[CapricornNoble]

Many good points in your post. I'm a car enthusiast and I agree with almost everything you've stated.....because I live in Japan, and have seen how a country can integrate a variety of transportation mediums, balancing the freedoms of car ownership with fairly strict training, enforcement, and just cultural habits that largely reduce fatalities. Automotive taxes in Japan are pretty much the only form of taxation that I'm comfortable paying, and feel like I genuinely get my money's worth for what it costs me (Japanese healthcare is a distant second but deserves a mention).