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xkcd #3167: Car Size (imgs.xkcd.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [B] to c/xkcd@lemmy.world
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xkcd #3167: Car Size

Title text:

'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3167/

explainxkcd for #3167

'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
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[–] 99 points 1 year ago* (23 children)

I'm not even against large vehicles as there are legit use cases for them. I just think they should cost more, be taxed more, and be forbidden to park in certain areas.

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  • [–] 39 points 1 year ago (20 children)

    They already cost more and considering they have worse gas mileage, they paying more taxes on fuel as well.

    I agree with the parking though, back of the lot with ya.

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  • [–] 42 points 1 year ago* (15 children)

    in reality most (all?) states in the US don't charge progressively more for vehicle registration based on weight, and even when they do, the thresholds are really high. So a F-150 weighing over 5000 lbs may pay the same as a Honda Civic weighing half of that.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Right but the comment you’re replying to is talking about sticker price and gas, not registration.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    the original (my) comment mentions tax

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Which they already pay, the sales tax would be higher and they’re paying more in gas taxes.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah, but I'm with the OP here. It should cost significantly more tax wise than it does to disincentivize it

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    I like the idea of just having a tax linked directly to how much wear a vehicle causes to roads, because the wear goes up exponentially with weight. Not only would this make oversized cars (and cars in general) much more expensive, it would also provide the funds needed to repair roads that get completely annihilated by trucking companies.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    and yet, people keep buying these things to buy groceries and drive on asphalt, so just fuel inefficiency is clearly not enough

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago*

    the average carpayment is 750 new, 500 used. I bought a new car last year and my payment is $300. technically i could afford like a $1000 payment.

    americans often pay like 30%+ of their income to cars. And yes, they actively choose to do this. Nobody is forcing them to buy a 60K F150 over a 30K sedan.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Texas used to, maybe still does. You made me try to look it up and couldn't find a simple source. Plenty of states use MRSP or some measure of the vehicle's value.

    Back in the day (Tulsa, OK) my friend had a 2-ton dump truck with antique tags (over 25-yo), paid $20. Meanwhile, someone buying a super-light Corvette was paying $650. (early 90s money)

    I say go on weight, maybe some factoring of value. Registration fees are paying for roads, if your monster vehicle is doing more damage, you pay more.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    Honestly i'm fine with the value of the vehicle not affecting tax (beyond VAT upon purchase), because there's not much harm in someone having an expensive vehicle as decoration or collector's piece.
    In fact i wish more people would do that, rather than actually driving the vehicles around on a daily basis.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    The F350 is the smallest vehicle where they charge by weight. Unfortunately they don't check for how much you use it, so for the 6 times a year I use mine I'm paying $.10/mile - while someone else who uses it for hauling as a job is paying $.01/mile.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    If they’re EVs they’re heavier, causing more road wear, and don’t pay gas taxes

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Except in NJ where you get raked over the coals for your yearly car tax… errr… “registration”.

    It’s the damnest thing; they seem to lose my vehicle registration every year but my marriage registration is good indefinitely.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    I just think they should cost more, be taxed more, and be forbidden to park in certain areas.

    This won't help with rich assholes who want to drive around an F-950 or whatever, but will make groceries more expensive.

    What really needs to happen is to mandate a special license to drive anything over like 2500 kg, and only be able to register it to a business with a valid use-case. To get a "small car" license (B-type), you have to pass an easy theory exam and drive around a tiny sedan around a city for 30 minutes (at least in europe). Trucks have different driving characteristics and are way more dangerous, so the driving tests should be way more difficult too.

    Also, maybe this?

    Oh, also, ban private cars in cities. Like, completely. Cars are so dangerous that their amount in populated areas needs to be kept to an absolute minimum.

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