Tax gas guzzlers off the road.. like here in UK!

Uh...no. That's not true. The right lane is for cruising. In fact, in some states you can get a ticket for spending too much time in the left lane if you aren't passing anyone.

 

The right lane is for normal driving, and cars in that lane have the right of way over cars merging. As the merging driver, it's up to you to stay out of the way. A lot of drivers in the U.S. have this backward.

Tom

 

Tom is right. If the drivers in the right lane are courteous they will try to let you in but courtesy(or rather the lack of it) is a whole other topic.

 

Now days the typical merger blasts down the ramp and onto the highway without regard to traffic or anything else. Heck, they may not even notice traffic, given the cell phone stuck to their ear. It's all about me, and everyone else just get the hell out of my way.

I've noticed this on two lane roads as well. When the oncoming lane is blocked, drivers will often cross the center line into your lane to get around the obstruction in their lane. It generally causes me to mutter to myself: "Excuse me! Just because your lane is blocked, you don't get to take mine!"

It's all about me, me, me....

Tom

 

Yep, we have a gas guzzler tax per your link and Frequently Asked Questions. Unfortunately, "light trucks" which includes SUVs, pickups, minivans and some vans are fricking exempt.

First off, the one time tax isn't high enough for the each of the brackets. Secondly, these exempt "light trucks", the worst offenders in terms of fuel economy made up 49% of vehicle sales in the US for MY 2007 per Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2007 - Executive Summary | Cars and Light Trucks | US EPA.

The CAFE required standard for all vehicles, esp. "light trucks" is currently too low and the they use raw, unadjusted EPA dyno numbers in the calculation. The Prius counts as getting ~65 mpg towards CAFE purposes.

Then there's the E85 scam/incentive. Per my post at http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...icle-prices-average-6-000-a-2.html#post545364, Consumer Reports tested a 07 Tahoe that would be rated "21 mpg" for CAFE purposes yet it gets rated at "35 mpg" since it's flex-fuel capable. Never mind that they got only 14 mpg in their testing on gasoline and 10 mpg on E85.

To top it off, currently, vehicles w/GVWR of >8500 lbs. are EXEMPT from fuel economy testing and counting against a company's CAFE numbers. We have fine examples like the Hummer H2, Ford Excursion and Expedition EL. I hear the H2s typically get 9-11 mpg.

When I lived in WA state, people would also camp in the left lane going below the speed limit for no reason in the daytime when it's not raining. It was very annoying.

 

Just in case anybody here missedbds it:

source

Please don't misunderstand me. I believe that the standards should be stricter. But to imply that the US is doing absolutely nothing, as the OP did, is incorrect.

 

I'm personally well aware of the standards change but I'm of the camp that it's too little of a change. BTW, I also was aware of the GVWR >8500 lbs vehicles no longer being exempt in the future, which is why I used the word currently.

The newer changes (New CAFE Rules Will Bring Big Changes and many other places) and "35 mpg" is just so lame. Since it's based on unadjusted dyno numbers and the window sticker numbers are adjusted, that corresponds to ~26 mpg combined on the current method window sticker per "Fuel Economy: Doublespeak at its Best" Green Car Advisor.

It's also rather confusing and complicated as the numbers each automaker has to meet varies.

As a side note, here's how automakers fared with respect to CAFE numbers recently: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/AUTO01/808120455/1148/rss25.

 

Could it be those countries aren't hated as much for some strange reason?
Maybe they don't have a superiority complex?

 

or maybe because those countries dont have the resources or power to have defense so we need to have that much more. im amazed you guys dont complain about the tanks and army trucks and the fact they arent "fuel efficient" but then again you could never see a hybrid do any real work could you?




worlds tiniest :violin:for you guys

 

In another thread, I (and others) have said that because of global competition for the resource, one person's use of as much as they can afford makes it more expensive for everyone. So just letting people who can afford gas at will makes the price even higher for those who can least afford it. I still think just limiting horsepower (excessive) would have the quickest and least painless (as compared to more taxes) intervention.

http://priuschat.com/forums/environmental-discussion/53939-easterbrook-horsepower-weight-ratios.html

 

:grouphug: