“Granted, big cars use more fuel than small cars, but shouldn’t small cars pay less anyway? They impose less wear and tear on the roads after all.”
Nope. It is the trucks that damage the roads.
Which prompts this question: What effect would this insane mileage tax have on our trucking industry?
Exactly. The difference in road wear from a full-sized pickup truck and a Prius is inconsequential. In fact, the owner of the full-sized pickup truck pays far more (on a per-mile basis) in road taxes than any other vehicle class relative to the impact on road wear than any other user. That’s because a truck that gets 18 mpg will use twice as much fuel as a car that gets 36 mpg, but doesn’t cause anywhere close to twice the wear and tear on the system.