It's not US retailers, generally, who are overcharging Australians. If the retailers also do business in Australia, they might care. But if you buy something from a company with no presence in Australia who previously wouldn't ship there themselves, then it'll be fine.
This. It's like Canada--the middle-man makes a ridiculous amount of money because there's less competition in middle-men, so products often cost more than in the states. It's not as bad as it was pre-NAFTA, but it's not great either. The cost of a tire was at least 30% higher the last time I checked, although YMMV.
This. Distributors take the absolute piss with pricing. A CD that costs $10-15 in the US costs $25-30 in Australia however to ship the same media from the US to Australia it costs less than $5 to do it on an indivdual basis (I order all of my games from the UK or Hong Kong). Tyres are another one, good Continental tyres (225/45/17) cost $150 a corner from tirerack.com, but if I ordered them in Australia from an Australian distributor it would be over $200 a corner.
Actually, what they are trying to do is find out if you are an addict and are going to be using at work. The rationale is that if you can't stop using any given drug for the 30 days it takes to clear your system, then you cannot control your additiction.
That is proving the GP's point for him.
Its an incredibly stupid rationale.
The first part is treating everything as an addiction. Its not, not everyone who has a toke of weed is instantly turned into a crack whore. It's an odd concept to some that quite a few people can control their habits.
Secondly, it assumes that you cant keep something limited to your off time, for example I can choose to have a few beers over the weekend, that does not mean I drink 24/7. Now my employer absolutely has a right to expect me to be sober whilst at work during my prescribed working hours but after work, they dont get a say.
Fortunately where I live, pre-employment drug tests are illegal and drug tests during employment are only legal for certain areas (like mine sites, construction sites, factories and other places where there are real dangers, so not the office).
that's quite probable, is Thai authorities we are talking about anyways and it's.. well. let's just say that I would be very surprised if they fucking knew who was in the country or if there's an actual database of people with visas.
There would definitely be a database and it would be up to date...
"Fines" for visa overstays are very lucrative.
Thailand is still under military rule at the moment (yeah I can tell you're shocked given how uncommon coups are in Thailand) so there has been a tightening of immigration controls as well as a crackdown on organised crime and government graft.
I doubt that you've got the overhead of legal payouts we have. On two occasions, I've had insurance payouts from fender benders that included $5,000+ medical payoffs when nobody was actually injured. The insurance industry does this in order to get the individual to sign off and not take them to court where the costs would be much higher.
In Australia a low speed collision can easily get into the 5K category on repairs alone (deform the bumper, that requires a new bumper with paint matching). I mentioned cars are expensive here... Repairs are just as bad.
Just a side note on the fender benders. The first one was clearly a set up...the woman slammed on the brakes in front of me for no clear reason. She had a child in the back seat with stitches in his head from another recent "accident". The collision occurred under 5mph. Police and Fire came by, and no injuries were recorded. She filed a medical claim, and was bought off.
I always maintain a safe distance (at least 2 seconds) because its incredibly hard to prove they braked maliciously, even then it's still my fault for not maintaining a safe distance (the difference is the other party gets criminal charges for driving dangerously).
I also have a dash cam for insurance purposes, that way my version of events is always correct because I have a video.
But medical payouts aren't a thing in Australia because the government took it in hand. Part of your yearly registration fees are Compulsory Third Party (CTP) which covers injuries to other parties in the event of an accident (CTP only covers injuries, not property damage) and as the government runs it, they dont have to pay people off. Private insurers dont need to deal with medical claims.
To be even more fair, the data on a passport are somewhat encrypted, so it's not as easy as reading a card number;)
The data on credit cards is encrypted too, but the encryption was so poor it was broken years ago and new cards are still being issued with the same encryption.
The encryption is so weak it may as well be in plain text.
Good, just in time for my Kickstarter ODB-II/CAN datalink "test simulator for TESTING PURPOSES ONLY". Everyone will plug them together and toss them in the trunk.
