Overhauling automotive oversight by government

[john70t]

Every time I think of existing bureaucracy my head explodes a little bit. The existing logical chains and stated goals just don't make sense.
The common themes are:

Emissions
Does it really make sense that Californians have to endure the terror of enhanced smog testing and micro-management of every part on their fully owned work vehicle every two years? A modified vehicle can be squeeky clean yet still not pass Cali smog. And when that stinky old car doesn't pass smog and can't be registered, it is sold a few miles across the border in Nevada.
Nothing to the environment has actually changed.
It's only covered up and shifted elsewhere.

Meanwhile, almost every product we consume is made and shipped across the ocean from China:How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world | Daily Mail Online

Safety
Any oversight is purely for the benefit of the private insurance industry. The US government doesn't fix cars for free but they sure regulate the heck out of them. A bit like 'taxation without representation'.

There are a lot of idiots out there. But instead of exponential penalties for bad driving there are engineering mandates on manufacturers to accommodate these bad drivers. "Let them keep their wide screen on the dash and their telephones but make them use traction control and tailgating radar." It's only enabling more bad habits.

Crash testing standards keep fuel-efficient cars like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car and 313 mpg Volkswagen XL1 Banned In USA out of the domestic market, when they would be perfectly safe in the inner cities. The DOE pulled the rug from underneath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptera_Motors because it had one less wheel. We are talking about real world 200mpg+ results the government is not interested in.

Crash testing standards also keep small independent manufactures from legally selling their vehicles and competing on the open market. Software like BeamNG.drive | BeamNG could replace the mandatory prototype destruction of today.

SUVs are registered as work vehicle trucks and subsidized. The government allows 16yos to drive this thing: World’s Largest Pickup Truck spawns an entire family
They should charge all registration and insurance according to weight.
The heavier a vehicle is, the more wear and damage it creates to the objects around it.
Those are the indicators of true cost. So why not make true costs truthful.

CAFE mpg fuel standards
The government says it wants businesses to become more efficient, but there are few incentives to lower .cd and weight in autos.
Just about every new model is bigger and heavier than the year before.

Again, they should charge registration and insurance according to weight.
But whenever that subject arises, they go straight into mandatory GPS tracking systems to "pay fair share". It's anti-incentive to fuel economy. It's a lie.

The government invests('stimulates') in outrageous solar schemes and single luxury EV companies, while it should be investing in technology that is cross-platform to all engineering endeavors such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin-film_solar_cell for EV's, forklifts, homes, and all consumer products.
Really, it is working against progress and efficiency and the future.

Fuel and Road taxes
The first is based on actual consumption, but the second is highly subsidized but understandably so. If the trucking industry was made to pay for actual damage costs most companies would go out of business overnight. It's a game of states paying all taxes to the federal general fund and the feds allocating those funds back if they are still available.

Diesel vs home heating oil. Same thing except added dye. Same emissions. Different taxes.
Why not let the private sector decide?
If diesel becomes more expensive for heating homes, then turbines and solar will replace it. Same with autos.
Instead of federal incentives changing the game every couple of years, let the people make their own decisions.

[john70t]

(mods: please move as this is borderline parfy)

[Willem Fick]

I don't think it is all that parfy at all. It is not a situation unique to California or the US either, and closely mimicked in Europe. Should (could) lead to a nice discussion actually...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Excellent article. Unfortunately we do not have coherent "master plan" driven legislative policies - most legislative action is in the form of one-off actions and often stems from a knee-jerk response to a specific event or situation.

"Let the markets decide"?!?! Oh you silly goose... What a quaint, archaic notion. Everyone knows that Big Brother knows what's best for you! (Sarcasm should be self-evident...)

