How likely an urban ban / Fat-SUV tax? (see linked piece)

[Krill]

In fairness to the driver, I understand she had an epileptic fit and was unconscious at the time of the ‘crash’.

Don’t know any details or have seen official confirmation of this.

How heavy’s a Tesla ?

Yeah, this looked like a seizure, but I haven't seen any confirmation of it. Have you seen anything published anywhere about it?

There are a lot of rules around what an individual with epilepsy can or can't do, and the control around getting a driving license is immense, it's really difficult to get the license back if the epilepsy is diagnosed, so I wonder if thiswas the first such seizure, or if it was a none epileptic seizure (but then if a person was, say, withdrawing from alochol, they would have been charged by now).

All this to say it wouldn't really matter what vehicle she was driving if this is what happed, or fuel it used.

[Bugtownboy]

It was part of the reporting of the accident on several ‘reputable’ news outlets.

No detail of previous med history, understandably, ot any real details of what was an absolutely tragic incident.

[Mr Gus]

My blackouts, dizziness etc was why I voluntarily gave up my license & many job opportunities, too much of a gamble, although my came with immense skull / brain pain pressure prior to going down, likely no way I could have lived with dishing out "life changing / life taking" vehicle related *accidents*

How "tragic" is it if you KNOW you are possibly prone / happened before & how liable you may be is a heavy load to carry if it go's pear shaped.

[Bugtownboy]

Think we should wait for the official report Gus.

The loss of life and circumstances were tragic.

If there was any prior history, the tragedy was, presumably, avoidable.

[Swwils]

Japanese roads are considerably better quality.

[Mr Gus]

Think we should wait for the official report Gus.

The loss of life and circumstances were tragic.

If there was any prior history, the tragedy was, presumably, avoidable.

i'm being hypothetical towards her btb, definitely not accusatory.
However to reiterate with more clarity, if it had been me, knowingly, I'd have likely offed myself from the burden of guilt, ..the thought of causing similar it kept me off the roads for over 30 years as is.

Whilst I have oft placed little value on my life (brain injuries often do that & can make you a tad reckless & indeed I was) the only trail of harmful chaos should be at cost to oneself.

Likely she is a mother of a.child at that school, so having to face people she "knows" there is likely to cause mentally unbalancing self-stigmatisation & pressure on herself & family, ..bad state of affairs.

[Mr Gus]

Getting back to topic..

Here is a piece from Connexion (french reporting in english)
https://www.connexionfrance.com/article ... g-vehicles

https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20201015-g ... -pollution

Brief summary..

A concerned group initially wanted it to apply to anything over 1400 kg.

France chose to start at 1800kg (this pretty much excludes the majority of current french manufacturers models.

An exemption is being made to Hybrid (annoyed to think the landcruiser would be exempt) & BEVs

Those with large families (7 seater types) will be exempt, (presumably you have to prove it is the main vehicle via registered occupants or something involving the mayor of your region)

WWF is stating 200kg of extra weight amounts to 20% extra pollution (weighing in on this or cherry picked from elsewhere, I know not)

From Connexion..
"The International Transport Forum say the average weight of a car is 1.4 tonnes (up from 1 tonne in 1970), meaning currently the tax only hits a small number of vehicles, such as particularly heavy SUVs.

The current tax - introduced in 2022 - only applies to cars first registered after that date (either in France or abroad).

Heavier cars from before this date are exempt from the tax, which is a one-off payment made when the car is first registered.

Although the €10 per additional kilogram penalty can quickly add up, the maximum amount of ‘ecological tax’ paid on new vehicles (including taxes based on excess CO² production and in some instances vehicle power) cannot exceed €50,000"

So cars that genuinely shunt larger families around, & already in service for the likes of Stinsy? would be exempt ..unless he was referring to the volvo being able to do that periodically not frequently as an occasional example?

I have said this too many times before, but (here we go again) in part good design makes space & comfort, ..our old a-class merc was a tardis on the inside as a small 5 maximum occupants seater car, ..the rear seats came out leaving a superb load space for other events & packed as much as we would in our guzzler previa.

Too many "bloater" vehicles & pretend SUV's amongst them, the nissan that appears massive on the outside but tiny inside being one that I saw lots of over lockdown era & pondered why it sold / leased with such apparent popularity?

[Stinsy]

Getting back to topic..

Here is a piece from Connexion (french reporting in english)
https://www.connexionfrance.com/article ... g-vehicles

https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20201015-g ... -pollution

Brief summary..

A concerned group initially wanted it to apply to anything over 1400 kg.

France chose to start at 1800kg (this pretty much excludes the majority of current french manufacturers models.

An exemption is being made to Hybrid (annoyed to think the landcruiser would be exempt) & BEVs

Those with large families (7 seater types) will be exempt, (presumably you have to prove it is the main vehicle via registered occupants or something involving the mayor of your region)

WWF is stating 200kg of extra weight amounts to 20% extra pollution (weighing in on this or cherry picked from elsewhere, I know not)

From Connexion..
"The International Transport Forum say the average weight of a car is 1.4 tonnes (up from 1 tonne in 1970), meaning currently the tax only hits a small number of vehicles, such as particularly heavy SUVs.

The current tax - introduced in 2022 - only applies to cars first registered after that date (either in France or abroad).

Heavier cars from before this date are exempt from the tax, which is a one-off payment made when the car is first registered.

Although the €10 per additional kilogram penalty can quickly add up, the maximum amount of ‘ecological tax’ paid on new vehicles (including taxes based on excess CO² production and in some instances vehicle power) cannot exceed €50,000"

So cars that genuinely shunt larger families around, & already in service for the likes of Stinsy? would be exempt ..unless he was referring to the volvo being able to do that periodically not frequently as an occasional example?

I have said this too many times before, but (here we go again) in part good design makes space & comfort, ..our old a-class merc was a tardis on the inside as a small 5 maximum occupants seater car, ..the rear seats came out leaving a superb load space for other events & packed as much as we would in our guzzler previa.

Too many "bloater" vehicles & pretend SUV's amongst them, the nissan that appears massive on the outside but tiny inside being one that I saw lots of over lockdown era & pondered why it sold / leased with such apparent popularity?

All that sounds astonishingly complicated to me!

We used to have a big 4x4 (an XC90 PHEV) and while it isn't really my style it was great for transporting the kids and their grandparents. Now when we undertake the same journeys we take two cars.

Camping holidays too require a big vehicle and I’m confident that running a bigger vehicle all year is better than flying to Spain!

[richbee]

The European Transport Safety Council called the wimbledon school crash a “terrible and avoidable tragedy” and wants a ban on SUVs in towns and cities in a bid to cut cyclist and pedestrian fatalities.

So is there a well documented link between SUVs and pedestrian / cyclist deaths???
Sounds to me like they are getting mixed up with weight / pollution / emissions and safety. Higher up driving positions tend to give better visibility (although maybe worse for people around in low slung vehicles)

[Mr Gus]

Rich,

Probably took the short route around the bigger problem of those you mentioned for the sake of time (wherever he was when he said it, y'know, modern attention spans innit!?

Higher up doesn't necessarily mean more aware, nor able though now does it? (the bigger vehicle push through tactic being very prominent sadly, even when it is our right of way)