Is relying on personal cars for transportation really necessary?

[Townsend]

So should we ban volvos as well? Semis? Buses?

No, I never said we need to ban them... I just don't like there being so many of them on the road as there currently are. Perhaps a more difficult licensing procedure for vehicles that weigh over a certain poundage would be sufficient to keep the morons from driving them and higher gas prices should make their numbers dwindle.

 

[mattmns]

I think we should. I am all for full blast communism of the transportation system, but then again, I am also crazy.

 

[Townsend]

No, he means they're only safer to the person inside them, not to the people they hit. They cause a lot more damage to the other cars because of their size, and when you combine that with a moron behind the wheel, they're a hazard to everyone else.

That is exactly what I mean...thanks Moonbear for clarifying that.

 

[Moonbear]

So should we ban volvos as well? Semis? Buses?

Volvos are no bigger than the other cars and wouldn't cause more damage to the other cars than any other car. Why would that be even remotely similar? If you hadn't noticed, semis and buses require special licenses. Not just anyone can hop in and drive one. Perhaps the same should be done for SUVs, make sure people who are driving them know how to handle them, how to use mirrors properly, to leave longer stopping distances, to walk around the vehicle before backing up to be sure there are no children behind them, etc.

 

[Skyhunter]

No, I never said we need to ban them... I just don't like there being so many of them on the road as there currently are. Perhaps a more difficult licensing procedure for vehicles that weigh over a certain poundage would be sufficient to keep the morons from driving them and higher gas prices should make their numbers dwindle.

I would be satisfied if they would simply do away with the huge tax incentive to own one. It is so easy to write off an SUV, the majority of the people I know who own one took advantage of this write off.

Here is a post I made on another blog site responding to another blogger. He made the assertion that democrats had no ideas and during his rant he mentioned he owned his own business and drove an SUV. (He never responded to my post, just went on another rant.)

I suppose you drive an SUV because of the huge tax break (increased from $25,000 to $100,000 thousand by the Republican congress, Bush only asked for an increase to $75,000) you received since you own your own business.

How many H2's do you think GM would sell if the buyer couldn't write off $60,000 the first year?

It is now about 60k after Senate Democrats tried to close the loophole. They rolled it back to $25,000, plus 30% of the price above $25,000, plus regular depreciation. Barbara Boxer (democrat) wanted to classify SUV's over 6000lbs as cars, (idea) effectively closing the loophole.

I am a self employed carpenter. I need a truck, not a glorified station-wagon. Yet a real estate agent can get a better tax break for an H2 that I can get for a pickup truck. For me the pickup is an essential piece of equipment that I us everyday, almost exclusively for my business. The realtor on the other hand has to stretch the truth to justify the use in their business.

Do they really need a Hummer to sell a house?

 

[mrjeffy321]

Yet a real estate agent can get a better tax break for an H2 that I can get for a pickup truck. For me the pickup is an essential piece of equipment that I us everyday, almost exclusively for my business. The realtor on the other hand has to stretch the truth to justify the use in their business.
Do they really need a Hummer to sell a house?

Actually, the other day, a real estate agent came up to my door asking permision to put up a sign in our yard and she gave me her card, on the car was her picture next to a GIGANTIC yellow hummer that took up almost the whole card, I thought that was rather humorous considering she is trying to sell houses, not cars.

I think we should. I am all for full blast communism of the transportation system, but then again, I am also crazy.

Full Blast Communism [of the transportation system], Sounds good comrade.

You know, people [my age] think I am crazy, they say to me,
"mrjeffy321 [not really, they use my real name], why the heck don’t you have a drivers license?", seeing how it is a very common thing here in the US, and Texas for the kid to get a drivers license as soon as possible (16 years old), but here I am 18 with no plans to start learning any time soon.
But think of all the money I have saved (gas, insurance, cost of a car and then wear and tear on the car, all associated fees that go along with driving, ...), and not to mention the pollution that I have not contributed towards, it makes perfect sense to me to ride my bicycle everywhere I go.
Of course this cannot go on forever, it looks very unprofessional to pull up on the first day of a new job with a brief case hanging off the handle bar of a bicycle, panting, out of breath after just going 10 miles along the highway.

But from what I hear of people in Europe (which isn’t much), mass transportation is much, much more commonly used than in the US, and having to drive places yourself (as opposed to walking, or other means) isn’t nearly as common.