In CA a few years ago a friend of mine ran his highly-tuned, race-prepped 951 through the tailpipe sniffer as part of the required "smog check". It not only passed but passed with NOx, CO and HC numbers exceeding the requirements for brand-new cars of that year (new cars are exempted to help drum up sales and help with tax numbers but the emissions requirements are available to download for any given year as they get established...). He was failed on "visual inspection" because the car had no catalytic converter - this requiring hours of his time and hundreds of dollars in fees to the state and to a referee station. At the end of the day what matters is what's coming out of your tailpipe (or not coming out, as the case may be...) How you accomplish it should be left up to you, yet Big Brother mandates that it be done their way and only their way. Asking the simple "why?" question leads one to stumble onto a much bigger reality - that most environmental policy is about control and money - not about what's actually good for the environment, something the article above touches upon.

[wildthing]

Follow the money. Who lobbies for these? And who funds the lobbyists?

[fintstone]

All are examples of government responding to the wants of the electorate. Unfortunately, there are no protections for minority opinions.

If you don't like these policies, elect different officials who promise to dismantle or at least reduce them...and hold them to their promises. Elections should not be popularity contests.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by fintstone

All are examples of government responding to the wants of the electorate.

No

[sammyg2]

Some folks just know:

They know what everyone else should do.
They know what everyone else should not do.
They know what everyone else should have.
They know what everyone else shouldn't have.
They know what is good for everyone else.
They know how other people's money should be spent.

They are so smart.
They hate the idea of personal freedom because they know most people are not smart enough to make good decisions so they should not be allowed to have the freedom to choose.

It should be up to the GUBMINT to decide!

So we end up with these really smart people in gubmint telling us how to live our lives.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Tobra

No

Of course they are. Take the emissions standards in CA. It is not coincidence that the standards are not the same in Texas. Similarly, there is no emissions testing in my county, but there are in others nearby.

You get the government you elect. Vote wisely.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Some folks just know:

They know what everyone else should do.
They know what everyone else should not do.
They know what everyone else should have.
They know what everyone else shouldn't have.
They know what is good for everyone else.
They know how other people's money should be spent.

They are so smart.
They hate the idea of personal freedom because they know most people are not smart enough to make good decisions so they should not be allowed to have the freedom to choose.

It should be up to the GUBMINT to decide!

So we end up with these really smart people in gubmint telling us how to live our lives.

Bingo! Makes me glad I'm an old fart. Soon enough, I'll be saying; "So long, kids...good luck to you."

[DanielDudley]

What if I told you that Germany was planning on phasing out gasoline powered vehicles by 2030.

And that is a fact. Germany’s Bundesrat votes to ban the internal combustion engine by 2030 | Ars Technica

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Some folks just know:

They know what everyone else should do.
They know what everyone else should not do.
They know what everyone else should have.
They know what everyone else shouldn't have.
They know what is good for everyone else.
They know how other people's money should be spent.

They are so smart.
They hate the idea of personal freedom because they know most people are not smart enough to make good decisions so they should not be allowed to have the freedom to choose.

It should be up to the GUBMINT to decide!

So we end up with these really smart people in gubmint telling us how to live our lives.

You did OK. And you don't have the serious air pollution problems in CA like they had in the late 60s. And remember when that river caught fire. And Love Canal ?

Ah, the good old days.

[mattdavis11]

From what I hear, Texas is about to dump inspection and emissions testing. It has the backing of law enforcement, so that's a plus. Since the Supreme Court decision on O'bummer Care, the feds can't withhold funding due to non participation in federal programs. Non-attainment is but one program the feds require us to adhere to.

[jcommin]

Apparently none of you have been to China. This is a clear day.



A not so clear morning



It cleared up as the sun rose




I probably have photos of their sewer systems in the small cities showing human waste going down ordinary sewers.


There is a balance in every day life.

[Jrboulder]

When an industry doesn't bother cleaning up their act for long enough the government gets involved and they never do a very good job. It's a pretty good incentive for not being a scumbag industry from the start.

The auto industry had 70+ years to get their **** together and they were still building the same dangerous and polluting garbage that the free market wanted. It literally took an act of congress to get manufacturers to even make seat belts standard equipment.