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Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

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Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#91

Post by LeanderK »

rpmisms wrote: post #3

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 can't the government stay out of my business?

As I see it, the moment you leave your private property you are interacting with society and it's not your business anymore. Of course you need the option for a bigger van, but that doesn't mean that nothing can be done about the SUVs. You can't just drive around on public(!) roads and think you're not bound to the rules of society. Also, it's a private citizen proposing this and not "the government". Environmental legislation is a product of changing attitudes in society and not some deep-state, technocratic action.

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#92

Post by AnimalMuppet »

samemail88 wrote: post #61
havblue wrote: post #51

I might as well repeat the overprotective parent perspective. Fatalities are higher if you're in a sedan in an accident with a pickup or semi. There are a lot of trucks on the road as well. Finally, road accidents are the one of the biggest risks young people face. 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 car…

You break the arms race by limiting the size.

Now limit the size of pickups and semis. They're the other side of that arms race.

And in fact, you're never going to succeed at limiting the size of either one. Not even pickups. Pickups need to be the size they are to be able to haul the things that people buy pickups to be able to haul.

So don't hold your breath at being able to limit the arms race. And that means that, to the degree that people buy SUVs defensively, to that degree limiting the size of SUVs is a really tough sell.

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#93

Post by incomingpain »

The government already has limits on car sizes.

They literally say how wide cars may be and how much size is inside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_size_class

So really the blog should be, 'why do they limit the size of cars, but not to my own personal preferences?'

Frankly I also read this blog as a bad actor.

>This limit would truly help with the environment, reduce road damage (lighter cars mean less road damage) and be overall for drivers (people can drive a bigger car than others).

The real reasoning is revealed here. Not because 'I'm ok with a 100,000lb overloaded dump truck driving next to me but that rich person driving the escalade... it's toooo big.'

Political activism under guise.

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#95

Post by warent »

HWR_14 wrote: post #86
rpmisms wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So far the four of us who have turned 18 are doing great for ourselves, so it turned out pretty well. No neglect, great food, and an excellent education. Are you saying some of us should have been put in the notoriously abusive foster care system instead of having a great family?

You mentioned education, and I assume you attended public schools, because 10 tuitions sound like a lot (and homeschooling sounds impossible). I'm amazed your parents were able to afford to feed you well, but good for them. But how on earth were you supervised. I guess one parent must have been stay-at-home. Which means the other had to earn an income for the whole dozen of you? Did you ever see that parent (seriousl…

My understanding is that it is pretty common and not mysterious at all that as children get older they start to look after each other. Being the youngest of 4 kids, the older ones often watched over me.

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#96

Post by throwaway0a5e »

tweetle_beetle wrote: post #82
inanutshellus wrote: post #4

The government addressed this a few years ago by raising taxes on larger car chassis, making vehicles like the Hummer more expensive. This led to the instantaneous rise in popularity of so-called "crossover" vehicles. Puffy vehicles that looked kinda SUV-ish and were elevated for higher road visibility but were built on a smaller (lower tax rate) car chassis. The article of course wants to go to the next step, bannin…

If SUVs were genuinely solving a widespread problem that would otherwise involve people owning multiple cars, I suspect that we would all hear a lot from environmentalists about them. Anecdotally, when I've met "real" people who live in remote areas, they tend to drive old, unglamourous, and often semi broken cars. Wealthy second home owners, city folk practising an outdoor activity on the odd weekend, suburbanites k…

I agree. The problem with trying to regulate this is that if you can't get to the point where you get the HN classes to give up the stupid 4Runners and Model Ys they don't need for their 1.2 kids without screwing everyone else along the way. As much as it would bring me joy to halt their conspicuous consumption the collateral damage is unacceptable.

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#97

Post by [deleted] »

workingdog wrote: post #66
rndmind wrote: post #44

I believe the government should increase yearly registration costs exponentially based on lower MPG. If you get 10-18 MPG... you must pay 10 times the registration fee that a 40-50 MPG hybird pays.

As long as it's measured by MPG per occupied seat. Our family fills our Dodge Durango and gets better MPG per occupied seat than a single driver Smart car. 20 MPG * 6 > 42 MPG * 1

[deleted]

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#98

Post by AnimalMuppet »

gfaster wrote: post #85
rpmisms wrote: post #3

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?

Ignoring the folly of the automobile being the only way to travel, and that independent mobility is all but dead in the United States, you are not the target of regulations like this. The target is needlessly large vehicles that do little but to stoke the ego of the owner, or maybe simply being another step up in the SUV safety arms race.

> Ignoring the folly of the automobile being the only way to travel...

Thing is, if you drive 10 people, you drive one van. If ten people take the train or the bus, you buy ten tickets. Even if there were much better public transportation in the US, the economics push toward driving with larger family sizes.

> ... and that independent mobility is all but dead in the United States...

Not sure what you mean here?

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#99

Post by samemail88 »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #92
samemail88 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You break the arms race by limiting the size.

Now limit the size of pickups and semis. They're the other side of that arms race. And in fact, you're never going to succeed at limiting the size of either one. Not even pickups. Pickups need to be the size they are to be able to haul the things that people buy pickups to be able to haul. So don't hold your breath at being able to limit the arms race. And that means that, to the degree that people buy SUVs defensive…

But are the people who are buying the big SUVs in an arms race against Semis/Big Pick ups? Everybody knows their cars can't compete in size compared to Semis/Big pick ups. I believe their arm races are against other consumers who are driving big SUVs. They're looking to have the biggest SUVs on regular roads (outside the highway).

Re: Why can't the government put a limit on car sizes?

#100

Post by carlmr »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #50
Geonode wrote: post #2

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.

It's not really a pet peeve, the government actually subsidizes large vehicles, many of which do a disproportionate amount of roadway damage. So maybe not a restriction, but at least let's end the subsidies. A tax by weight, which has been recommended by some in the past, seems entirely reasonable as well. The US is constantly shooting itself in the foot with what I'd argue aren't too many regulations... but regulati…

>A tax by weight, which has been recommended by some in the past, seems entirely reasonable as well.

All for it, but this will hurt EVs quite a lot.

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