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Suppose a gasoline tax increase is inevitable

fairsheet

Senator
Actually the Rental Car company won..He signed a contract that had that clause in it.

as for the higher rate for heavier vehicles is to account for the heavier wear it puts on the roads. Taxing gas directly has the same effect.

Not sure why you are asking the question other than in setting up a strawman about another government beaurocracy
I think we'd find that the legally-permitted use of data from OBD-II boxes, is circumscribed. That's because this technology is federally mandated for all (buyers of post '95 cars) and it was originally authorized ONLY for the purposes of monitoring emissions equipment. If I'm not mistaken, the fact that OBD-II can also be used to monitor non-emissions related mechanical issues with a car, is more in the vein of a "bonus" than a mandate.

Now then...if we're renting a car from a company that promises to use the OBD-II to monitor our speed, we retain the option of renting from a company that doesn't make that promise. But, it wouldn't be reasonable to simply tell all Americans that if they don't like OBD-II, they can jolly well buy themselves a pre-'96 car.

Long babble short...I suspect that absent specific federal legislation, the use of OBD-II information for any purpose beyond monitoring a cars vital function, must be voluntary on the part of the driver AND the driver must have a reasonable and valid alternative.
 

NightSwimmer

Senator
I think we'd find that the legally-permitted use of data from OBD-II boxes, is circumscribed. That's because this technology is federally mandated for all (buyers of post '95 cars) and it was originally authorized ONLY for the purposes of monitoring emissions equipment. If I'm not mistaken, the fact that OBD-II can also be used to monitor non-emissions related mechanical issues with a car, is more in the vein of a "bonus" than a mandate.

Now then...if we're renting a car from a company that promises to use the OBD-II to monitor our speed, we retain the option of renting from a company that doesn't make that promise. But, it wouldn't be reasonable to simply tell all Americans that if they don't like OBD-II, they can jolly well buy themselves a pre-'96 car.

Long babble short...I suspect that absent specific federal legislation, the use of OBD-II information for any purpose beyond monitoring a cars vital function, must be voluntary on the part of the driver AND the driver must have a reasonable and valid alternative.

OBD-II is a fault reporting system for the vehicle's drive train. The Black Box event recorder is a different device altogether. It was proposed in 2004 and guidelines for data point capture weren't established until 2006. While many modern vehicles do feature a Black Box event recorder, they are still not mandated for all US vehicles, although that could change very soon.
 
california evidently tested this idea a while back (a device to log the miles you drive) but concluded there were 2 problems . ..

1 - it probably constitutes some sort search without a warrant, since it would inevitably be used to demonstrate that so-and-so had driven to "known drug area" or some other inappropriate place.

2- hackers would figure out how to render it useless in about 5 seconds. For that matter, surrounding the device/antenna with some metal foil should do the trick, even if you don't know how to download the free blocking software.
 

fairsheet

Senator
OBD-II is a fault reporting system for the vehicle's drive train. The Black Box event recorder is a different device altogether. It was proposed in 2004 and guidelines for data point capture weren't established until 2006. While many modern vehicles do feature a Black Box event recorder, they are still not mandated for all US vehicles, although that could change very soon.
I wasn't sure if folks were conflating the two, or making a distinction. Anyway.......I imagine that a federally or state mandated non-OBD-II "black box", would have a helluva time passing political and constitutional muster.

As to the OBD-II though....that thing collects a rather surprising amount of information relative to how a car is driven. And in fact - if it were allowed in court - it COULD be used to determine fault in some car accidents.
 
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