[derdlick]

So regulations on small cars forced people to buy larger vehicles, and their solution is even more regulations, just this time on larger vehicles? How about just relax regulations on the smallest vehicles, making them more feasible?

[theGnuMe]

No the regulations did not cause people to buy trucks/suvs. It exempted them from fuel efficiency requirements. People want to drive tanks but if we make tanks expensive they won’t. I’m not sure though if it’ll work since the average truck/suv is 50k with many close to 80k.

What they need to do is increase visibility requirements and make the trucks safer for pedestrians.

[dsfyu404ed]

Whether the regulation gives +1 to category A or -1 to category B the net result is the same. The reduced relative compliance burden on category A makes the end result have more bang for its buck than category B.

You can see this in all sorts of corners of the economy where goods subject to different levels of regulation compete.

[AlecSchueler]

Surely those regulations still serve a purpose?

[hospitalhusband]

> The more hegemonic the system, the more the imagination is struck by the smallest of its reversals. The challenge, even infini­tesimal, is the image of a chain failure.

Seriously though, the purpose of those regulations is to prevent upstarts from making simple, cheap, reliable vehicles and to protect the incumbents. Gotta have a big bank account and a lot of lawyers to redesign and crash test a handful of vehicles every few years.

Modern hybrids still don't match (or barely match) the gas mileage of old, small, lightweight cars despite being substantially more complex, less recyclable, less repairable, and using substantially more (and more exotic) materials in production.

Ouroboros regulations only exist to justify their own continued existence. Cars get bigger? More regulations on smaller (less safe) cars, making cars bigger. Rinse and repeat.

[theGnuMe]

1980 and 2021 civic get basically the same mpg.

[Tagbert]

That is a big win for the much larger, safer, and more luxurious 2021 Civic. The 1980 one was tiny and not something you wanted to be in in a crash.

Also, the EPA ratings have changed between now and then getting stricter and closer to actual mileage. That 1980 vehicle would get much lower mileage ratings now than it did then.

[frumper]

It's also probably a huge win on the pollution front as well. Emissions controls are much tighter now.

[dsfyu404ed]

What MPG does a 2021 sedan vehicle that compares in weight and frontal area to a 1980 civic get?