As motorcycle riders, we must occasionally pull our heads out of our garages and smudged parts manuals to look around and wonder what the heck those yahoos are up to these days, the yahoos in question being our elected representatives in the Legislature. It's like, you can't take your eyes off them for a minute, they're always looking for ways to nick us for little things that add up. For example, who knew that a bill was put in play last session that wanted all of us with Collector Plates on our bikes to pay an annual fee for them? It did not pass, but next time it might. Apparently, some folks were complaining that the collector plate was designed for bikes that are only ridden occasionally, as in to a Vintage Motorcycle event or a swap meet, but some folks are abusing the privilege and putting them on their daily rider bikes that just happen to be old enough to be allowed one.
Now here's another one I stumbled across, and bring it to your attention in the same spirit of public awareness, since how many of us have the time and the inclination to pay attention to those idiots in Congress.
You must dig through the flood of information we get every
day, and be paying attention to little bits that flit by - buried in the back
pages of the daily paper or popping up in your news feed for a brief moment - in
order to stay on top of what is coming down in this country, if not world-wide.
A small piece in the back pages of the Seattle Times caught
my attention, saying the State was studying a pay-per-mile scheme to replace
the gas tax. A quick Google search
showed that the concept has been talked about for some time, and trial balloons
are being sent up regularly all over the state to get people used to the idea.
Presumably, this is happening because of the advent of
electric vehicles combined with the increasing fuel efficiency in newer cars (not to mention motorcycles) has been dropping the state’s income from the gas tax, and they’re looking for
ways to replace the lost money. The
Washington State Transportation Commission’s final report on the plan is
available here: https://waroadusagecharge.org/
Without getting too deep in details, the basic question is
“How will you know who is driving how many miles?” The answer could come from voluntary reports
quarterly from each driver (think of the bureaucracy that would generate), up
to a dongle you could plug into your data port (you’d have to take out the one
that your insurance company is already using to track how fast you go and
stop), or a built-in GPS that reports your whereabouts continually to the
appropriate authorities. This last
option appears to be the most painless for them, if not for us, and I believe
many new cars already have this installed.
I do see a few mouthed concerns about privacy in the articles, but no
details yet.
It’s not too hard to see what’s coming and imagine the
implications. For one obvious thing,
what if they institute the mileage fee, but never quite manage to drop the gas
tax? Raise your hands, all those who see
this as inevitable.
But the big thing is the data that will be generated about
our individual movements, and how that data can be exploited both by government
and companies. Have you ever walked into
a restaurant and had your phone chime in with the specials of the day? How soon before the restaurant does a quick
credit check to be sure you can afford to be there? How long before an automatic charge is levied
every time you cross a state border, or a county? How long before, in the name of convenience,
we will be signing up for a new, expanded Good-To-Go pass that pays your tolls
on all freeways (what a silly name, free-ways) and can be used to pay your
customs fees while leaving or entering the country, or a park, or a tunnel. Counties will quickly see the benefits of a
very small fee levied on all vehicles that pass through, especially those who
are not owned by one of the few voters in the county. The smart ones will find a way to cut the
voters a discount, if not a free pass.
But wait, further ramifications are in order here! If you have one of those new cars or bikes (?) that sounds
an alarm if you get too close to the car in front of you, and even hits the
brakes if you don’t slow down fast enough to satisfy your car, does that not
serve as a training tool for habitual tail-gaters? So why not also tag along a small fee every
time the system engages, not to mention a copy to the insurance company, which
will rack up another point on your record?
How long before they all do it?
Since these vehicles will already be equipped with front,
rear and side cameras, they can also send video to the authorities, who can
review the data with computers who will assign a traffic citation to you for
the infraction, even if it does not result in a collision.
The last time I rented a car with a video display for
navigation, I quickly realized it included a camera pointed right back at me,
which meant the rental agency staff could probably have a look at me any time
they wanted, just to be sure who was driving.
So much for deniability. Can
automatic speeding tickets be far behind?
We already have photo-op cameras that ding us for $125 or more if we go
through a school zone too fast at the wrong time, regardless of the presence of
children, or fail to completely stop in the right place at an
intersection. This service is provided
by an out-of-state company that is paid by the ticket, plus a large minimum for
each camera. In the future, our own car
will rat us out.
Bit by bit, hook by crook, Big Brother is creeping into our
lives. In the name of stability, and the
tyranny of very large numbers, the United States of America is following China
and the other authoritarian countries down the path of control, which leads to
hell for anyone who doesn’t meet the requirements. The only reason we are not all out in the
streets right now demanding the closure of all the existing detainment camps is
that we have been reassured they are not for us, this time.
What can we do about this?
For one thing, buy, restore and drive old cars and bikes, at least until they pass
a law requiring us to install the tracking equipment. Think that can’t happen? What did California do to bring old cars in
compliance with their smog control laws? What happened to the aftermarket motorcycle exhaust industry?
But above all, we must stop leaving to other people the
oversight of our government, beginning with the most local levels. It is no longer possible to relax and leave
it to others and not wind up regretting it as our costs go up and our control
goes down. As American Citizens, we do
have the Bill of Rights in our pockets, and, as our own history shows us, we
can take to the streets, man the barricades, and fight!
Before we open any door that can’t be closed and might let
in something we didn’t want to deal with, we can talk. We can stand up and speak our minds. We can educate the misinformed. We can speak truth to power. And we can vote like our lives depend on it,
because they do. :-{)}