As long as you're fooling the GPS as well as the accelerometers, you can just leave it in in a drawer in the shed.
I'm sorry, $5 a month (the Progressive Snapshot thing) discount on what is typically a $100+ monthly payment is not worth them tracking my driving habits.
$100 a month?
Typical?
I thought it was just health insurers who bent you over the barrel in the US.
I drive a high risk car (Nissan Silvia S15) and I only pay $900 p/a (its cheaper to pay yearly in Australia). If I drove a more expensive but sensible car like a Camry, that would be around $600 and I'm still not even at the highest No Claim Bonus (insurance rating).
It is nice to know there's something the US has to pay more for... Talk to us Aussies about car prices, a base model BMW 320 is A$70,000.
If it's any consolation I'm a little bummed about the use of RFID in so many things that really should be secure
To be 100% fair, the RFID is easy to disable, you just have to cut the induction loop.
However the biggest issue with RFID cards is the fact they send your card number, name and expiry date out in an easily decrypted format... So you can now use RFID to harvest CC numbers and rip them off the old fashioned way (in Russia so even if you're identified you can never be caught).
They really should have used a unique identifier for wireless transactions that isn't able to be reverse engineered into your card details... but doing this is hard and just sending your card details in almost plain text is easy.
Because if the defendant ever starred in some kind of sordid sex act and it ever found its way to the internet, they know it's probably in your internet history.
The thing is, the Australian court doesn't give a fat rats clacker about your personal perversions in a divorce proceeding. They only care about your financial situation.
Sure your S&M habits might have something to do with a sexual assault case, but not a divorce.
Australians simply aren't prudes like Americans.
However I dont expect this law to actually go anywhere (it's not implemented yet) mainly because ISPs are fighting the mandatory data retention laws.
The Russians as a whole defeated the nazis. Stalin's incompetence did nothing more than spill more Russian blood. WIth someone more competiant, the Soviets would have had less casualties and conquered more of europe.
This.
Winston Churchill said "Battles are won by slaughter and manoeuvre, the more a general contributes in manoeuvre, the less he demands in slaughter", Stalin and to a slightly lesser extent, Hitler were prime examples of this. Stalin used almost no strategy, relying on brute force and numbers to win battles, he chose objectives out of pride rather than value. In a way, this was good for the west, we emerged stronger than the Soviets because our leaders were more restrained, listened to the advice of their generals and admirals and valued the lives of their soldiers.
If Stalin had of been more strategic, he would have been able to get to the coast of France before D-Day and we wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing.
That being said, Russia's economy looked good post war because of a massive military-industrial complex. Unlike the west, they didn't stop making tanks, bombers, fighters and rifles after the war... they ramped it up to 11. So in the 70's their growth simply stopped because they started running out of things that the civilians needed which hadn't been updated or built in great numbers. The post-war USSR is a good example of the problems with military-industrial complexes.
Well, given that fuel is dispensed in litres, but distances are measured in miles, wine is measured in ml and beer in pints, the systems we tend to use are somewhat fluid.
Pint isn't an official measurement (officially its 568ml) but it's popular in colloquial usage, you buy a pint of beer, but not a pint of milk or motor oil. Ordering a pint is just something that's ingrained in UK culture (and most commonwealth countries) and not going to change any time soon.
Height is a good example, when talking about height we use feet and inches but on any official document it's measured in centimetres.
Australia fully converted to metric before I was born, but old imperial measurements are still popular in conversation.
1.) buy airplane tickets, most likely by credit card
This,
People are being paranoid about collecting a MAC address which even if it's unique is not directly tied to your name and address. However using their credit card in the airport coffee shop does not faze them at all. If you're worried about being tracked, a credit or debit card is the single most easily tracked, identifiable device you own and people dont think twice about using them everywhere. Hell, most cards these days come with NFC, that gives out your name (as well as the CC number and expiry date... all the details you need buy shit online with) to anyone who asks for it.
