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Proposed Government Driving Restrictions!



Attention Motorists!

Big Brother is about to tell you what you can drive, how far, and most
important, how much more you’ll have to pay for it!

Did you know that your taxes are paying for a Presidential advisory
committee that is trying to force Americans into smaller cars and to drive
them less.  Even though fewer than two percent of the public buys
high-mileage sub-compacts and most people rely on a motor vehicle for a
variety of reasons, your government wants to change that.  

The Greenhouse Gas Car Dialogue Advisory Committee (known as “Car Talks”)
is due to deliver policy options to the President in late September, but
you have an opportunity now to let your government know what you think of
these policies before the package is put into final form.  Here are some
examples of the policies this committee is considering:

•	Road Use Pricing:  New taxes on motorists and businesses based on
how much they use public streets and highways.

•	Congestion Pricing: additional taxes for use of highways during
peak rush-hours.

•	VMT-Based Registration Fees: registration fees based on Vehicle
Miles Traveled -- how much a particular vehicle is driven.  (The more you
drive, the higher the fee.)

•	Parking Charges: Requiring employers , merchants and other
business owners to charge market prices for all parking they provide.  (No
more free parking at McDonald’s or the supermarket.)

•	Increase CAFE Standards: Raise government fuel economy
requirements for passenger cars to 45 mile per gallon and 34 mpg for
pickups, vans, minivans and sport utility vehicles.  Absent any technology
breakthroughs, the government would be forcing consumers into much
smaller, less safe vehicles with reduced performance.  Most models would
have to come without popular options such as air conditioning and
four-wheel drive.

•	Gas Guzzler “Feebates”:  The government already imposes gas
guzzler taxes on cars with ratings below 22.5 mpg (as high as $7,700 per
car).  The “Feebate Gas Guzzler” scheme would extend those taxes to
popular mid-size vehicles (up to 28 mpg), and then use that money to
subsidize consumers who buy smaller high-mileage cars.  Many popular
models such as the Dodge Intrepid, Ford Taurus, Chevy Lumina and even
entire car lines like Volvo and Audi would be subject to these new gas
guzzler taxes.

•	Higher Gas Taxes: no explanation necessary.

•	Employer Trip Reduction Programs:  Requirement for businesses to
get more of their employees to car pool and or use mass transit.  This is
the same scheme contained in the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act that
has already been widely rejected by affected metropolitan areas and has
led EPA to back off on enforcing the rule.

•	Mortgage Rate Disincentives:  The further you live from downtown,
the higher your mortgage interest rate.

All of the above policy options are designed to get consumers into
smaller, less safe vehicles and to use them less than they otherwise
would.  One irony is that two highly visible icons of “consumer advocacy”
-- Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen and Clarence Ditlow of the Center for
Auto Safety -- are members of this committee, and have been pushing for
adoption of these anti-motorist policies just as much as the environmental
extremists.  Because they support these anti-consumer policies one should
question who they really represent...certainly not most consumers.  The
next time the media refers to them as “consumer advocates,” you’ll know
better.

One of the most devastating policies in this group is the least understood
by the general public: Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. 
CAFE standards were originally enacted to reduce reliance on foreign oil
and save consumers money.  However, history has proven they have done
neither and in fact have cost society dearly.  Government and private
studies show that the vehicle downsizing to improve fuel economy since the
mid-1970’s results in thousands of highway deaths and serious injuries
every year.  The Harvard Injury Control Center concluded that if CAFE
standards were raised to 40 mpg the result would be an additional 1650
deaths and 8500 serious injuries annually.

To voice your opinion against such policies, you can post a message to the
“Car Talks” section of the Environmental Protection Agency’s TTN BBS at
(919) 541-5742.  You can also Telnet directly at:  ttnbbs.rtpnc.epa.gov

You’ll be prompted to register (at no charge) and then proceed as follows:
-At TTN Main Menu choose “T” for TTN Technical Information Areas
-At TTN Tech Info Areas choose “S” for Greenhouse Gas Car Dialogue
-At Greenhouse Gas Main Menu choose “F” for Car Dialogue Public Messages

If you have any questions regarding this issue please send e-mail to the
Coalition for Vehicle Choice at cvc@his.com or CVC411@aol.com.  The
Coalition for Vehicle Choice represents nearly 5,500 automotive,
insurance, consumer, farm, recreation, construction, safety, senior, law
enforcement, and other groups working to preserve Americans' access to
safe and affordable cars and light trucks capable of meeting diverse
personal and professional mobility needs.