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People with such vehicles already naturally pay more in fuel taxes. An actual productive solution to any safety concerns would be mandating some kind of sensor
by jimmaswell 4y ago
People with such vehicles already naturally pay more in fuel taxes. An actual productive solution to any safety concerns would be mandating some kind of sensor or camera retrofit, optimally with a tax credit for anyone who has to do it.
- pmyteh 4y agoIt's not just safety concerns in general (though it could be in DC): the other problem is that road damage is approximately proportional to the fourth power of axle weight. So doubling the weight of a car causes 16 times the road wear. And a car twice the size takes up twice as much road room and parking area too. So there are externalities with bigger vehicles that are beyond that of mangled pedestrians and which their owners could reasonably be required to pay for. Of course, these are even more true of large trucks, which we would find much more difficult to eliminate, even if we wanted to. So it's always going to be a matter of judgement how to proceed.
- abeppu 4y ago> road damage is approximately proportional to the fourth power of axle weight It sounds like there must be some good and interesting physical reason for this. Do you have an intuitive explanation for it?
- rektide 4y agoA person having to pay the intrinsic cost of usage does not affect whether they are adequately paying the extrinsic cost of their usage. There was some minor fuel tax benefit to the state, but with ultra-heavy electric vehicles like a electric Hummer, there's not really any penalty/paying of dues for having obnoxiously sized, dangerous vehicles.
- corrral 4y agoRoad wear and risk to other cars and pedestrians don't scale the same way fuel consumption does.
- ruddct 4y agoThe electric Hummer’s battery weighs more than my first car. It has a curb weight over 9000 pounds. Heavy cars do more damage when they hit things, emit more brake dust, and cause more damage to roads. Exploring ways to reduce (or appropriately tax) their use should be celebrated.
- rfiat 4y agoIt should be noted that it's possible for electric (~heavy) vehicles to emit less brake dust than conventional vehicles due to regenerative braking
- 1970-01-01 4y agoCheaper economy vehicles will use metallic brake pads that emit lots of dust. More expensive luxury vehicles (SUVs and trucks) use premium ceramic pads that wear much less per mile. EVs and hybrids add regen and don't need brakes to stop unless it's under emergency braking. It's absolutely not apples to apples, and people need to understand that fact.
- 1970-01-01 4y ago>emit more brake dust This is false.
- 1970-01-01 4y agoDid you just downvote a fact?
- gkop 4y agoTop result for “do heavier vehicles emit more brake dust?” is https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590162121000216 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259016212... > Heavier vehicles emit higher levels of brake and tire particles
- 1970-01-01 4y ago
- kube-system 4y agoSome EVs are close to or exceed 6000lb
- stefan_ 4y agoExcept things don't cost what they used to in 1970 anymore, which is about the point in time fuel taxes are stuck. And of course once moving, fuel consumption is surprisingly insensitive to weight.