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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?

#101

Post by abakker »

Dracophoenix wrote: post #77
abakker wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

to add to this, there is a hilarious plague of "second order" thinking in government, while ignoring first order. We got into this mess with things like the 21 year old drinking age. The federal government doesn't have the authority to make that rule, so instead they provide a highway funding incentive to the states who offer it. The issues is that it has become the federal government's only tool - provide incentives…

> if we wanted to have a more sane system, we'd remove second order incentives in favor of direct first order regulations. but, that would require constitutional amendments which are unlikely to pass. I detest both arguments. The drinking age didn't stop under-21's from drinking. They just don't do it publicly. You're correct in that governments shouldn't use legislative carrots and sticks to influence state policies…

I used alcohol as an example, and should have been more clear that it was _just_ an example.

I'm sure you and I could find common ground where we believe that carrot/stick approach is dumb, but that some rule should be passed.

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

#102

Post by rpmisms »

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…

Nope, homeschooled 100%. I did go to community college when I was 13, I guess. Lots of books (4000 in our home library), Khan Academy, and no personal electronics for the kids.

>But how on earth were you supervised. I guess one parent must have been stay-at-home.

Mom still is, and she's good at it. The real answer is that it's not any more effort past 6 or so kids. I've been taking care of kids my entire life, essentially, and it really does become self-sustaining. Turns out tweens and young teens are great at taking care of babies. There's a picture somewhere of 10-year-old me wearing my new baby sister in a carrier.

Dad's a principal engineer, he's been remote for a long time, we saw him plenty. (he's also somewhat active here, Hi Dad!)

As long as you don't spend money on things like TV, and buy in bulk to cook at home, it's really not too expensive. We'd spend about $1300 a month in groceries.

> I think if you have 10 kids, then someone checking in to make sure that the kids are being fed, supervised, educated becomes a thing that probably needs to happen.

Where's the threshold for the state examining their anuses because obviously something must be wrong here?

We did have CPS called a couple times, once because I was doing my college coursework at 14 sitting on the patio roof. I hopped down, we sat around and listened to the spiel, then I politely asked them if they could fuck off because my Sociology 204 class was about to happen.

We also scored at the top of our (good) school district in standardized testing. Like, all of us were the top score in our grade.

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

#104

Post by uberman »

giobox wrote: post #60
uberman wrote: post #19

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…

What meaningful limits does the US government put on size/weights of cars? A rivian R1T has a gross kerb weight of like 9000lbs, the new electric hummer over 10000. With the move to electric cars, especially large commercial ones, they will generally get a lot heavier as batteries plus motor is typically much, much heavier than combustion engine + gas tank. A quick google says you can pretty much drive anything on a…

Most states restrict non-commercial licensed drivers to well less than 20k an axle so I'm guessing you might have mixed up per axle limits and non-commercial license limits. Not to worry though I get your point and non-commercial licenses vs commercial ones were not part of the discussion. Perhaps it is a distraction to even mention them at this point. I only bring them up as they also serve as practical governmental restriction on vehicle size. I don't really see there being a demand for commercial driver's licenses so that one can drive a bus for fun.

I do agree that the maximum for a non-commercial driver is "a lot" in the context of everyone driving a motor coach around town. However, as you point out, there is a limit to weight and I can assure you there is also a limit to size.

We can agree that we feel that the limits are not restrictive enough but they are clearly there and I feel it would be wrong to suggest otherwise.

YMMV as they say.

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

#105

Post by rpmisms »

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.

Yes, my family is not in the mind of the people asking for pickup trucks to be banned, but generally people with that mindset don't ask for narrow, tailored legislation.

Source: we got burned by this plenty often.

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

#106

Post by antisthenes »

NotYourLawyer wrote: post #103

Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, we’ll use more government regulation." Now they have two problems.

And others think: "we'll let the free market sort it out".

Now you have 3 problems.

1. There exists an entrenched monopoly with political influence

2. Customers are being price gouged as a result of monopolistic price setting

3. Regulatory capture through lobbying by the monopoly ensures there's no competition going forward.

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

#107

Post by giardini »

HWR_14 wrote: post #28
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?

Maybe the government should have been more in your parents' business. I'm not usually one to think that the government has any place in the family, but 10 children seem like too many for 2 parents to wrangle well. Unless your family has more than two adults, how were you supervised?

I was raised with 9 peers and can address this!

Firstly, births are (usually) spread out over time (20 years for my family). Secondly, the older children help the younger ones (in all respects: I am deeply grateful for the socializing influence of my elder (by 4 years) sister). Thirdly, there is more to life than "family" life (neighborhood children, friends, school, sports, job, etc.) and so we were often under the care of others or on our own. Consequently my friends and I roamed the woods and swamps, cycled around town, to/from school and generally, wandered everywhere within the city limits (~20-mile radius). Once we could drive a car, trips became shorter, less varied, more task- and family-oriented.

I remember the first time my mom told me to "hold down the fort!", rushed out in an emergency and left me in charge of my younger siblings. Pretty exciting to be handed such responsibility but it was easier than it sounds and a lot of fun really.

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

#108

Post by micromacrofoot »

carlmr wrote: post #100
micromacrofoot wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Then continue to subsidize EVs.

I will note though, that the EV Hummer weighs nearly 10,000lbs. We're already seeing the same problem.

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

#109

Post by rpmisms »

giardini wrote: post #107
HWR_14 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the government should have been more in your parents' business. I'm not usually one to think that the government has any place in the family, but 10 children seem like too many for 2 parents to wrangle well. Unless your family has more than two adults, how were you supervised?

I was raised with 9 peers and can address this! Firstly, births are (usually) spread out over time (20 years for my family). Secondly, the older children help the younger ones (in all respects: I am deeply grateful for the socializing influence of my elder (by 4 years) sister). Thirdly, there is more to life than "family" life (neighborhood children, friends, school, sports, job, etc.) and so we were often under the…

Accurate, and it sounds like you had a similar childhood experience to me: explorative, social, and educational. Nice to see another one of us!

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

#110

Post by kube-system »

1. The US federal government has relatively little ability to regulate vehicles as compared to other countries. The US government, for instance, does not license drivers or register vehicles.

2. States do have limits on vehicle sizes (i.e the GVWR) that can be driven without a commercial drivers license.

3. We do have many limits that apply differently to cars vs. trucks. The response from the auto industry has been to build more vehicles that are classified as trucks because they have more relaxed regulations. It is very difficult to allow industry to buy the utility vehicles they need while simultaneously forcing families to not buy them.

> $10 oil

You mean $10 gas? with $10 oil, everyone would drive a tank :)

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