Ever wonder why people throw empty beer bottles out the window – rather than just throw them in the trash when they get home? Could any of it have to do with fear of being found in possession of an “open container” – and of the severe penalties that one would face in that event, even if one isn’t close to being legally “drunk” by the state’s own arbitrary standards (i.e., BAC level)?
I think so, yes.
Actions – including the state’s best-intentioned ones (giving them the benefit of the doubt) have consequences, not all of them foreseen and some of them contrary to what was (we assume) intended.
Revenue from motor fuels excise taxes – collected at the pump – are down because the government has been egging on the mass production of hybrid and electric cars, which use less gas. The more such vehicles there are on the
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road, the less tax revenue will be collected via motor fuels taxes. This, in turn, has led to talk of “drive-by-mile” taxing schemes, as a replacement for the taxes collected as a percentage of each gallon of gas we purchase.
What unintended consequences will “drive by mile” give birth to?
Cars are “safer” today – in terms of their structural ability to protect occupants in the event of a crash – than they have ever been. But visibility from within is probably the worst it has ever been – due to the physical structure necessary to fortify the car, such as massive roof pillars, raised in the-air rear ends and tall doors – making it harder to see what’s going on around you, which makes it more likely that a crash will happen.
This was probably not intended – and perhaps could not have been foreseen.
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It happened, regardless.
Volkswagen – and Audi and Porsche, which are part of the VW family – are being crucified over admitted-to “cheating” on government emissions tests. The tests are so strict that complying with them has had the effect – generally, this is not just a VW diesel issue – of making diesel engines less economical to buy and to operate than they probably would otherwise be. This, in turn, has made it harder for a car company like VW – which to a great extent relies on the value of its cars relative to rivals as the primary driver of sales – to sell its diesel-powered cars. So – in order to keep them price (and fuel-efficiency) competitive, VW “cheated.”
The cars involved – by dint of using less fuel overall – probably emit less of the at-issue emissions overall. By “fixing” them, the government may have triggered another unintended consequence: More aggregate emissions – even if the individual cars are “cleaner,” according to the government’s tests.