At an airport, I've already purchased a ticket with all the details pertained within. I've checked in so they've already seen my boarding pass and passport. Further more, I'm going through security so inevitably, someone is going to ask to see them again... So having my phone tracked isn't that big of a deal. Not like they're going to get any personal info out of a MAC address.
A few years ago I was transiting at Singapore's Changi Airport. They had free WiFi, but subject to me giving them the MAC address of all my devices, the flight I had arrived on and they wanted to record my Passport number as well. The girl behind the counter said, with a big smile and fluttering eyes, everyone gives us those details and the WiFi is really good.
This is bullshit.
I regularly transit through Singapore (I live in Perth) and there are two ways to get onto the WiFi. You put in your mobile number and receive an SMS code or you go to an information desk and get a passcode on a piece of paper. They have never asked for my passport or boarding pass in the dozens of times I've been there (last was 6 weeks ago).
If I was walking across an intersection, I would trust a Google SDC far more than someone late for an appointment, driving a Chevy Tahoe with a cellphone in one hand, a Starbucks latte in the other, and two screaming kids in the back seat.
The problem you have is, someone like that wont let the car drive itself because a self driving car will stick to speed limits and slow down at pedestrian crossings because it will be programmed to anticipate stopping at a pedestrian crossing (like a defensive driver is trained to do). Nope, someone that self adsorbed and with such poor time management skills will be taking manual control with the pedal pressed to the floor whilst screaming into their phone. You simply cant overcome selfishness with a new technology.
But actual autonomous cars are years away from practical use. Decades away from the way you're thinking. The first autonomous cars will be normal cars with an autonomous mode that only works on specially upgraded roads which you can guarantee will be limited access roads (freeways and motorways) with no traffic lights.
Someone(s) at Google didn't think this one through.
I think quite a few people at Google have thought about that, came to the same conclusion as you and started working on the problem.
The thing that people dont get is that it will take years, if not decades to get fully autonomous cars onto the road. They aren't due out in 2018 and yes we know what models are coming in 2018, an updated 370z, a new NSX and a few others no-one has any interest in.
The first autonomous cars wont be by Google, in fact I doubt there will be a Google car, the first autonomous cars will be Merc's or Toyotas built using Googles technologies and the autonomous part will only work on specially outfitted roads (and they will be controlled, limited access roads at first) so you'll still be required to drive a car. In fact you probably wont see a car without a steering wheel or other controls in your lifetime.
You're quite right that roads will need to be upgraded to provide telemetry to autonomous cars, and this will happen gradually over many, many decades.
Even if they weren't intentionally lying, telling investors information that is effectively false is at best being self delusional, which is professionally irresponsible.
To be fair, EA and the Battlefield series has been going downhill for a long time. The BF3 was complete shite and I fell off the bandwagon after that. Given all the other bungled EA product launches (the Sims, Sim City) its hardly surprising.
I kind of have a hard time feeling sorry for people who bought BF4, the pattern was there clear as day. Caveat Emptor as they say.
I think he was merely stating the obvious idea that with the weapons used by current day military, the whole defence-against-government argument for gun ownership is no longer valid. Whatever car roof-mounted machinegun you might have is laughably underpowered for the task of overpowering government.
That's funny, that's what they said in Viet Nam.
The Russians and Chinese sent them high tech weaponry to fight with. Even ISIS has little trouble getting the latest RPG and high tech missile launcher the Ukrainian "separatists" got a hold of to shoot down MH17 with.
A better example of how effective armed citizens are against the government would be Waco, but that doesn't support your point. The only reason that Waco lasted so long was because government rules prevented them from using overwhelming force. Or Chechnya, the Russian Govt. doesn't pull their punches... but Chechnya doesn't support your assertion either.
My thoughts:
If I'm buying a used car, presumably I know who manufactured the car because the car will be littered in badges proudly proclaiming who, exactly, built and may have subsequently recalled some part of the car. Whether a Kia or a BMW or a Lincoln, I should be able to go to kia.com, bmw.com, or whatever, and find the recall information.
