Fully agree with @transenv.bsky.social that this is completely unacceptable.

We must not let the US government impose their sick car culture on us, damaging both people and planet.

Also, if we give in on this, what is then next?

transportenvironment.org/artic… #dktrp #dkgreen #dkpol #eupol

in reply to Gabriel Pettier

@tshirtman Dodge RAM trucks (via the import loophole) are becoming popular in Denmark*. They're in the price-range of midrange electric SUVs. That makes them in range of a very large part of the Danish population.

It seems most(?) are registered as company cars. The tax "burden" to drive it privately is almost an incentive.

*we have one arsehole locally doing the supermarket and schoolrun with a Dodge RAM. She's small and thus the blind zone is most of a parking lot.

@etchedpixels @sorenhave

in reply to Søren Have

@Pepijn @tshirtman in general we should be taxing vehicles on something like volume and fourth power of weight because that reflects road costs, and possibly something like cube of fuel efficiency is needed. The UK is slowly being turned into a maze of low emission zones polluting vehicles pay per day to enter which also seems to help
in reply to The Penguin of Evil

@etchedpixels Agree. I’m working to get that reflected in the hopefully forthcoming road user tax.

concito.dk/en/udgivelser/hvord…

@Pepijn @tshirtman

in reply to Morten Grøftehauge

@Pepijn @tshirtman @etchedpixels With regard to these particular vehicles they could probably become banned across EU if they were found to be unsafe. But I can drive a VW transporter on my regular driver's license (actually took my driver's license in one) so weight is probably not going to be enough of an argument. Maybe blind angles? But then actual trucks have lots of blind angles.
in reply to Morten Grøftehauge

@drgroftehauge A VW transporter, even the older types are much less dangerous for "anyone not the occupant" than these vehicles.

It's a combination of physical design (massive vertical fronts taller than 10yr old children) with a setback driver position (so a blind angle of multiple car lengths) and a lot of little things (chairs not vertically adjustable, less electronic safety systems, solid steel bumpers without real cushioning etc).

@sorenhave @tshirtman @etchedpixels

in reply to Morten Grøftehauge

@drgroftehauge That second situation is what I mean: can the rules be changed so that certain vehicles in DK can't be registered as such. It instantly makes the case for these trucks less interesting for a part of the population.

In NL that situation exists and blocks for example a large van with a little crane (we actually had a colleague who wanted to drive that one privately) from becoming a commercial/private company perk.

@sorenhave @tshirtman @etchedpixels

in reply to The Penguin of Evil

@etchedpixels

The 106.8g/km is btw missing the target for a car which is 95, going down to 93 shortly, then 45 then 0 in 2035


This is the point of the agreement: USA vehicles would be equivalent to EU ones without needing to fulfill EU requirements. Not only a matter of pollution but worse, road safety, hence the article title

@tshirtman @sorenhave

in reply to Pepijn

@Pepijn

This is true but only partly. Especially interesting is comparing USA and Canada, which have similar vehicle fleets, as pointed out by the article below, but in Canada pedestrian deaths are still going down.
The article states that USA still has bigger vehicles than Canada, but better enforcement of road rules plays an important role.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/20…

@royalrex @sorenhave

in reply to Rivoluzione mobilità urbana🚲

@rivoluzioneurbanamobilita That doesn't make it partly true: there IS a direct correlation between increased deaths of pedestrians (specifically children and other small people) and the specific models. Even the US government NHTSA agency reported as such.

Also frustratingly: with the current Us administration deleting stuff the specific pages I had bookmarked I had are all 404 🙁

@royalrex @sorenhave

in reply to Pepijn

Sorry, my bad: I understood you meant it was the only, or main correlation, but after re-reading your message I see what you meant.

Anyway I find the Canadian vs USA case very interesting for this kind of analysis!

Edit:

Also frustratingly: with the current Us administration deleting stuff the specific pages I had bookmarked I had are all 404 🙁


1984 vibes 🫤

@royalrex @sorenhave

This entry was edited (3 months ago)
in reply to Rivoluzione mobilità urbana🚲

@rivoluzioneurbanamobilita No problem. And I noticed the article you link actually makes that connection to certain models of cars as well.

I'm probably somewhat trigger happy on this as the Dutch ANWB (a car manufacturer lobby association cosplaying as a road help foundation) has used this obfuscation playbook for decades to lobby for what in practices leads to larger, heavier and more dangerous (for all but the occupant) cars.

@royalrex @sorenhave