Presumably, the reason for the GPS system in the car is to count only miles driven within the state of Oregon. Otherwise, they could just require you to report your mileage every year when you pay your car’s license and registration. They wouldn’t need the $255 per vehicle gadgetry.
What do you mean by, “You pay even when a person does their best by owning a car that gets 50 miles to the gallon.”
Road taxes are supposed to be for building and maintaining ROADS, not some penalty for driving an inefficient vehicle. Whether your vehicle gets 10mpg or 50mpg is not what determines how much maintenance the roads require. The weight of the vehicle and miles driven mostly determines that. So a 50mpg Prius adds just as much wear-and-tear per mile driven as a vehicle of similar weight that gets only 10mpg, while the 10mpg vehicle is paying FIVE TIMES as much in road taxes. How fair is that ?
The comment about the 50 miles to the gallon car, which we own, is concerning Saving money on taxes for us as well as gas.
Here is a comment from Kitzhaber, our former Governor whom started this “idea”
“I am proposing that we begin to move toward a system where motorists actually pay based on how many miles they drive – not just how much gas they use. I believe this will give people the incentives they need to explore alternatives to driving or to drive in different ways.”
No mention of “only in Oregon” miles.
I am not sure of the GPS being for checking IF you are in
another state. I would bet it is to keep people from fudging by messing with their odometer.
BTW It is my understanding that Oregon has skimmed the money for roads to “pay” for other projects. Now THAT isn’t
fair.
Fair has nothing to do with what car a person chooses to buy. If someone wants a SUV with a 10 mile to gallon gas usage are they not choosing it themselves?