51–60 of 139 posts
So ignoring the fact that this makes it into an arms race of weight and size, a parents desire for child safety wins against someone's desire to lower carbon emissions.
There are already many incentives in place for smaller cars: * Use less fuel * Easier to park * Cheaper to buy There is generally not much point in having the government incentivize "good" things. Whatever makes them good is already the incentive, and if that's not enough, then there are probably other issues at play that some feel-good government initiative isn't going to overcome.
[1] https://www.thedrive.com/news/small-cars-are-getting-huge-ar...
I'm also curious why (required) speed limit regulators aren't a thing, especially in cities. Why are cars physically allowed to go more than 25 MPH in NYC? I thought speed limit regulators are required on some kinds of scooters and electric bikes. Cars are a lot more dangerous. It's not that I think NYC or the US is very progressive when it comes to dealing with potential car crashes (we aren't) but I'm also curious…
> I'm also curious why this hasn't shown up in other countries/cities in Europe It is. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31996148
No substance. How could the government limit the size of vehicles? > Companies will never voluntarily reduce their SUV sizes unless outside forces pressures them to do (like $10 oil). If oil (say, brent crude) goes to $10, something has gone very awry.
Within those limits, I think they should push for more environmentally friendly vehicles through taxes.
But not just fuel taxes, which might not give the desired incentive 'curve', and in any case still penalize even the most economical vehicles.
But directly; per kerb weight, per mpg, per co2/mile, etc, etc.
Why can't they government fix my pet peeves? This kind of thinking is what's leading us to a prison society without privacy or freedom, one little whiny step at a time. The government should do as little as possible, and the least at the federal level.
The government built the roads, to a specific specification of assumed car sizes. If cars get so big that they break these assumptions then roads start getting blocked, or you start to have streets that some cars are too big to fit through (already happens in older cities in Europe) - and this would adversely affect other people. What next, are speed limits also leading us to a prison society, because people don't ha…
No substance. How could the government limit the size of vehicles? > Companies will never voluntarily reduce their SUV sizes unless outside forces pressures them to do (like $10 oil). If oil (say, brent crude) goes to $10, something has gone very awry.
The government can levy large taxes on new big vehicles just like they did with cigarettes. If the largest SUVs had a 25% tax on it, I think most people will not buy it (basically limiting it). Or if the gas prices went to $10 a gallon, people will ditch their big vehicles.
> Consumers who fear for their safety and buy big cars and rest assure nobody else will be driving an even bigger car.
Sounds like a middle-schooler banging out a 3-point persuasive essay asap so he can use the rest of the time to play drug wars on his ti-82.
There are already many incentives in place for smaller cars: * Use less fuel * Easier to park * Cheaper to buy There is generally not much point in having the government incentivize "good" things. Whatever makes them good is already the incentive, and if that's not enough, then there are probably other issues at play that some feel-good government initiative isn't going to overcome.
I'm the oldest of 10 kids. My family needed a 15-passenger van to travel. Why can't the government stay out of my business?
Why is van classified as a car? It's more like a mini-bus than a car.
While I applaud the motivation, it is incorrect (at least in the US) to say that government "should" limit the size and weight of cars as this suggests that it does not already do so which it clearly does. It is also incorrect to state that anyone is forced to buy a big car. Even in the US, there is a selection of sub-compact cars that are fun to drive and tend to be on the cheaper side to buy let alone drive. I'm al…
A quick google says you can pretty much drive anything on a single axle in the US so long as its 20,000 lbs or less- thats so huge there might as well not be a limit...