You cant trust a manufacturer to be truthful. I mean look at the recent GM ignition recalls. They waited until it killed serveral people before they did anything. In Australia faulty VAG transmissions have killed people yet VAG have done nothing.
A single source of information where you can look up individual models and see what ones have had recalls is absolutely necessary. The reason the government has to do it is because the private industry has
1) no incentive to do it.
2) no means to ensure that they do it accurately (BWM could pay them to keep their recalls on a separate page in the sub basement in a locked filing cabinet located in a disused lavatory with the sign "beware of the leopard" on the door).
Erm... sorry if this makes too much sense.
I don't need my government to save me the gross and unjust burden of typing "2010 toyota recalls" into Google
It'll bring up plenty of news articles, but not a lot of facts.
If I want to find an actual recall notice, I can go to recalls.gov.au and look by manufacturer. Yep, an Australian government run website (that works, oddly enough).
It shouldn't be zero revenue because there would be no 'deterrance' which is their stated goal.
However, the revenue should go into a different pot, like an annual donation to local charities that are not otherwise funded by the city.
Welcome to Western Australia (WA), Australia.
All revenue from speed and red light cameras go into the Road Trauma Trust Fund. This means it completely bypasses the states coffers. Millions sit in this fund because they cant actually do anything with it (every time they try, the media creates a giant circus over it, they even tried giving out free driving lessons to learners once before the Murdoch press got wind of it and shut it down).
The problem is fines alone dont change behaviour as the people who get fines just slap each other on the back and circle jerk over the Revenue Raising conspiracy theory. I'd love to see the end of the revenue raising conspiracy (I know conspiracy theories are hard to kill though). Basically if you want to see a change in driver behaviour you need to make punishments punitive. This means taking more and more drastic measures for repeat offenders. In my state if you go over 45 KPH your license is taken off you for 3 months (6 months for the second time, 12 for the third) and if you're caught driving without a license you can be sent to jail. As long as the only punishment is monetary, people will continue to pay and wont change behaviour.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not US retailers, generally, who are overcharging Australians. If the retailers also do business in Australia, they might care. But if you buy something from a company with no presence in Australia who previously wouldn't ship there themselves, then it'll be fine.
This. It's like Canada--the middle-man makes a ridiculous amount of money because there's less competition in middle-men, so products often cost more than in the states. It's not as bad as it was pre-NAFTA, but it's not great either. The cost of a tire was at least 30% higher the last time I checked, although YMMV.
This. Distributors take the absolute piss with pricing. A CD that costs $10-15 in the US costs $25-30 in Australia however to ship the same media from the US to Australia it costs less than $5 to do it on an indivdual basis (I order all of my games from the UK or Hong Kong). Tyres are another one, good Continental tyres (225/45/17) cost $150 a corner from tirerack.com, but if I ordered them in Australia from an Australian distributor it would be over $200 a corner.
Grouper, I hardly know her.
Actually, what they are trying to do is find out if you are an addict and are going to be using at work. The rationale is that if you can't stop using any given drug for the 30 days it takes to clear your system, then you cannot control your additiction.
That is proving the GP's point for him.
Its an incredibly stupid rationale.
The first part is treating everything as an addiction. Its not, not everyone who has a toke of weed is instantly turned into a crack whore. It's an odd concept to some that quite a few people can control their habits.
Secondly, it assumes that you cant keep something limited to your off time, for example I can choose to have a few beers over the weekend, that does not mean I drink 24/7. Now my employer absolutely has a right to expect me to be sober whilst at work during my prescribed working hours but after work, they dont get a say.
Fortunately where I live, pre-employment drug tests are illegal and drug tests during employment are only legal for certain areas (like mine sites, construction sites, factories and other places where there are real dangers, so not the office).
Anti-poaching agreements and "blacklists" are equally anti-competitive practices, and have no place in a responsible tech company. (Hear that, Apple?)
What has ever given you the impression that Apple wants to be a responsible company?
