EU and US testing criteria are very different - in the US, motor vehicles leaving the roadway and impacting stationary objects is the top source of traffic fatalities. In the EU, it's pedestrian impacts (which makes sense corresponding to the urban vs rural environments in each).
The EU has very stringent testing for pedestrian safety: https://www.euroncap.com/en/car-safety/the-ratings-explained.... One of the tests is literally just taking a foam ball, pressing it on spots all around the front of the car, and looking for hard, sharp corners.
The cybertruck is a steel box made of sharp corners. It was never, ever going to be allowed on European roads - and the US Government here is saying they are not even going to fight for the rarest exception.
jonpurdy 4 hours ago [-]
Not knowing how testing works or the criteria in USA/Canada, I'm surprised it's even allowed here. I'd rather be hit as a pedestrian by almost any other truck since at least F-150s and RAMs don't have sharp edges like the Cybertruck...
al_borland 3 hours ago [-]
I don't care so much about the edges. I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. The below report focuses on kids, but I'm an adult and some of these trucks seem taller than me.
But again, here in the US we are an order of magnitude less likely to be hit by a car. EDIT: Than being in a car accident
Obviously we could get into incentives and prioritizing pedestrian safety and urbanizing. But if you take the current status quo of where Americans live and how they drive, I can very much understand regulators choosing to prioritize the safety regulations that will save the largest number of lives on the roads we have now.
You're right, I misrepresented the idea. Part of the thing is that US roads are just so much more dangerous in every way. Here's the actual data:
US pedestrian fatalities 2 per 100k. US driver fatalities ~7 per 100k.
European pedestrian fatalities: 0.5 per 100k. European driver fatalities: ~2 per 100k.
So it's somewhat understandable that regulators may disproportionately favor crash protection for drivers.
bdangubic 3 hours ago [-]
> But again, here in the US we are an order of magnitude less likely to be hit by a car.
hard disagree, in places where cybertrucks are most sold it is urban populated areas and pedestrian incidents and fatalities are very high
jbmchuck 3 hours ago [-]
> But again, here in the US we are an order of magnitude less likely to be hit by a car.
Huh - do you have a source for that stat?
legitster 3 hours ago [-]
There's a really good video by Road Guy Rob that goes into very good detail about the specific causes of pedestrian fatalities in the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEj-pyjA2oo
TL;DW: It's most likely happening at night, on an arterial street, by a truck or SUV.
HWR_14 4 hours ago [-]
> In the EU, it's pedestrian impacts (which makes sense corresponding to the urban vs rural environments in each).
The US has a comparable urban population to Western Europe or Scandinavia. However, the urban areas are far more car centric.
m463 2 hours ago [-]
wonder if importers can qualify the truck for europe?
They used to do this for lamborghini countach in the US by adding ridiculous bumpers:
As someone who lives near two of the largest USAF bases in Europe, I'm glad the Americans can import vehicles too wide for the average street because it allows the locals to identify them at a distance and somewhat anticipate their non-existent (and often illegal) driving habits.
oblio 4 hours ago [-]
One very likely drunk US soldier driving a huge American SUV and speeding through a red light in Bucharest killed a famous Romanian musician.
The US blocked any attempts of a Romanian investigation and the American investigation found no wrong doing (the musicians much smaller taxi looked like an accordion, I passed on that street after the accident).
I thought it was the wife of the official, but maybe I'm misremembering things..
rjsw 3 hours ago [-]
She was CIA too.
ggreer 4 hours ago [-]
Aren't the rejection reasons true of every US EV truck? They all have gross vehicle weight ratings over 3.5 tons, they all lack speed limiters, and they all fail EU pedestrian safety regulations.
The only exception I know of is the F-150 Lightning. It's allowed in Europe outside the EU (Norway & Switzerland), though its maximum load is limited to 805kg (including passengers) to keep it below the 3,500kg limit.[1]
Edit: Some guy in Poland (which is in the EU) has a Cybertruck.[2] I'm not sure how he made it EU compliant. He claims there are at least five Cybertrucks registered in Poland.[3] There's also a Cybertruck registered in the Czech Republic.[4]
Not the sharp edges, no. That's a cybertruck "special".
geff82 4 hours ago [-]
This was obvious shortly after the Cybertruck was presented to the world and it never seemed like a smart move to let it on the road the way it is.
thyristan 4 hours ago [-]
In related news, I also cannot import Bratwurst into the US ;)
plorkyeran 1 hours ago [-]
Is there some dumb urban legend about this? You absolutely can buy imported Bratwurst in the United States (and there's a lot of it made locally too).
gweinberg 4 hours ago [-]
Why not? Too wide? Sharp edges?
masfuerte 4 hours ago [-]
Or pork pies. Americans don't know what they are missing.
