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Can San Francisco afford gas guzzlers from environmental, health and safety standpoint?
Every time I see a big gas guzzling luxury car or an SUV that is violating a traffic law I find myself muttering: what kind of country do I live in? I have never understood why our society rewards the gas guzzlers more than denizens who do everything to reduce global warming. The price of violating a traffic law is the same irrespective of what car you drive despite the fact that a larger vehicle causes more harm to the immediate society. Pedestrians and bicyclist are at a greater danger of getting injured from a larger vehicle than a small one. Larger vehicles invariably spew more CO2 and NOX in the atmosphere than a small one. So why should the city treat the two vehicles in the same manner? Isn’t that discrimination against those who are doing everything in their powers to be safe on the road and reduce the impact on the environment from their mobility?
For example, a person driving a Hummer or a Yaris will get the same ticket and have the same number of points on the record when turning right at a red light on a no turn on red intersection. Why is that? Shouldn’t the person driving a larger vehicle, occupying more space on the road, causing larger wear and tear on the road, spewing more CO2 in the atmosphere, be charged more for the ticket? It is time for San Francisco to lead the nation in creating a traffic violation system that is just to the environment and has an environmental soul. It is only fair!
Atul Chawla
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