I mean sure, it's not perfectly, 100% fair, but do you have a better plan, or just complaints? Because rural populations seem to want to have their cake and eat it too - living in a rural area to save money and have additional space, without wanting to pay for the extremely expensive roads that enable their lifestyle, or even to admit that it's infeasible for everyone to live that way
More driving both increases the likelyhood of damages to vehicles or people, and makes this a useage-based fee - so while not perfect, it's the closest we can realistically get without becoming mired in PR mis-understandings or complications, technicalities, and enforcement difficulties.
Rural populations do not have "their cake". They are already charged high prices for goods and transport and punished for not living in unhealthy dense urban environments. This just boosts their cost of living even more. Some people like things like fresh air, space and feeling a connection to the area they live in.
It seems that our rulers want little more than us living in tiny microhomes in filing cabinets, staring at a screen all day for all our needs, while they get to enjoy the countryside as some kind of safari park where they can do what they want. Or at best trapped into some panopticon where you will be prevented from travelling more than a few miles/kilometres away. Most modern urban environments are soul-destroying hellscapes which is why some people don't want to live in them.
More driving both increases the likelyhood of damages to vehicles or people, and makes this a useage-based fee - so while not perfect, it's the closest we can realistically get without becoming mired in PR mis-understandings or complications, technicalities, and enforcement difficulties.