objoe

It seems that with all the electronics available, including synch and GPS, it would be a piece of cake

to incorporate a car finder in case of theft. The GPS system could work like the Onstar or the synch

have an FM transmitter like Lojack. Any idea how this could be done. After all, even some cell phones

have the ability to be tracked.

LLZuB

i would never want an onstar aka big brother type product on my car

Dave07997S

You already have it...the computer in the new Stangs going back to 2005 has a vehicle telemetry box already in it. You get in an accident they can download all the telemetry from this box to include: vehicle speed, steering input, brake input as well as pitch and yaw. Not to mention if you have a navigation system they can triangulate at that moment where you have been. So if you were a total knucklehead in complete disregard for other peoples safety and you go ripping down a residential street at 100mph and you kill someone I guarantee you they are downloading the telemetry from this box and will prosecute you according to the info that is downloaded. It has already happened to several people.

Dave

stangfoeva

And not just stangs, pretty much all cars

cinque35

black box is bad enough but onstar or any tracking system would be much worse. how would you like to get a speeding ticket in the mail every time you go to the supermarket cause they could track your speed?
i know.. i know.. it's "only for total knucklehead with complete disregard for other peoples safety & car thieves"
but that's just how it starts...

cdynaco

How did we let Constitutional Search & Siezure laws to be pre-empted by government 'watchers'?? All in the name of safety and at fault insurance lawyers??

Dave07997S

So true...

Dave07997S

Believe it or not Japan had a similar system in place in the early 90s. Everytime you exceeded 100kmh you got a ticket in the mail. The people practically revolted over this and the practice is no longer being done.

Dave

Five Oh Brian

Joe, why not just buy a LoJack system. Had one installed in my '03 Mach 1 for under $500. Cars with LoJack are typically covered in less than an hour in most cases and with the car thief still in the car caught by surprise so they get caught and go to jail. Recovery is so quick that damage or parts stripping is minimized.

LLZuB

Yes but thats only when I get in an accident, not when I turn my key

check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8As1z...layer_embedded

RandyW

You've probably read about how some states (especially Oregon) are looking into the possibility of supplementing the gas tax with a per-mile road tax. How do they keep track of your mileage? No problem, you just force everyone to buy a special GPS device for each car that keep track of not just how many miles they've driven, but also when and where. The advocates of this say it's because they can't raise the gas tax without people getting mad. Somehow these boneheads think that this will be more acceptable. If I have to pay an extra $100 a year in gas taxes to better maintain the roads I'm all for it. But why should I have to pay the $100, plus the cost of the tattle-tale device, plus the bureaucratic overhead of the system? There are only two possible explanations.

1. The proponents are absolute morons. I mean the kind of stupid you have to be to believe that communism works.

2. The proponents want to put this in place, then announce variable pricing, so they can charge people more money for driving when they don't want you to drive, or driving where they don't want you to drive.

I've written a letter to my state's governor telling him what a terrible idea this is. Sorry for getting on the soap box but this issue drives me crazy.

YSUsteven

Don't think that they will do that as

I have driven my OnStar equipped vehicle at The Rock well over 80 MPH (only a four banger) when the speed limit on all of the surrounding roads was 55 or less. I did not get a ticket in the mail.

This would also mean that everytime anyone went to a drag strip, they should be getting a ticket.

So I also assume that if your car was stolen that you would not want a way to locate it, OnStar does.
Or, not wantto be able to unlock your doors if you are too stupid and lock them inside, OnStar does.
Bring you gas or change a flat tire, OnStar does.
Or would wander the parking lot / deck when you can't find it when returning to the airport after vacation, OnStar can set off the alarm so you can find it.
Or, not be able to call police / EMS to your location if ever involved in an accident since your unconcius and can't use your cell phone, OnStar does.
Or not be able to reduce engine power and bring it to a stop if stolen, OnStar does.
Or not recieve a discount on your car insurance bassed on how many miles you actually drive, OnStar does.

There are others things that it can do but I am getting tired of typing. I am not saying that you can't live without it, or that its the solution to everything. But don't assume that you will be punished if all you do is speed a little. If you cause a deadly accident, you should be prosecuted to the greatest extent possible. Don't do stupid things and you will not have to pay for them.

YSUsteven

The theory behind this is that those who use the roads are the ones that pay to maintain them. If you live on the boarder between two states, and only buy gas in one of them, the one location doesn't get revenue to maintain the road from you. Same goes with truckers, sometimes they don't need to stop in every state and thus not all the states get sufficient revenue. If you knew fuel was cheaper after crossing the state line, would you stop if you did not have too?

The variable price for different times of day is not meant to stop you from driving somewhere at a specific time, but instead an incentive to not drive at a specific time. Roads are congested during "rush hour" and roads are expensive, and as most of the highway system was built around 1950, not only do new highways need to be built, but the entire existing system needs rebuilt as they only last 50-75 years and is falling apart. If they can encourage enough users to not drive at a specific time, or use mass transit instead, its better for the environment, and then they do not need to widen the road, which they probably needed to do 10 years ago, but did not and still do not have the money. Then can then take the money that they do have and rebuild the old system so that bridges stop collapsing and so that potholes are no longer a problem.

