"I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams
I don't see the problem with speed monitored cars frankly - the limits are there for a reason. Electric cutouts instituted nationally at the top speed limit make a lot of sense to me - just GPS unlock them at the track.
If speed monitoring would be mandatory on new cars, i think sales would drop critically on super cars/high performance cars critically. Brands who base their cars on performance and speed would suffer hard. Brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini and others would most likely close down or enter a very limited production scale. To bad for the auto industry IMO.
A system that would not read speed but purely average fuel use and km's covered would be better. And what if you have to cross the speed limit for safety reasons?
sorry for going sooo off topic in what should be about your car.....
Probably monitoring systems would be based on average speeds and not a short period of exceeding maximum allowed speed, so your problem regarding safety aspects could be solved. On top of that safety concerns would probably far less important if all cars travel more or less at the same speed. (and people are being kept awake)
"I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams
but it has business to regulate that you are not driving on a FASTER mile by mile basis than legally agreed. The proposed road-pricing in Holland will be based on km's covered, whereby the average figure will be the starting point around which km tariffs will be set. You will pay progressively more the higher your mileage will be and the more you will be driving during peak hours. At the same time all current (fixed) tax levies will be abolished.
The main philosophy behind is to tax the use of cars, not the possession.
The Communist Manifesto contained a lot of interesting things, which have unfortunately been abused by the "believers".
In this respect the coincidence with the Bible and its followers is striking...
"I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams
If you are trying to limit the use of cars a fuel tax works very well. For example since fuel prices in the US have increased from $0.75 to $1.00/liter in less than a year US oil consumption has decreased from 21 mbpd to a but under 20 mpbd (a 1 mpbd or the production of a supergiant oil field or small oil exporting country which is HUGE). If prices were raised even further I'm sure you would be able to achieve even more oil savings. And this road pricing scheme that is being brought about in Holland as far as I can see cannot discriminate between a future electric car and a modern day 4x4. Its just simpler and more equitable to tax what you burn, not how far you drive or what you drive.
So what and what if my car gets the same or even better fuel efficiency at 130 km/h as it does at 100 km/h? This whole business of limiting speed to achieve fuel savings is somewhat obsolete since modern cars do get better fuel efficiency at higher motorway speeds (to a point). This is not the 1970s where going 80-90 km/h got you the best efficiency its more like 110-130 km/h. Another excellent way to achieve oil savings is to raise the fees and/or requirements to let people get a license. You have to mentally retarded or homeless to be unable to get or afford a license in most US states for example (its extremely easy).
Any system that tracks cars or monitors speed/behavior on a mile by mile basis is bound to be abused by any government for spying and revenue purposes.
Last edited by MRR; 07-30-2008 at 04:21 PM.
fuel tax only works to the level where neighbouring countries do the same. We are small and surrounded by relatively small countries too. There will be very active cross border hopping when there are significant differences. Of course that is problem which you could also have along the canadian and mexican border, but here you can cross any border without having to stop....
"I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams
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