There would definitely be a database and it would be up to date...
"Fines" for visa overstays are very lucrative.
Thailand is still under military rule at the moment (yeah I can tell you're shocked given how uncommon coups are in Thailand) so there has been a tightening of immigration controls as well as a crackdown on organised crime and government graft.
GPS doesn't work in caves either. GPS sucks and should be abandoned. What a waste of resources getting those stupid satellites up there.
I told you we'd regret abandoning the sextant.
I doubt that you've got the overhead of legal payouts we have. On two occasions, I've had insurance payouts from fender benders that included $5,000+ medical payoffs when nobody was actually injured. The insurance industry does this in order to get the individual to sign off and not take them to court where the costs would be much higher.
In Australia a low speed collision can easily get into the 5K category on repairs alone (deform the bumper, that requires a new bumper with paint matching). I mentioned cars are expensive here... Repairs are just as bad.
Just a side note on the fender benders. The first one was clearly a set up...the woman slammed on the brakes in front of me for no clear reason. She had a child in the back seat with stitches in his head from another recent "accident". The collision occurred under 5mph. Police and Fire came by, and no injuries were recorded. She filed a medical claim, and was bought off.
I always maintain a safe distance (at least 2 seconds) because its incredibly hard to prove they braked maliciously, even then it's still my fault for not maintaining a safe distance (the difference is the other party gets criminal charges for driving dangerously).
I also have a dash cam for insurance purposes, that way my version of events is always correct because I have a video.
But medical payouts aren't a thing in Australia because the government took it in hand. Part of your yearly registration fees are Compulsory Third Party (CTP) which covers injuries to other parties in the event of an accident (CTP only covers injuries, not property damage) and as the government runs it, they dont have to pay people off. Private insurers dont need to deal with medical claims.
The data on credit cards is encrypted too, but the encryption was so poor it was broken years ago and new cards are still being issued with the same encryption.
The encryption is so weak it may as well be in plain text.
Good, just in time for my Kickstarter ODB-II/CAN datalink "test simulator for TESTING PURPOSES ONLY". Everyone will plug them together and toss them in the trunk.
As long as you're fooling the GPS as well as the accelerometers, you can just leave it in in a drawer in the shed.
And yep, this is what most people will be doing.
I'm sorry, $5 a month (the Progressive Snapshot thing) discount on what is typically a $100+ monthly payment is not worth them tracking my driving habits.
$100 a month?
Typical?
I thought it was just health insurers who bent you over the barrel in the US.
I drive a high risk car (Nissan Silvia S15) and I only pay $900 p/a (its cheaper to pay yearly in Australia). If I drove a more expensive but sensible car like a Camry, that would be around $600 and I'm still not even at the highest No Claim Bonus (insurance rating).
It is nice to know there's something the US has to pay more for... Talk to us Aussies about car prices, a base model BMW 320 is A$70,000.
If it's any consolation I'm a little bummed about the use of RFID in so many things that really should be secure
To be 100% fair, the RFID is easy to disable, you just have to cut the induction loop.
However the biggest issue with RFID cards is the fact they send your card number, name and expiry date out in an easily decrypted format... So you can now use RFID to harvest CC numbers and rip them off the old fashioned way (in Russia so even if you're identified you can never be caught).
They really should have used a unique identifier for wireless transactions that isn't able to be reverse engineered into your card details... but doing this is hard and just sending your card details in almost plain text is easy.
Because if the defendant ever starred in some kind of sordid sex act and it ever found its way to the internet, they know it's probably in your internet history.
The thing is, the Australian court doesn't give a fat rats clacker about your personal perversions in a divorce proceeding. They only care about your financial situation.
Sure your S&M habits might have something to do with a sexual assault case, but not a divorce.
Australians simply aren't prudes like Americans.
However I dont expect this law to actually go anywhere (it's not implemented yet) mainly because ISPs are fighting the mandatory data retention laws.
