearm, I doubt courts or officials will be interested at all in pursuing second-amendment liberties over this. They seem not to care about knives or ninja gear, either.

  • GenosseFlosse@feddit.org
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    10 hours ago

    This seems like a surefire way to get any insurance claim denied for dangerous modification to your car, or something along those lines.

  • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Houston is a weird place.

    In short, they often make the car as wide as is street legal. Sometimes they end up being too wide, but “maybe it’s too wide but I can’t quite tell” doesn’t meet probable cause, so the police can only really measure them if they get pulled over for something else.

  • Doom@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    I don’t know. Why are semi trucks allowed to have these?

    I see them all the time even though they seem like a liability for a professional driver.

    • 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works
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      8 hours ago

      I’ve seen those sharp things on a pickup truck’s wheels

      A few months ago a pickup truck cut me off and i crashed into its side and fell into the side of the wheel. If the truck i hit had these spikes, i’d be dead

    • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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      10 hours ago

      You really don’t see them as much compared to when they were in their hay day, because they were/are a liability. But current ones are soft plastic with a thin metallic coating.

      • Jiral@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Fast rotating “soft plastic with thin metallic coating” will just as well mutilate or even kill pedestrians or cyclists in a collision. But then US Americans do not seem to care much about those.

        • NotBillMurray@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          Let’s be real, if you’re close enough that these are hitting you you’re getting hit by the multi ton truck as well. They’re a little silly, but not the huge hazard you’re making them out to be.

          • Jiral@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            They make a wide vehicle even wider, for no good reason, your argument, can really only be made by an American who can not fathom that oversized roads are not only not the norm everywhere but are in themselves antipedestrian and get pedestrians and cyclists needlesly killed. There is also a good reason why tyre/axle parts extending beyond fenders are illegal in for example the EU. They are a risk to others in many ways, not only collission but also projecting stuff outwards. Last but not least, they make it harder for the driver to properly estimate the total width of the vehicle and invite driver error that can cost lives.

            They are illegal in the EU and they are so for a reason.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
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      9 hours ago

      They put them on to keep cars from crowding them, which they do have a legit problem with. I don’t really care as long as they stay in their lane it’s just psychological. The first time the wander a little into my line and tear up my car, i’m going to own their ass.

      • Jiral@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        No, it is not just psychological, this stuff is real and absolutely mutilating towards any pedestrian or cyclist and also dangerous for other car drivers (doesn’t matter if they are just fake plastic or not). There is a reason this is not tolerated pretty much anywhere other than parts of the US.

      • blackbrook@lemmy.ml
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        7 hours ago

        It’s not illegal or unreasonable to use a bit of someone else’s lane when you can do so without getting unsafely close to them. For example, if you are in the right lane and there is someone changing a tire on the shoulder and you want to give them some space. These are not going to be easy to see from certain perspectives, and are kind of asking for someone to misjudge their car width.

    • Ravenheart@lemmy.zip
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      11 hours ago

      They’re surprisingly common in the Houston area. If they’re illegal, you certainly wouldn’t assume they are based on how often you see them.

        • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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          10 hours ago

          Lol here (Estonia, not the US), they get a perverse pleasure out of giving people tickets, some of them anyway. If a cop saw those things, that car would rightfully get its annual inspection voided and potentially the driver would be forced to take it off the road immediately rather than being allowed to drive home or to a workshop to get it fixed.

          A lot of the time I disagree with how ticket-happy they can be (it’s not always about safety critical things), but in this case I’d agree with them 100%.

  • socsa@piefed.social
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    13 hours ago

    There’s zero chance these are legal. And even in places where enforcement of such things is lax, is be surprised if this lasted very long, simply because of how crazy dangerous it would be to pedestrians and cyclists.