Weight-based vehicle fee coming to your driveway

[PVCsnorkel]

careful with that...you get caught and it's stupid money. decades ago, a coworkers wife got a $1500 ticket for still having texas plates and licenses while living in colorady.

Legally speaking, it's my Dad's and he lives in NJ, so I'm "just borrowing it".

The following commentary should not be taken seriously:

"Given that dataset, I think I'd be more worried about the 34% of fatalities coming from drivers<65. We should impose more taxes.

I see more traffic issues and dangerous driving by Seniors every week than any other group. If they want to make the roads safer they should make everyone over 70 retake their driving test every 2 years. All drivers should have to retake the driving test every 5 years anyway.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I see more traffic issues and dangerous driving by Seniors every week than any other group. If they want to make the roads safer they should make everyone over 70 retake their driving test every 2 years. All drivers should have to retake the driving test every 5 years anyway.

Stereotyping such a thing is no different than the straw man argument that bigger vehicles mean more pedestrian accidents. It's probably accurate to say your eyesight and reaction time dull with age but it could easily be true that 50 years of experience offsets it in the end result.

The bottom line from my thousand foot perch of perfection is that there's enough lousy drivers in all demographics that could justify requiring periodic retesting across the board.

Although I will stereotype and say that automatics and especially driver aids allow people to focus less on driving. When everyone had to row their own gears and A/C was a luxury (windows down so you could hear fire trucks, this is a pet peeve) we all by necessity were more connected with the driving experience.

 

[BritKLR]

Want a roadside incident that you have to "de-escalate"?

Issue a 90 + year old mountain driver a DR2536/ Re-examination order and summons after they drive down the street side swiping half dozen cars with their Subaru......and dog(s). Needless to say they get a little upset.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Want a roadside incident that you have to "de-escalate"?

Issue a 90 + year old mountain driver a DR2536/ Re-examination order and summons after they drive down the street side swiping half dozen cars with their Subaru......and dog(s). Needless to say they get a little upset.

I'd be interested in your perspective as I'm sure you've seen a ton of situations. Could an argument be made that any driver who's in an accident may be eligible for this? I mean, yeah, sometimes accidents are just accidents but a lot of crashes are due to something and that's more often than not a human fault.

 

[RayRay27]

Some questions for the folks on the thread:

1. I wonder if these pedestrian accident stats take into account people trying to cross I-25 and I-70 on foot in the middle of the night and get clipped?
2. Would this be considered a new tax and if so, does it need to be voted on by the people of Colorado or affected areas to become law? or is this one of those sneaky bridge taxes that gets added to your vehicle registration each year.

One of the biggest issues I have with this, other then it just being a government cash grab, is that two of the four vehicles that I own have some of the highest vehicle safety ratings but yet I will be penalized for a situation that I have not been involved in and based on the statistics that folks on here have provided will not be involved in.

2019 Toyota Highlander 4-door SUV

2019 Toyota Highlander 4-door SUV - midsize SUV

www.iihs.org

2023 Toyota Tundra Crew cab pickup

2023 Toyota Tundra Crew cab pickup - large pickup

www.iihs.org

 

[MountainGoat]

The proposal is a "fee" (aka new tax bypassing approval by voters). It is about money, not safety, as we all know.

 

[Lastresort576]

Legally speaking, it's my Dad's and he lives in NJ, so I'm "just borrowing it".

I see more traffic issues and dangerous driving by Seniors every week than any other group. If they want to make the roads safer they should make everyone over 70 retake their driving test every 2 years. All drivers should have to retake the driving test every 5 years anyway.

did you know that if someone rats you out for being garaged in the state for over 30 days I believe it to be, they can require you to get a dual registration. I think the only exemption to this is contract work and or being a student. Its legal because your vehicle spends more time on CO roads vs. the states roads that your registered in. They want a piece of the pie to 'maintain' their roads.

 

[BritKLR]

I'd be interested in your perspective as I'm sure you've seen a ton of situations. Could an argument be made that any driver who's in an accident may be eligible for this? I mean, yeah, sometimes accidents are just accidents but a lot of crashes are due to something and that's more often than not a human fault.

Generally speaking, not really. While a majority of crashes can be shown to be someones (human) fault it doesn't mean they have a "physical and/or mental" impairment (that the Officer must be able to document and articulate, if necessary) that may have caused the crash or be a hazard on the road.
Most of the re-examination orders/summons I've been involved in, heard of, learned of (in-service training, etc...) were a result of family members being worried about an elderly parent or family member, Officers observing or learning of bad driving behavior (driving the wrong way on I-70 or responding to a crash scene where a physically and/or mentally impaired party was involved (got to be careful at a crash scene due to observed behavior maybe a result of injury so further investigation would be necessary, etc.....)

 

[Heckraiser]

Vehicle weight and pedestrian safety have very little to do with eachother. It's just another aimless money grab. Pedestrian fatality is pretty much linked to the speed of the vehicle. No other stat is relevant enough to make an impact. Traffic accidents are going up because literally everyone is on their phone scrolling some app. I even see grey haired grandmas on their phone while driving.

Don't forget the pedestrians on their phone as well!