How is it a "bad life choice", say, to be born with cerebral palsy or to develop type 1 diabetes mellitus?
Well obviously their parents did something wrong, their parents also being quite poor are to blame for that situation as well.
This is sarcasm, for the sarcastically impaired (as was the GGP).
bullshit. See post below.
The Russians as a whole defeated the nazis. Stalin's incompetence did nothing more than spill more Russian blood. WIth someone more competiant, the Soviets would have had less casualties and conquered more of europe.
This.
Winston Churchill said "Battles are won by slaughter and manoeuvre, the more a general contributes in manoeuvre, the less he demands in slaughter", Stalin and to a slightly lesser extent, Hitler were prime examples of this. Stalin used almost no strategy, relying on brute force and numbers to win battles, he chose objectives out of pride rather than value. In a way, this was good for the west, we emerged stronger than the Soviets because our leaders were more restrained, listened to the advice of their generals and admirals and valued the lives of their soldiers.
If Stalin had of been more strategic, he would have been able to get to the coast of France before D-Day and we wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing.
That being said, Russia's economy looked good post war because of a massive military-industrial complex. Unlike the west, they didn't stop making tanks, bombers, fighters and rifles after the war... they ramped it up to 11. So in the 70's their growth simply stopped because they started running out of things that the civilians needed which hadn't been updated or built in great numbers. The post-war USSR is a good example of the problems with military-industrial complexes.
Well, given that fuel is dispensed in litres, but distances are measured in miles, wine is measured in ml and beer in pints, the systems we tend to use are somewhat fluid.
Pint isn't an official measurement (officially its 568ml) but it's popular in colloquial usage, you buy a pint of beer, but not a pint of milk or motor oil. Ordering a pint is just something that's ingrained in UK culture (and most commonwealth countries) and not going to change any time soon.
Height is a good example, when talking about height we use feet and inches but on any official document it's measured in centimetres.
Australia fully converted to metric before I was born, but old imperial measurements are still popular in conversation.
To get to that point, one has to:
1.) buy airplane tickets, most likely by credit card
This,
People are being paranoid about collecting a MAC address which even if it's unique is not directly tied to your name and address. However using their credit card in the airport coffee shop does not faze them at all. If you're worried about being tracked, a credit or debit card is the single most easily tracked, identifiable device you own and people dont think twice about using them everywhere. Hell, most cards these days come with NFC, that gives out your name (as well as the CC number and expiry date... all the details you need buy shit online with) to anyone who asks for it.
At an airport, I've already purchased a ticket with all the details pertained within. I've checked in so they've already seen my boarding pass and passport. Further more, I'm going through security so inevitably, someone is going to ask to see them again... So having my phone tracked isn't that big of a deal. Not like they're going to get any personal info out of a MAC address.
This is bullshit.
I regularly transit through Singapore (I live in Perth) and there are two ways to get onto the WiFi. You put in your mobile number and receive an SMS code or you go to an information desk and get a passcode on a piece of paper. They have never asked for my passport or boarding pass in the dozens of times I've been there (last was 6 weeks ago).
You've never actually been to Changi.
If I was walking across an intersection, I would trust a Google SDC far more than someone late for an appointment, driving a Chevy Tahoe with a cellphone in one hand, a Starbucks latte in the other, and two screaming kids in the back seat.
The problem you have is, someone like that wont let the car drive itself because a self driving car will stick to speed limits and slow down at pedestrian crossings because it will be programmed to anticipate stopping at a pedestrian crossing (like a defensive driver is trained to do). Nope, someone that self adsorbed and with such poor time management skills will be taking manual control with the pedal pressed to the floor whilst screaming into their phone. You simply cant overcome selfishness with a new technology.
But actual autonomous cars are years away from practical use. Decades away from the way you're thinking. The first autonomous cars will be normal cars with an autonomous mode that only works on specially upgraded roads which you can guarantee will be limited access roads (freeways and motorways) with no traffic lights.
Someone(s) at Google didn't think this one through.
