Don’t supersize me: The case for small electric cars instead of big SUVs

Small cars are good for us but bad for business.

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[Hoptimist]

Their argument was literally "Why not tie registration fees to the curb weight of the vehicle? Wear on infrastructure is calculated using the 4th power law, which shows that weight plays an exponential role in degradation."

If you want weight limits on passenger vehicles that's great, I agree. But framing the reason as "they damage the roads" while ignoring the fact that actually, they really don't, is a bad argument by which to do so.

I agree with your point, but I'm also fine with heavy trucks actually paying to maintain the infrastructure rather than pawning their costs onto the general taxpayer. Yes, the garbage pickup cost will go up, trucking in general will cost more. Why are we subsidizing heavy trucking?

 

[Hoptimist]

Because people want food available at their local stores and not have to travel to Kansa to get it.

How much food do you think a city like New York gets through in a day? you aren't delivering all that without heavy trucks. Trains are iffy unless your transporting agricultural goods.

Extreme much? I didn't suggest embargoing trucks. You literally would have to pay a little more for the cargo if trucks were taxed appropriate to their infrastructure damage. It would also shift more non-perishables to rail for long hauls.

 

[Hoptimist]

Astonishing that the author makes a statistical argument (based on average distance driven), that many more Americans could be driving much smaller more efficient vehicles, and the comments are full of personal anecdotes about why they can't. Some even feel personally attacked. Someone's personal use case is not a statistic, either argue against the data in the article or accept your use case is atypical. I think the point of the article is quite valid.