It makes perfect sense from the Department of Transportation's view, it just has not reached public acceptance yet, but...

You do know that virtually every cell phone has a GPS locator built in to it (started around year 2000) so that EMS / Police can locate the call, which I would also guess can be used to locate the phone anytime the phone is on, so we are already being tracked anyway.
Every time that you use a credit card, the location, what was purchased etc. is recorded also.
The same goes with the internet. There is a server that knows that you (your IP address) visited this site today and added to the forum. We are already being tracked in soo many different ways...

While I would also be opposed to the government monitoring my movements everyday, private company’s already do, and I am sure that the government could be granted access if they wanted.

Be happy that our government is not telling us what we can and cannot do like China.

cdynaco

That all sounds well and good if you live in city areas where miles driven are lower and incomes are better to afford such nonsense. Besides they're already getting it in the gas tax per gallon. Not to mention gps violation of privacy.

For Oregon the dense population areas are in the NW portion of the State, Portland, Salem, Eugene. When I lived in the city it was usually 30 mins to an hour to a job or shopping mall because of traffic even though it might only be 15-20 miles or so.

Out west people are scattered far and few between - not just ranchers and farmers - and most of the Counties and small Towns barely make it because of lower population and lower incomes. Check the poverty levels per county. So now they want to tax me by the mile when its 35-40 miles one way to the nearest gallon of milk? There is no place for me to cut back futher - all this Democratic Gov has done is raise taxes - across the board not just the 'rich classes' (gas tax, alcohol tax, cig tax, business filing fees & tax, drivers license fee, license plate fee, health ins tax that allowed insurers to pass it on to policy holders.... all of which harm the lower incomes the worst - in spite of Dem rhetoric that they only 'tax the rich'. They tax everyone!)

And they still can't balance the budget because they never cut government expenses. And all these taxes, the high minimum wage have caused OR to have the 2nd & 3rd highest unemployment rates and the 3rd highest underemployment rate in the nation. And not allowing self serve gasoline has not helped unemployment but has caused OR to have among the highest fuel rates in the nation - another burden on the lowest of incomes. These greedy bastards are just looking for another revenue source and a tool to track your every move.

BlueBossS197

Well put. I await the day when we have to revolt. I hope it isn't in my lifetime, but I think it is inevitable eventually.

cdynaco

gps/black box sounds eerily familiar to a certain government run email service:


Iran's telecommunications agency announced Wednesday that it has permanently suspended Google's e-mail services and that a national e-mail service for Iranians will be rolled out soon.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/...-mail-service/

RandyW

Of course those who use the roads should pay for them, and we do through the gas tax. The more you drive, the more gas you use, the more tax you pay. The heavier your vehicle, the more gas you use and the more tax you pay, which is only fair since a heavy vehicle puts more wear and tear on the road than a light one. Do the roads need rebuilding? Hell yes, and I've said I'm willing to pay more gas tax to fix the roads. But is it worth giving up the beautiful simplicity of the gas tax because some people may drive through a state without having bought gas there? If I have to pay an extra fraction of a penny per gallon in Minnesota because the occasional North Dakotan spends time on our roads after just filling up on the other side of the border, I don't care. It's chicken feed compared to the cost of the overhead of the per-mile tax. As far as trucking goes, they don't pay taxes strictly at the pump. Trucking companies have to pay taxes beyond the tax at the pump based on how many miles they drive in which states.

Congestion pricing: great theory. But do you think people are spending time in traffic that is barely moving because they enjoy it? It wastes their time and their gas. It increases their aggravation. If they are doing it anyway it's probably because that is the time of day they need to go on that road. Punishing them does not seem like a public service to me.

I'm not some nut who thinks that the government wants to spy on me for nefarious reasons. But I do think that do-gooders want to tell us how to live for our own good. We have high taxes on cigarettes and alcohol because the government wants to discourage drinking and smoking. There are health advocates that want to tax soda and candy, for our own good. Do you really think there aren't people who would like to tweak the road taxes to encourage/discourage behavior? Can't you see Christian legislators in some states saying that people should be able to drive for free on Sunday mornings since many of those motorists are probably going to church? Or legislators saying that people driving to some disapproved destination should pay extra? Tell me that if there were variable pricing you wouldn't have people in states like California calling for an extra charge on politically incorrect vehicles like Hummers.

The gas tax is as simple a tax as there is and it's pretty darn fair. If the state needs more money, they can increase the gas tax and we all pay. That sounds fair to me. Bring in variable pricing and you will have different groups arguing about why these people should be exempt and those people should pay extra. The quest to make things more fair comes at a price that is not worth paying.

LLZuB

^ your complaining about alcohol and cigerettes? you better thank god you don't live in Canada lolll

objoe

What about a sex tax?

Boomer

I'm so glad I don't smoke....i'd never be able to afford anything...