4 hours ago [-]
surfingdino 4 hours ago [-]
or Kinder Surprise ;-)
zeristor 4 hours ago [-]
Or black currants
Update: Oh. The federal ban was lifted in 1966. Full your boots!
ajsnigrutin 4 hours ago [-]
or mimolette cheese
SpicyUme 2 hours ago [-]
I think that was fixed (again). I can still buy real mimolette at the grocery store near me.
tomasphan 4 hours ago [-]
“ Another concern is that the Cybertruck would attract a lot of attention when operated in public traffic. This would defeat the purpose of issuing USAREUR-AF cover plates for force protection. It is commonly known that the Cybertruck cannot be registered and operated in Germany.”
Funny, bad OPSEC to drive a huge flashing American flag.
pigbearpig 3 hours ago [-]
I was so happy to read that part of the statement. A refreshing bit of common sense.
fennecbutt 2 hours ago [-]
Of course not. Over here we care about safety.
01HNNWZ0MV43FF 4 hours ago [-]
> The Cybertruck has no type-approval from the European Union (EU) due to significant passive safety concerns. Several specifications of the Cybertruck, particularly the sharp-edged, stiff stainless-steel body, violate EU safety standards, primarily for the protection of vulnerable road users.
So it's too dangerous for pedestrians. Good, love to see a government stand up for its people now and then
MBCook 4 hours ago [-]
Must be nice to live under a semi-functional government that tries to stop dangerous designs before they’re on the road.
wkat4242 4 hours ago [-]
Good. I'm glad no exception was made for this reason.
theturtle 2 hours ago [-]
In other news, the army thinks someone in the Army could afford one of those bizarre things.
If you remember Atari "Battlezone," one of the targets for your tank looks remarkably like a Cybertruck.
In 1980.
emmelaich 4 hours ago [-]
Bottom story of the day?
> It is commonly known that the Cybertruck cannot be registered and operated in Germany.
Nothing much to do with the US Army.
wkat4242 4 hours ago [-]
They tend to get exceptions for much stuff, that makes it newsworthy.
They even get exempted from criminal law. Remember Anna Sacoolas who killed a teenager in the UK and quickly got repatriated before he could be brought to court?
LightBug1 4 hours ago [-]
Excellent news.
0cf8612b2e1e 4 hours ago [-]
I am more surprised we are paying for soldiers to ship their vehicles around the world.
Alupis 4 hours ago [-]
You are ordered where to go, and have little input into that decision. The military will typically ship one vehicle free of charge to your new duty station.
3 hours ago [-]
pigbearpig 3 hours ago [-]
It's a pretty robust logistics system. The tour lengths are 2-3 years. If your job demanded that you relocate to another continent for 3 years I think we'd all expect some relocation assistance.
reaperducer 4 hours ago [-]
I am more surprised we are paying for soldiers to ship their vehicles around the world.
When you drive near a military base, it's a great time to play license plate bingo.
I've seen both Hawaii and Guam in Arizona.
esseph 4 hours ago [-]
Troops have families.
Home goods get shipped too, of course.
hollerith 4 hours ago [-]
The Army needs to be able to move military hardware around the world quickly. Maybe they consider this good practice.
Jtsummers 4 hours ago [-]
Unless things have changed, these are typically shipped on commercial vessels with the DOD covering the cost.
pigbearpig 3 hours ago [-]
Yes, that's likely much cheaper than loading up an aircraft carrier with a bunch of Mustangs and Silverados. They're still likely bound to some sort of lowest bidder for contracts. It's also likely to be more economical than having the person find their own transport and reimbursing them.
hollerith 3 hours ago [-]
OK, but maybe they plan to use the same group of commercial shippers for the miltary hardware. (Now you are going to tell me that most of these shippers are Chinese, completely demolishing my conjecture.)
seanmcdirmid 55 minutes ago [-]
If its an American to American port, the Jones act would mean an American shipper. I'm guessing they would use Chinese if it wasn't though.
netsharc 4 hours ago [-]
Free healthcare for the rest of your life. Help with college costs.. Funny how one of the biggest budget items in the country is used for a socialist system...
Alupis 4 hours ago [-]
By dollars spent, the US operates the largest health and human services system in the world.
YTD, the US has spent approximately $4.5T[1] on health and human services, of which approximately $1.9T are health-related alone.
In 2024, the US Government's total revenue was approximately $4.9T[2].
Thank god most of that money goes to good capitalist middle men, or it would look like some kind of socialized welfare.
toast0 3 hours ago [-]
From quick reading, seems like if you serve at least 2 years (or leave from a service connected injury) and get an honorable discharge, you get VA healthcare, although lower priority levels have to pay copays, so not entirely free?
