If you live in California and like to drive a bigger vehicle, the chances are you’re already paying for the privilege, and we’re not just referring to the purchase or lease cost. Registration fees for cars and trucks in the state are levied according to the purchase price, which generally means bigger vehicles pay more for registration.
But a new bill introduced last month is proposing an entirely different way of hitting drivers of bigger vehicles in the pocket. It suggests setting registration fees according to the weight of the car, truck, or SUV.
Assembly Bill 251 introduced in January by Christopher M. Ward (Dem, San Diego) wants to launch a study to investigate what effect the weight of a vehicle has on injuries suffered by pedestrians and bicyclists involved in auto accidents.
“We know there are studies suggesting fatality rates can be higher for crashes involving heavier vehicles, especially models weighing several thousand pounds,” Ward said in a statement reported by the L.A. Times. “AB 251 will look further into the relationship between vehicle weight and injuries to help inform policy in the future.”
Related: California Bill Seeks To Make It The First Place On Earth To Ban Chrome Plating
If Ward’s bill is passed the California Transportation Commission would be asked to provide a task force to investigate that relationship, and also to consider whether higher registration fees might change the behavior of drivers. The task force would also look at how any extra cash raised from those higher fees could be used to make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Few people would be surprised if any investigation confirmed that bigger cars resulted in more injuries and fatalities. One earlier study of 82 single-vehicle crashes carried out by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) determined that SUVs were “disproportionately likely to injure pedestrians compared with cars” at intermediate and higher speeds.
Any report arising from the bill’s passing would have to be submitted by January 2026, and even then there’s no guarantee that its findings would automatically lead to bigger vehicles paying higher registration fees. But given that several other states, including New York, New Jersey, Florida, and New Mexico already levy fees according to vehicle weight, it wouldn’t be shocking if California followed suit.
