In recent decades, the size of cars in America has ballooned. These oversized cars increase risks for everyone else on the road, a negative externality similar to secondhand smoke. At Vox, David Zipper suggests that the anti-tobacco playbook could be used to push back against car bloat.

Much like secondhand smoke, driving a gigantic vehicle endangers those who never consented to the danger they face walking, biking, or sitting inside smaller cars. Although not widely known, car bloat’s harms are well-documented. Heavier vehicles can pulverize modest-sized ones, and tall front ends obscure a driver’s vision, putting pedestrians and cyclists at particular risk. Deaths among both groups recently hit 40-year highs in the US.

It’s hard to imagine clearing our roads of these oversized vehicles. But not that long ago, it was impossible to believe the tide could turn on smoking in public places.