@LovesTha @CableMonster @DriftinGrifter So let’s sum this up then.

Modern pickup trucks are substantially larger and heavier than their '90s counterparts, with a smaller cab.

That means they weigh far more, are far bigger, and yet carry less than the vehicles that did the same job 30 years ago.

At least in Australia, they are directly subsidised by the federal tax system. Federal and state taxes pay for main roads.

And they’re giant economic externality machines.

On local streets, which are funded by local councils, they cause additional road damage that is cross-subsidised by local councils.

They generate externalised costs from higher emissions, in the term of more frequent and severe bushfires, floods, droughts, and hurricanes.

They generate externalities in terms of pedestrian injuries and deaths that are subsidised by the healthcare system.

They generate higher health costs from air pollution. Again, these costs are cross subsidised.

That’s without even getting into the massive subsidies at play with car-dependent suburban sprawl.

Or how modern pickup trucks are a massively inefficient use of road space.

Or how businesses are forced to cross-subsidise car ownership by needing to have large parking lots for motorists.

So yeah, it’s probably not unreasonable to ask you to pay your fair share for some of those costs.

(3/3)