States droping tax on gas !!

[Bambikiller240]

Yes very true , I just hate how things are put in with bills just to get them into law covered by another bill or law, unfortunately we have to be very careful on this we vote for and who we put into office < not starting something here being blue or red ok > just a simple comment

If anyone thinks that either RED OR BLUE elected officials are immune to voting with their heads up their asses (or their hand in someone's pocket) then "he/she" is part of the problem that faces this country.

[ta240]

and Wow, talk about a revenue generator. If they know where you are and how fast you are going they could just mail you a pile of tickets for each time you exceeded the speedlimit.

[LanceM]

Looking at this from the technical end it is interesting as I really wonder if the technology is here to do something like that today or even in the next few years. Yes I know that it is in use or something like it but we are talking millions of cars not thousands. And if you think about it there are so many ways around it, really, what if you want to get some gas for your mower, wouldn't it be great not to pay road tax on that gas!! In the course of a year I probably buy several hundred gallons of gas that is burned off road, that would be great considering how much road tax is per gallon. Gas in a 5 gallon can is gas, fits in my tank just fine. But anyway, if anything this would only apply to new cars, how would they "make" you install a GPS in your old Z??? I think it would have a hard time passing if you had to buy something so they could tax you, for sure it would get a bunch of redneck boys I know in a huff...

Anyway from the technical standpoint the car that had this would have to have a computer in it, tied to the GPS, speedometer, and all the other goodies. No computer, well it isn't going to work. For those of you that live in the cities with the big buildings GPS isn't going to work very well and if it isn't tied to your odometer it isn't going to know how far you’ve gone, if I block the GPS signal it's not going to know where I've been... and it doesn’t take much to block the GPS signal if you have access to the antenna.

Sounds great for a new car install, really tough for an old car upgrade. And before you yell what do you know about it, I’m a EE and work for a very large defense contractor designing military radios with embedded GPS, along with Have Quick, and Saturn waveforms so I’ve beaten my head against the wall trying to solve “simple” GPS problems and I wouldn’t want to even think about tackling one like this that tax revenue is going to be coming from.

[240ZX]

Gawd, isn't it just pathetic that the vast majority of mankind is motivated souly by money/power...............like they say (who ever they are) MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. Anyway, what seems to usually happen in these cases is, and sadly so, all the little sheep (non thinking individuals) will fall in line and take the big d*** up the A_ _ and then complain about it later, while the thinkers bust their butts trying to prevent these kinds of atrocities! The reality of it, IMO, is that governing bodies just can't manage anything, especially themselves! Hell, it's just a semi-organized free for all. Boy can I rant! Sorry guys...

[Alfadog]

Anyway from the technical standpoint the car that had this would have to have a computer in it, tied to the GPS, speedometer, and all the other goodies. No computer, well it isn't going to work.

Excuse my ignorance, but.. err.. why? It's not like it's a BMW 7 series GPS system that can tell you the air-speed velocity of the pigeon that just shat on your windscreen, just a tracking device...

(I'm not saying it would work, I don't think it would. But I am curious as to why you think it wouldn't work in cars without computers)

[LanceM]

Alfadog,

We're looking at a tracking and recording system, it has to keep track of where you have been and how far you have gone, how quickly you got there would be just an extra perk for those that cared So you need some kind of recording device, in this case a computer would be best as it could be programed to combine the data into a useful output for the "recorder"(read government).

[Bambikiller240]

Couldn't it just record and transmit data to any number of fixed location receiving stations without a powerful computer in your car? Heck, look at all the crap they stuff into a cell phone sized package now days.

As for requiring you to purchase it, all they have to do is jack up the registration fees to cover the cost, and require the installationm of the unit when you get a smog check.

[hls30.com]

ODBII already has all but the GPS and transmitter functions already built in, and has for several years. When an OBDII equiped car has been in an accident, the data from the time of the accident can be downloaded from the ECM to verify the demands placed on the car prior to and at the time of the accident. The recording feature is limited to a small amount of time, but memory chips are cheep, and when the automakers get universally involved economies of scale will put everything on one chip for less than $5

Will

[seerex]

Unfortunately its out there and it works very well. But on a smaller scale. Two example I know of , Swift a frieght company has units in their truck that tell the main office their speed, distance traveled, what rate of speed was averaged, their location, and if the motor is running . Also I drove a police scruiser that was outfitted with trunk sgt, its a device that does the exact same thing but adds in the ability to know when the light and sirens were activated and used and where. It also tracked when cage was in use < rear hold seats> , its uses sensors in the doors and in the seat. So its here just a matter of if they can make it work cheaply enough and get us to sign off on it .

[beandip]

It would be so much simpler if they wanted to tax miles driven to simply read your odometer every year when you got your car inspected and charge you on the difference from last year. One sum charged once a year. And it wouldn't cost anything either. No need to install GPS's in your car or anything....

Government amazes me sometimes. Dumb, expensive solutions for easily solved issues, and half the time the solutions don't fix the problem.

sence when does the government care what it costs you to keep track of something. As for computing the charges that will be done each time you fuel up.

[Bambikiller240]

Our member waynekarnes tells me that the vehicles he drives for work are already fitted with tracking by GPS. They know where and when you have coffeebreaks, and any deviation from where you should be driving. :mad" Big Brother is here!

[280zgod]

you think OBDII has lots of gizmos well then watch out for OBDIII cuz from what i hear that is definitely going to have the gps and possibly a feature that allows the smog people to shut your car off and regualte driving speeds. we in california need to act fast and hard.