Looks like signing up for the military is an 8 year commitment, which is often at least 3 years of active duty and the remainder on reserves. Kind of a lot of commitment for health care, and kind of a lot of risk on the job. If you can manage to stay in for 20 years though, the pension seems pretty nice; I live near a navy base and a lot of parents of my kid's sports team are approaching 20 years, getting paid a pension while having a second career is pretty neat.
wkat4242 4 hours ago [-]
Most jobs don't get you shot at though. I mean shooting at my colleagues is frowned upon by HR in my office.
kaikai 4 hours ago [-]
Shooting at your colleagues is frowned upon in the military, too.
wkat4242 16 minutes ago [-]
Oh yeah true but in my job my colleagues are the enemies lol
ahmeneeroe-v2 4 hours ago [-]
high school understanding of "socialist system"
bamboozled 4 hours ago [-]
It's the same story for Australia, didn't we know this when it was launched?
tomekb 4 hours ago [-]
It absolutely can be imported and registered.
tomekb 4 hours ago [-]
go to spz.penize.cz and lookup license plate 001CYBER, legally registered in Czechia
go to ufg.pl and lookup the insurance policy for license plate S1K6, legally registered in Poland
both countries are EU members and you can drive those cars anywhere in the EU
echoangle 4 hours ago [-]
How? Even if it violates the safety standards? Or are you saying it doesn’t?
bergie 3 hours ago [-]
In many East European countries you can likely still get a license plate by bribing the right people
mikestew 4 hours ago [-]
And the U. S. Army says otherwise. Soooo, got anything else?
gaze 4 hours ago [-]
There might be some argument that brews in this thread and I just want to say that it's nearly impossible to debate someone into believing they should care about people they don't know.
Rendered at 01:53:39 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
The EU has very stringent testing for pedestrian safety: https://www.euroncap.com/en/car-safety/the-ratings-explained.... One of the tests is literally just taking a foam ball, pressing it on spots all around the front of the car, and looking for hard, sharp corners.
The cybertruck is a steel box made of sharp corners. It was never, ever going to be allowed on European roads - and the US Government here is saying they are not even going to fight for the rarest exception.
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investig...
There's a bit of meme that an M1 Abrams tank has better forward visibility than many SUVs/pickups:
* https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/140dgn8/many_popu...
Obviously we could get into incentives and prioritizing pedestrian safety and urbanizing. But if you take the current status quo of where Americans live and how they drive, I can very much understand regulators choosing to prioritize the safety regulations that will save the largest number of lives on the roads we have now.
US pedestrian fatalities 2 per 100k. US driver fatalities ~7 per 100k.
European pedestrian fatalities: 0.5 per 100k. European driver fatalities: ~2 per 100k.
So it's somewhat understandable that regulators may disproportionately favor crash protection for drivers.
hard disagree, in places where cybertrucks are most sold it is urban populated areas and pedestrian incidents and fatalities are very high
Huh - do you have a source for that stat?
TL;DW: It's most likely happening at night, on an arterial street, by a truck or SUV.
The US has a comparable urban population to Western Europe or Scandinavia. However, the urban areas are far more car centric.
They used to do this for lamborghini countach in the US by adding ridiculous bumpers:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Lamborgh...
The US blocked any attempts of a Romanian investigation and the American investigation found no wrong doing (the musicians much smaller taxi looked like an accordion, I passed on that street after the accident).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter
An increasingly common problem in the UK: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4kqq8dw00o
The only exception I know of is the F-150 Lightning. It's allowed in Europe outside the EU (Norway & Switzerland), though its maximum load is limited to 805kg (including passengers) to keep it below the 3,500kg limit.[1]
Edit: Some guy in Poland (which is in the EU) has a Cybertruck.[2] I'm not sure how he made it EU compliant. He claims there are at least five Cybertrucks registered in Poland.[3] There's also a Cybertruck registered in the Czech Republic.[4]
1. https://www.motor.no/bil/ford-f-150-lightning-klar-for-norge...
2. https://x.com/norbertcala/status/1814394368452862270
3. https://x.com/norbertcala/status/1838862685724651738
4. https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/czechia-sees-its-fi...
Update: Oh. The federal ban was lifted in 1966. Full your boots!
So it's too dangerous for pedestrians. Good, love to see a government stand up for its people now and then
If you remember Atari "Battlezone," one of the targets for your tank looks remarkably like a Cybertruck.
In 1980.
> It is commonly known that the Cybertruck cannot be registered and operated in Germany.
Nothing much to do with the US Army.
They even get exempted from criminal law. Remember Anna Sacoolas who killed a teenager in the UK and quickly got repatriated before he could be brought to court?
When you drive near a military base, it's a great time to play license plate bingo.
I've seen both Hawaii and Guam in Arizona.
Home goods get shipped too, of course.
YTD, the US has spent approximately $4.5T[1] on health and human services, of which approximately $1.9T are health-related alone.
In 2024, the US Government's total revenue was approximately $4.9T[2].
[1] https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...
[2] https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61185
Looks like signing up for the military is an 8 year commitment, which is often at least 3 years of active duty and the remainder on reserves. Kind of a lot of commitment for health care, and kind of a lot of risk on the job. If you can manage to stay in for 20 years though, the pension seems pretty nice; I live near a navy base and a lot of parents of my kid's sports team are approaching 20 years, getting paid a pension while having a second career is pretty neat.