How Washington, DC is trying to crack down on people owning large cars | Boing Boing

Residing in an city setting for many of my life has definitely impacted the way in which I take a look at vehicles. Carbon emissions apart, I settle for that there’s a want for them generally, even in a metropolis. However in my expertise, massive vehicles make issues tougher for everybody, from pedestrians to the drivers who cannot see something as they squeeze down slim streets. Anecdotally as a bicycle owner, I’ve had some terrifying encounters with road-rage-inclined drivers in large autos as nicely; statistically, homeowners of enormous pickup vans and SUVs are considerably extra prone to kill or injure somebody.

A current native regulation proposal within the District of Columbia goals to crack down on the issues offered by these massive autos: by septupling the annual registration charges. By way of Bloomberg:

Throughout this yr’s price range course of, [D.C. City Councilmember Mary] Cheh proposed overhauling the town’s car regulation framework. Annual charges for machines beneath 3,500 kilos would stay at $72/yr, whereas these from 3,500 to five,000 kilos would now value $175. The payment for registering a automotive between 5,000 and 6,000 kilos would rise to $250. The largest hit is aimed toward a brand new class created for SUVs and vans weighing over 6,000 kilos: Their homeowners would now must shell out $500 per yr.

In different phrases, a D.C. resident registering a heavy-duty pickup or SUV who would have paid $775 over 5 years within the outdated payment construction will now must fork over $2,500. Notably, no exception is offered for residents claiming that they want a heavy-duty truck or SUV for his or her work. (Cheh says the difficulty hasn’t come up.)

Cheh sees the hiked charges as “a form of proportionality” for the harm brought on by the heaviest autos, however she does not anticipate them to be the decisive issue for all automotive patrons. “The larger factor goes to be the price of fuel,” she mentioned.

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Clearly, there are legitimate causes for some individuals* to personal these massive motor autos. And people individuals will not be affected by these sorts of legal guidelines, even when they go to the nationwide capitol in these vehicles. Hell, even individuals who stay proper throughout the river in Virginia will not be impacted. However so far as residing in a dense city space goes, that is definitely intriguing step.

A Metropolis Fights Again In opposition to Heavyweight Automobiles [David Zipper / Bloomberg]

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*I even have an entire half-assed principle about suburban SUV possession additional disconnecting individuals from their communities and disassociating them from conscious and accountable driving, however I am going to flesh that out intimately another time. Sorry, mother.