Slashdot Mirror
E-Tracking May Change the Way You Drive
frdmfghtr writes "ZDNet.com is running a story about a runaway idea of a tracking automobiles via GPS. Not to be confused with the Canadian project geared towards anti-speeding ideas, this one does in fact have the goal of tracking your vehicle. 'The U.S. Department of Transportation has been handing millions of dollars to state governments for GPS-tracking pilot projects designed to track vehicles wherever they go. So far, Washington state and Oregon have received fat federal checks to figure out how to levy these 'mileage-based road user fees.' However, the article goes on to talk about how there is no provision in place to prevent the uncontrolled surveillance of motorists without a court order."
I don't ever want to speed, but having to monitor your speedo all the time is a crappy solution. It only takes you looking up from the speedo to see a kid chasing a ball across the street infront of you once or twice before you'd really like a better solution.
So putting lives at risk, harming your body, and funding gangs and terrorists and etc is the American SPRIT of Freedom????
First, it is only funding gangs, terrorist, exc because of drug prohibition. In the same way alcohol prohibition CREATED crime, so does drug prohibition. If you were to ban alcohol again you would suddenly see a spike in crime and a rise in gangs. Undo the ban and that mess goes away. No one buys their booze from gansters because it is easier and safe to walk to a liquor. Treat drugs the same way you would murder (ha ha, pun) American gang life.
Second, you bet your fucking ass harming your body is the American way. Fuck the government that tells me I can go sky diving, rock climbing, mountain biking, roller blading, swear like a mother fucker, eat McDonalds, eat red meat, drink booze, and do all the other things I do to harm my body. It absolutely is the American way to let individuals take their own risks, reap their own rewards, and pay their own prices. This shit about the government saving your soul, defending you from yourself, and then paying to get your ass fixed when you break is new.
Maybe you need the government to save you for from your self, but I sure as shit don't. Hell, I think we should start a simple program. Make 'prevention of self harm' laws optional. The people that fear they can't take care of themselves sign a contract with the government that lets the government enforce laws to keep you from doing stupid shit to yourself. While you are doing that, the rest of us are going to go rock climbing, go back to our camp site, have a few beers, and if someone wants to light up before bed, fucking let them. Hell, we might even throw a little premarital sex into the mix if there are any ladies willing. YOU can stay at home and read your fucking government regulation manual that details the ways in which the government will save you from yourself.
The only time I want the law to step in and interfere with my life is when someone is trying to impose their will on me, I am having a contract dispute, or I am risking the lives of people who have not consented to that risk. Other then that, the government can merrily fuck off while I go eat some red meat and have a beer (or 12).
Remember when you could go to the DMV without an appointment?
Yeah, it was way back in the glory days of last week.
How about when you could explain that your vehicle was not being operated and you did not owe them any money for it.
If you're not going to operate your vehicle, you don't need a license plate or registration or anything. It can sit under a tarp just fine without them. Or maybe you're upset because you can't get free registration anymore?
And what about the price of tickets, when were those prices snuck through.
About the same time that they put it on a ballot. Don't like it? Read the driver's manual and drive the way it tells you to. It isn't that hard.
Why the fuck is not wearing your seat belt an offence at all!
Maybe because the police are tired of scraping up the remains of all the dumbshits who didn't wear their seat belts?
They'll charge you whatever they want, they'll penalize you whetever they want if you're late, and in my state they can just go in without prior notice and take it out of your bank account.
All the fee schedules are well-documented and publicly available. If you can't afford traffic tickets, then maybe you should pay more attention to traffic laws. Despite what you seem to think, traffic laws are not there to oppress you, they're to keep people from getting killed in car wrecks. It's too bad that you'll most likely be killed in a wreck of your own before you understand this.
If it ever does go public, expect mass civil disobediance.
No, all that I'll expect is fuckwits like you getting better acquainted with public transport.
And with a car-mounted GPS jammer, I will enlist more people to my cause
You'll be on the side of the road trying to lie your way out of another ticket not three minutes after the GPS signal stops. Good luck with that.