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A social media user has sparked a backlash against the ‘vanity culture’ of giant American vehicles taking over Australian roads and spilling over parking spots.

Under the heading ‘This country is not built to fit full-sized American cars’, Reddit user Charles Tang said that he had lived in the US where ‘roads are straighter, lanes are wider, and spots are bigger’.

He said that vehicle size classes are different and a mid-sized SUV (sports utility vehicle, meaning a four-wheel drive) in Australia was considered compact in the US.

‘Unless you truly need that (Ford F150), you are making life worse for those driving around you and parked next to you,’ he said.

‘Don’t let unnecessarily big car vanity culture from the US take over here just like tipping is trying to.’

In reply, a Reddit user provided a practical reason why the huge cars were an annoyance. 

‘There’s at least two RAMS in my town Grafton and we have a stupid bendy train bridge,’ the user wrote.

‘It’s narrow. They take almost the whole thing and you have to give way to them the same as you need to the f**king bus because of how obnoxiously large they are.

‘Totally unnecessary.’

A giant Ram pickup truck will often struggle to find parking spaces that will easily accommodate it

Other Aussies said the cars were unnecessary, given other brands provide enough space.

‘They are as big as a private car needs to be. A (Nissan) Patrol or (Toyota) LandCruiser are huge vehicles, and incredibly capable,’ they wrote.

Another pointed out that they were not even well adapted for the local environment. 

‘These big nonsense American trucks are basically useless in Australian offroad conditions, the wheel base is made for driving on snow not steep rocky ground,’ they said.

Some noted how expensive or polluting they were. 

‘I had an owner of one of these trucks pay for petrol in front of me,’ a comment read.

‘It was $200ish. I nearly choked.’

‘Talk to your member of parliament and ask how a country not designed for them will cope and how they have passed emissions and pedestrian safety standards,’ one user suggested.

The Ram Dodge is typical of the huge vehicles that a Reddit user labelled as being products of ‘vanity car culture’

‘And why in an age of moving towards lower emissions, we’re starting to bring in light trucks to use for dropping the kids off to school?’

A number of people expressed safety concerns about the vehicles.

‘The height is just as dangerous,’ one user wrote.

‘You get hit by an average-sized car and you get some lower limb and maybe pelvic injuries (I’m over simplifying here too BTW). 

‘These American trucks are much higher and are going to just destroy your torso and head and your survival rate just plummets.’ 

Another user made similar points. 

‘Their height means that pedestrians are more likely to have head impact. This combined with low visibility means that they are a menace on the streets. US pedestrian deaths are at their highest level in 40 years,’ they wrote.

This Toyota LandCruiser might be considered a compact SUV if driven on American roads

A number of self-identified Americans disputed that the vehicles were built on the right scale for the US.        

‘American here. Sorry you have to put up with this, but FWIW (for what it’s worth) I shake my head when I see the same oversized vehicles here, and I see a lot of them,’ the user wrote.

‘Not all our parking spots and roads can even accommodate them. It is very normal to see one of these huge, lifted monstrosities taking up 2-3 spots before even considering the driver’s skill in parking.

‘I just can’t find any rational explanation for why they are needed. Hillbilly stuff.’

A number of people suggested that they should really be considered as trucks rather than cars.    

‘I have no problem with people owning these big American pick-ups, they fill a capability gap between Utes/4x4s and trucks, but the drivers need to treat them like any other larger vehicle,’ a Reddit user wrote.

Melbourne’s busy Hoddle Street isn’t the place to easily accommodate the giant American makes of vehicle

‘When I drive a truck or a big van or a minibus, I don’t try and park right out the front of Woolies in the crowded car park. 

‘I don’t squeeze into the prime spot on the high street. I don’t park it like any other small car on a tight suburban street.

‘When you drive a big vehicle, you need to plan ahead a bit more. Need to go to the supermarket in your truck? You need to park on the side street and walk the extra 100m. 

‘I think it’s a mindset thing that hasn’t matured yet. OP (original poster) called them American cars. They aren’t cars, they’re trucks. 

‘If everyone calls them trucks then maybe people will start treating them like trucks.’