Europe vs. America

[Cedric]

This thread is about automotive freedom; as any died-in-the-wool car fanatic knows, cars are more or less controversial nowadays, something you surely notice in the European legislation when it comes to pollution, safety, road taxes, etc. In Western Europe, fuel is expensive, road taxes are high, in the not so distant future we may have to pay additional taxes for vehicles that pollute etc. Don't get me started on organizing rallies, let alone genuine road races. In brief, cars are a matter of controversy.

What is the situation like in America? Do you guys still have leaded fuel there? What about road taxes? Are speed tickets expensive?
Can car clubs readily organize a road rally?

I have posted this thread to come to a comparison between Europe and America, to get to know what both continents advantages and disadvantages are, to be able to decide where motorists actually have most freedom. So American brethern, enlighten us!

[Matra et Alpine]

In the UK organizing rallies isn't that difficult. Even using the public roads. You must be a recognised motorsport club and member of MSA to run events on public roads and the event must be managed ina a way that you do NOT have to exceed the speed limit to compelte those sections. Once on private land, the biggest issue is public liability, but again the MSA comes to the fore.
In the UK you cannot legally close a public highway for racing, but there are a couple of exceptions. So road races as such are usually on private lands.

Experience in France with Alpine's shows the love they have for fast cars - as long as they're French. Friend was on a tour in his A110 and slowed down goign through a village square when he saw a gendarme. The policeman proceeded to wave his hands a shout vite at the top of his voice to get him to go faster :)

It's not all bad :)

[TheOne]

yeh we use leaded fuel for our dragsters & 105++ octane for race cars(called race fuel:), mostly sold at drag strips).
we use unleaded fuel for normal cars though. we do get road taxes and speeding tickets are expensive, there are car clubs around........we have to get our cars checked every year to pass state inspection(which includes checkin engine to see how much emissions are they doin and the normal safety stuff)
there are some states which are strict with the emissions like california(bunch of nazi inspectors,lol, they see ya got a modified car and give ya a ticket), but then there are other states like florida which only check safety i think.

[Cedric]

ok, how much road tax do you pay and on what is it based? How much would a speeding ticket be more or less? What body organizes the inspection, is it a government body or private? We've all heard about California's clean air laws, and someone told me it's far-out really! Are there states where car fanatics can really knock theirselves out (I guess CA is not an option anymore)?

[NAZCA C2]

Leaded fuel went the way of the Dodo bird back in the seventies. Thats one reason why cars in the 80's did'nt have a lot of power. The only place you'll find leaded gas in the US is at a racetrack.

I don't know what you mean by road taxes. All I can say is that everything in the US is taxed, taxed, and taxed again. Fuel is taxed to fix roads, cars are taxed, taxed again if they don't get good fuel consumption, and taxed once more if they are luxury cars. Taxes vary a lot depending on where you live. In some area you need to have your car inspected to make sure it's roadworthy (this is just a BS way for the govt to make more $$$). Some areas have emissions tests that also cost $$$. But get this, where I live everybody's car needs to pass emissions test but towns 2 miles away don't have to undergo these tests. There is no logic to this. Its like saying the air in this town is bad but the air 2 miles away isn't. Don't mind the fact that people who don't live in this town drive their cars through here every day.

Speeding tickets are vary widely from city to city and state to state. Police can use their discretion when issuing tickets. If you were doing 80mph and get stopped by a nice cop the cop might say that you were doing 70mph and cut you a break.

[Cedric]

Although your fuel is taxed it's still cheap compared to Europe, and on what basis are the cars taxed? Engine, type of car? What level of CO-percentage has to be crossed to be 'disqualified'?