Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
One thing that's really obvious as soon as you arrive in Europe is that nobody drives a large, inefficient vehicle unless it's absolutely required for work. Owning a truck or SUV to serve as a commuter vehicle is completely unheard of over there, precisely because gas taxes are so much higher.
|
It also depends what the goal of said fuel tax is. If the goal is emission reduction, making new trucks/SUV less viable with increased fuel costs may not be the best idea either. Even a big SUV spews less crap into the air than a 10-15 year old compact that is good on gas. The goal should be getting the old junkers off the road. What was that study California did... one 12 year Accord shot out the same pollution as 20 new Accords. Yet, that old Accord is still pretty good on gas... a fuel tax might encourage that car's owner to hold onto it because they'd have less cash to buy a new one with only a marginal savings.
Also, many people who own SUVs have kids and need room for more than themselves and groceries. Once you start getting into vehicles that sit 5 adults or more, you're in SUV/Van country.