I think quite a few people at Google have thought about that, came to the same conclusion as you and started working on the problem.
The thing that people dont get is that it will take years, if not decades to get fully autonomous cars onto the road. They aren't due out in 2018 and yes we know what models are coming in 2018, an updated 370z, a new NSX and a few others no-one has any interest in.
The first autonomous cars wont be by Google, in fact I doubt there will be a Google car, the first autonomous cars will be Merc's or Toyotas built using Googles technologies and the autonomous part will only work on specially outfitted roads (and they will be controlled, limited access roads at first) so you'll still be required to drive a car. In fact you probably wont see a car without a steering wheel or other controls in your lifetime.
You're quite right that roads will need to be upgraded to provide telemetry to autonomous cars, and this will happen gradually over many, many decades.
Even if they weren't intentionally lying, telling investors information that is effectively false is at best being self delusional, which is professionally irresponsible.
To be fair, EA and the Battlefield series has been going downhill for a long time. The BF3 was complete shite and I fell off the bandwagon after that. Given all the other bungled EA product launches (the Sims, Sim City) its hardly surprising.
I kind of have a hard time feeling sorry for people who bought BF4, the pattern was there clear as day. Caveat Emptor as they say.
I download TV
So no-one will track me
Burma Shave is old
the ZUNE Phone.
No, the PHUNE.
I think he was merely stating the obvious idea that with the weapons used by current day military, the whole defence-against-government argument for gun ownership is no longer valid. Whatever car roof-mounted machinegun you might have is laughably underpowered for the task of overpowering government.
That's funny, that's what they said in Viet Nam.
The Russians and Chinese sent them high tech weaponry to fight with. Even ISIS has little trouble getting the latest RPG and high tech missile launcher the Ukrainian "separatists" got a hold of to shoot down MH17 with.
A better example of how effective armed citizens are against the government would be Waco, but that doesn't support your point. The only reason that Waco lasted so long was because government rules prevented them from using overwhelming force. Or Chechnya, the Russian Govt. doesn't pull their punches... but Chechnya doesn't support your assertion either.
You cant trust a manufacturer to be truthful. I mean look at the recent GM ignition recalls. They waited until it killed serveral people before they did anything. In Australia faulty VAG transmissions have killed people yet VAG have done nothing.
A single source of information where you can look up individual models and see what ones have had recalls is absolutely necessary. The reason the government has to do it is because the private industry has
1) no incentive to do it.
2) no means to ensure that they do it accurately (BWM could pay them to keep their recalls on a separate page in the sub basement in a locked filing cabinet located in a disused lavatory with the sign "beware of the leopard" on the door).
Erm... sorry if this makes too much sense.
It'll bring up plenty of news articles, but not a lot of facts.
If I want to find an actual recall notice, I can go to recalls.gov.au and look by manufacturer. Yep, an Australian government run website (that works, oddly enough).
It shouldn't be zero revenue because there would be no 'deterrance' which is their stated goal.
However, the revenue should go into a different pot, like an annual donation to local charities that are not otherwise funded by the city.
Welcome to Western Australia (WA), Australia.
All revenue from speed and red light cameras go into the Road Trauma Trust Fund. This means it completely bypasses the states coffers. Millions sit in this fund because they cant actually do anything with it (every time they try, the media creates a giant circus over it, they even tried giving out free driving lessons to learners once before the Murdoch press got wind of it and shut it down).
The problem is fines alone dont change behaviour as the people who get fines just slap each other on the back and circle jerk over the Revenue Raising conspiracy theory. I'd love to see the end of the revenue raising conspiracy (I know conspiracy theories are hard to kill though). Basically if you want to see a change in driver behaviour you need to make punishments punitive. This means taking more and more drastic measures for repeat offenders. In my state if you go over 45 KPH your license is taken off you for 3 months (6 months for the second time, 12 for the third) and if you're caught driving without a license you can be sent to jail. As long as the only punishment is monetary, people will continue to pay and wont change behaviour.