Quote:
Originally Posted by kannibul
Ok, lets play that...figure a car lasts 200K, average driving of 15K/yr (13.33yrs) 22MPG (9090.90 gallons of fuel), and fuel is an average of $3.00/gallon. Over the life of the car that's $27,272.7 in fuel costs. According to Wikipedia, the fuel has 45.6% tax rate, which is $12436.35 in tax paid over the life of the vehicle, not including TT&L (in my case $1400), and tag renewals (another $1140 over 12yrs)
So, that brings the total to just under 15K. I paid $37.4K for my Z. That's 40.1%
Now, take my truck, with the same numbers...
I paid $24000 (roughly), TTL was $900. Tag renewals will be the same. It gets 18MPG on a good day with a bit of a tail wind.
$15200 tax paid on fuel, $2040 on TT&L + renewals = $17240 paid tax = 71.8% tax rate for my truck.
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42% increase in taxes last May on cigs was just the increase, not the total tax. And I don't think 200k is the average lifespan of a car, among other things wrong with the math here. But let's just say for argument's sake that the numbers are equal. All that says to me is don't raise the tax on cigs again.
Heck, you still get to drive your two ton machine of death anywhere you please. The same can't be said for smoking. Maybe I should pay less taxes...I mean, it's only fair. Your driving habit costs a heck of a lot more per year as my smoking habit...if you're truly worried about the costs.
Car Crash Stats: There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005.
The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes.
Smoking Deaths Cost U.S. $92 Billion a Year
Total costs, including health care, more than $167 billion yearly
The new lost productivity estimate when combined with smoking-related health care costs, which was reported at $75.5 billion in 1998, exceeds $167 billion per year in the United States.
Not that I would stake my life on any of this data being anywhere near accurate, but you get the point.