Heebie Jeebies

I’ve always believed the EZ Pass technology would be used by the STATE to generate revenue by debiting your credit card for speeding fines without a policeman ever getting involved. Big Brother will collect the revenue for the ever growing monstrosity we call government. The technology was sold to the masses as improving their lives. Instead it is being used to enslave and control them. It is already here.

Hat tip to JL

Guest Post by Eric Peters

There is a downside to getting these brand-new cars to test drive all the time. I know what’s coming before you do. A hint, the leading edge. The camel’s nose under the tent. It’s just a whiff, sometimes.safety1

But the aroma is unmistakable.

The smell of Uncle. His filthy presence, spoiling all the fun.

It makes me toss and turn; makes it hard to enjoy the cars. Here’s an example:

For about the past year, I’ve noticed that – irrespective of make or model – new cars with factory installed GPS have this creepy little icon on the LCD display screen that reminds you (oh-so-helpfully) of the speed limit on whatever road you happen to be driving on at that particular moment. It’s white with black letters – just like the real (physical) signs. And it updates in real time, as you drive.

Think about that.

What do you suppose it portends?

I’ve long suspected that it’s like Lego. This – a helpful notification about the speed limit – is the first piece. A building block. Onto which the next block will be placed.

Last week, I got to see the next block.safety2

A brand-new (and all-new) 2014 Mazda3 sedan arrived for me to test drive. All the latest bells and whistles. Including an updated take on the oh-so-helpful speed limit “sign.” It now turns angry red in real time whenever and wherever you exceed the speed limit.

It shifts back to black on white once you reduce your speed to within legal parameters.

Now, kiddies, what do you suppose the next piece of electronic Lego will be?

To recap:

Most new cars have GPS, which makes it feasible for the car to “know” at any given moment where it is, where it’s headed – and where it’s been. As well as how fast it’s going. Or gone. The data can be – is – recorded.

It can also be transmitted.

GPS technology is “send and receive.” In order for the car to know its position (and speed) at any given moment, it must be able to communicate with GPS satellites in real time. This communication is not a one-way street. Many factory GPS systems have “concierge” or “emergency” services that are explicitly two-way. Lesser known – but working on the same principle – many new cars (like the 2014 BMW 3 I have this week) can send – and receive – service updates and such like. Wi-fi Internet/e-mail access is becoming a not-uncommon in-car feature.

Cars so equipped “know” exactly what the speed limit is on any given road, at any given moment – just as they know the name/number of the road itself. They also know when you’re “speeding” – as Mazda’s helpful little helper helpfully lets you know. I have no doubt they also know exactly how much you’re “speeding,” too. This is not – yet – displayed.

But bet your bippie it is recorded.

All new cars – by law – are being fitted with Event Data Recorders (EDRs) or “black boxes” that record this data – and many others things besides.

The ’15 Corvette will – reportedly – take video of your driving. And store it. See here.

Here is an interesting preview of what’s in store for the rest of us – not just Corvette drivers.

Can you smell it yet?

The ’14 Mazda3, like an ever-expanding roll call of new cars, also offers pre-emptive braking. Mazda calls it something else, of course (“Smart City Brake Support,” to be precise. Yack). But that’s what it does. Pre-emptively brakes. The car decides it’s time to slow – or even stop – and does so. You are second banana. This usurper technology is integral – essential – for the practical implementation of the driver-free (Google calls it driverless, but that’s a misnomer) car. The car has a driver.

It’s just not you.Safety last

The premise underlying all of this is: You are (pick one) inept, reckless, addled – and cannot be trusted to drive the car. The computer will drive it for you. More accurately, the people who program the computer will drive “your” (ahem) car for you. It’s not safe for you to drive the car.  This is the sickly song of our age:

Saaaaaaaafety, saaaafety – uber alles!

To get back to the speed limit helper thing. Using GPS, the car knows when you’re “speeding” – every single time you “speed.” This is easily done by comparing your velocity at any given moment with the posted limit on that road, which info the car downloads continuously via the GPS. The data about your “speeding” can be recorded – and transmitted.

Add a dash of insurance mafia lust to rifle your pockets – and your legal inability to tell them to piss off. You cannot – by law – say “no” to insurance. You must buy it. And they will tell you how much you’ll pay.

