There are no passenger vehicles produced in the states with wheels that size
First: wheel size is not the only variable for handling, not even close. Second: produced in the US is different than legal to drive on our roads.
But don’t pretend that they are in the same class as other vehicles on the roads in the US
You’re right, quite a few of the shitboxes I see out there with valid tags are quite a bit WORSE than a Kei truck.
I’m saying that there are valid concerns about them
And I’m saying that’s blatantly false when we let far more unsafe vehicles exist and Kei trucks do just fine in other countries. The amount of Keis I’ve seen when visiting Japan is staggering, if they were truly a death trap worth regulating then there’d be some statistics backing that up from Japan and they’d likely be way less popular for being stupidly unsafe.
I’ve driven in multiple Kei trucks and they’re about on par with what a LOT of rural farms and even state/federal park services will use. If modern ones were even legal to import in the first place they’d be even better on the safety front.
some DMVs are finding them not to be up to snuff.
Nice appeal to authority. A DMV finding something to be unsafe means jack shit in a world where there’s lobbying incentive for governments to make rules so companies can make money. You know, the original reason Kei trucks are banned?