This is a common carbrain argument
“I already pay the gas tax”
The problem is that it’s false.
In a recent study, researchers Stefan Gössling, Jessica Kees, and Todd Litman calculated the social costs of driving. They found that the social cost is about 30-40% higher than what car owners are actually paying
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921003943?via=ihub
That cost is paid by non-drivers.
Only because they’ve drastically cleaned up engine emissions and oil/grease leaks. Not to mention removing lead, and then MTBE from gasoline. It’s interesting watching old movies and seeing how black the middle of concrete roads used to be from oil and exhaust soot.
Not to say that tire microplastics aren’t bad, just that it was so much worse before, that they weren’t worth focusing on.
Possibly also the average weight of cars nearly doubling isn’t helping.
To add to your comment : car pollution may be Less Worst™️ by car unit, but if the following graph is true, then having more than doubled the amount of cars on the road since the 1970s means that there is even more pollution now than when we said “hey, seems bad”. (unless the weighted pollution measure has been reduced by more than 66%, which is 🤔)
source : https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/chapter3.cfm
When talking tires particles, I wonder what the changes were when we started using much lighter alloys / metals in the body, and how it rebounded back now that most car sold in North America is Suburban-sized.
Plus there are always new and fun chemicals added to tires