The cherry on top: The government’s increasingly demented but ever-more-turgid insistence that it must know about – and control – literally everything. The Fourth and Fifth Amendments are as inoperative as Hugh Heffner’s penis. They are impotent relics of a sepia-tinted age, receding rapidly in the rearview.irs

And what’s ahead?

Real-time dunning for every single instance of “speeding.” Perhaps by the insurance mafia – perhaps by the government. From our point of view, it amounts to the same thing.

Driving is about to become a bunch more expensive – and whole lot less fun.

They could of course also make “speeding” impossible – by programming the car to be incapable of going faster than whatever the speed limit happens to be on any given road at any given moment. That would satisfy the Safety Fetish.

But because there’s so much money at stake, probably what will happen is they’ll require that cars be fitted with some updated take on the EZ Pass thing –  already in use to automatically debit your account for tolls and such. Why not do the same to “speeders”? They are already seriously talking about tax-by-the-mile.

I’m telling you, it’s coming.

I can smell it.

Can’t you?

Throw it in the Woods?    

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Iska Waran
Iska Waran

Found this list of EDR “supported” vehicles. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9534701

Sounds like buying pre-EDR used vehicle might be a short term workaround.

harry p.

i am really torn, on one hand the govt is trying to turn people into sheeple or “clovers” (as eric p calls them) but then if people didn’t “speed” and actually followed all teh rules there would be even less of a need for copfuks while also generating less revenue. eliminating govt jobs and getting less revenue are big no-nos.
i guess they could always own/control the V2V system that will allow driverless cars and tax the hell out of people to use it.

TE
TE

Harry, you amuse me.

When, pray tell when, do cops get reduced.

The war on drugs – prostitution and urban farming too – really began with the end of prohibition, and the scores of feds with budgets and nothing to pursue.

I’m not torn at all. Everything they do is evil in nature, we members of the herd are never the true beneficiaries.

Fewer cops, that is freaking rich!

Stucky

My 14 year old Buick is looking better all the time.

It has cruise control …. that’s about the “smartest” that old fucker will ever be.

harry p.

TE,
it would be a harder sell than normal to convince people that we still need more copfuks when there are no traffic violations to enforce. it would be likely something else not policed by them woud then be their responsibility. makes me think of the role of “firemen” in Fahrenhiet 451 where their job is to find and burn books, instead of putting out fires.

glad to amuse you… trust me, i realize we are never the beneficiaries, i am only torn in regards to how they will balance increasing their power in one aspect to near 100% while not relinquishing their resources. maybe i am just thinking it will be a harder sell than it actually will be, i am probably being optimistic all it took was a few saudi’s crashing planes in NYC to allow people to have their childen molested by the TSA.

stucky,
my 20yo camry an 25yo mr2 are looking pretty good at the moment too.

Thinker

I keep hoping that the “free” market (ha!) will provide options, like cars that don’t contain tracking technology and insurance companies that don’t use the technology to decide their rates. Yeah, I’m a freaking optimist.

But just think how much more you might be willing to pay for a car or an insurance policy that help you avoid Big Brother… there have to be liberty-loving entrepreneurs somewhere that would be willing to create a niche market there, if allowed to.

Econman
Econman

From the ins. co. point of view, they want to make the roads as accident free is possible. Then, with few payouts, they get to keep all the cash from premiums.

Also, fascist governments always want to control your travel.

AWD

Once again, the government turning something enjoyable, your relationship with your car, into pain and misery. Turning your own property into a narc. Your house spies on you, via the meters. Your phone and computer spy on you. They even monitor your TV watching.

You could get three separate speeding tickets or more during one trip. You could lose your license by taking one trip and speeding.

Pretty soon their going to force you to get implants. Then they’ll tax you every time you have sex or masturbate. There’s always an ulterior motive to government dependence (besides getting free shit). If you get money for food stamps from the government, to continue to do so you will have to get an implantable chip in your arm. In addition to taxing sex, they’ll tax you every time you take a breath, every time you urinate, and every time you defecate. It’s coming. Screw the fascists.

Desertrat
Desertrat

A GPS needs an antenna to receive or send. Reckon you can figure out how to deal with that?

El Coyote
El Coyote

Foiling the data transmission will lead to insurance hikes and penalties for failure to pay road taxes. Do you s

El Coyote
El Coyote

Do you see why Flo is handing out driver monitoring devices in a dark alley? Because they know it is a sordid campaign to get you to comply with Big Brother.

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