It used to be you had to drive through the “checkpoint.”
Soon, you’ll be driving it.
Part of the Biden Thing’s “infrastructure” edict includes a requirement that cars made beginning with the 2026 model year come standard with what amounts to what courts used to order sometimes be fitted to the cars of people convicted of drunk driving.
The italics are important.
It is no longer necessary in this country to have done something in order to be punished for it. This is just the latest example. Others include being treated as presumptively sick and ordered to wear a “mask” because you might be, endlessly.
No matter how obviously not-sick you are.
This was preceded by presumptive terrorism – i.e., everyone who travels by commercial airliner (but not, it is worth mentioning, private jet) is handled – literally – as if they actually had threatened to blow up an airliner.
Also on the theory that they might.
All of this was established as an actionable principle many decade ago – back in the 1980s – when the court that decrees what is and is not legally allowable (irrespective of the plain meaning of the words of the law) decreed it was no longer a legal obligation to suspect someone of having done something – this hoary old notion in the law of probable cause – prior to subjecting them to an investigatory procedure.
As for example detaining people at “checkpoints” where they are obliged to show ID and satisfy a cop they are not “drunk,” without having given the cop the slightest reason to suspect them of being anything at all.
It was enough – said the court – that they were driving on government roads and had obtained a government-issued driver’s license, by which (said the court) they had given their implied consent to having their travel arbitrarily interrupted, be detained under duress (however “briefly,” as it if that mitigates the affront of it) and obliged to convince a cop they weren’t doing something he had no prior reason to suspect them of doing.
This “implied consent” business being a lot like a man who says a woman who agrees to go out to dinner with him has agreed to have sex with him afterward. It’s vicious nonsense, of course. But it is also the law – as regards these “checkpoints.”
And so it has followed, inevitably – as an elaboration of the principe already accepted (or at least, established in law) that it is ok for cops to stop drivers for no specific reason at all and treat them as presumptively “drunk” – that drivers will shortly be unable to go until their car has decided they are not “drunk.”
How will it decide? And what constitutes “drunk”?
The how will be via sensors, probably embedded in the steering wheel (along with the government-decreed air bag) that sample the driver’s breath or – possibly, his skin, via touch. The what will likely be anything – as regards alcohol. In a number of states, that is already effectively the standard defining “drunk.” This is not an exaggeration. Any driver under the age of 21 – the legal age for drinking alcohol, at all – who is found to be driving with any trace of alcohol in his system, is guilty of “drunk” driving under “zero tolerance” laws.
For those over 21, the standard is nearly as harsh. Many states presume “drunkenness” if the driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.05 – which can be reached after having had almost nothing to drink. To describe it as “drunk” is to cheapen the meaning of the word – as by calling someone a “racist” because they question Leftist victimology politics. But it does serve the purpose of ensnaring more “drunks” and thereby, more money for the courts and the insurance mafia. It also creates a kind of hysteria – that “drunks” abound. Of a piece with the recent hysteria about sickness abounding.
Something must be done about it.
And so it is.
Some will say: What’s the problem? No one should be drinking and driving. This will not affect people who don’t drink and drive! Well, they’re wrong about the latter. Everyone – including those who never drink at all – who buys a 2026 model year car will pay for the technology – which the car companies aren’t putting in the cars for free.
And they will pay again, when it glitches – and the “service alcohol sensor” light comes on. The system will be part of the federally required suite of “safety” systems, like the air bags – and that means your car will not pass the safety inspection required in most states to lawfully drive it on the government’s roads. You will have to pay to get the system fixed – whatever it costs – if you want to continue driving the car.
And we’ll all be paying more for insurance, too. For the same reason we’re paying more to “cover” air bag-equipped cars, even f we never wreck ours. Other do – and will – and someone’s going to pay for that. And for this, as well.
But those are superficial filchings compared with what it will cost us – in principle. This business establishes one that says drivers will be controlled by their cars, as opposed to the other way around. You will be presumed incompetent, reckless – illegal, at least.
If your car thinks you are “drunk” and prevents you from driving on that basis, then why not on other basis? As for example driving “too fast”? Maneuvering too “aggressively”? These are all things a modern car can sense, too. And if it is programmed to, it can shut itself down just as easily as it can turn itself off if it decides you are too “drunk” to drive.
It makes one not want to bother with driving, doesn’t it?
Of course, that is just the point. One that enough people will hopefully come to understand while there is still time. Hang on to what you’ve got. Because you don’t want what’s coming.
. . .
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Amen, Marcus –
The older and simpler, the better. A VW Beetle is looking mighty fine…
My ’67 Ghia ragtop became a dune buggy decades ago. (Sigh!)
I don’t see how anyone can go wrong by studying the Amish and the Viet Cong. I think there’s a happy medium in between those two extremes.
I just picked up a motorcycle that gets around 45 mpg. I picked it up for next to nothing and it’s in mint condition. It’s just not popular with the younger generations so I added it to my growing collection. As I continue to pick up these relics from the past, I get this feeling that I’m well on my way to joining the ranks of collectors like Jay Leno, but with the twist that I’m selecting only reliable, fuel-efficient Asian vehicles that most people don’t want until they see that everything else being sold today is just shiny pieces of junk.
According to Deagal.com, the US population will be reduced by some 250 million by 2025. So none of this might matters as cars will become extinct, roads will fall in disrepair and there will be no where to go with 15 minute cites all the rage for those who survive the great reset, WHO, gates and the leftists. Your two options: become dead or became a gate’s controlled robot.
Only a nuke toast of the world will do that. In which case all but the aliens are F’ed. And They won’t be in such good shape either. Nukes do not discriminate
My 67 Cougar, 67 Vista Cruiser and Two 69 C-10 pickups have none of this. That is, until they outlaw me driving them.
the only thing I would like about this is it would deprive the cops lawyers judges rehabs courts insurance companies tons and tons of money not being able to pull people over and run them threw the gauntlet. starve the beast
Which is just one more reason I’d never buy a new car. I’d rather walk than be tracked. For the record, my phone is usually off when I do decide to take it with me.
Ditto, Ralph –
I’m flirting with going Amish. The “convenience” of modern “tech” is increasingly not worth the cost.
How about using your automotive connections to try and track down Joe Friday’s 1967 Ford Fairlane Police Interceptor 427?
It really should be restored and placed in a museum.
Hi John,
It might be in Greenfield Village!
Or a.1967 Plymouth Satellite with a 318 V8.sucking wind through a Carter BBD two-barrel. NO computers.
A little off topic, but here’s something else these psychopaths who wish to rule the world are planning. With the potential for the Biden Thing to issue MORE executive orders on “Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiimate change”, the regime will likely launch a war against farmers here like what we’ve seen in the Netherlands and other countries.
https://unherd.com/2023/03/the-great-food-reset-has-begun/
Hi John,
I can’t help but feel the Left just continually recycles the same talking points every decade or two. I didn’t pay attention to it all that much in my younger years, but the fear of not enough food, climate change, the glaciers melting, fossil fuels being nonexistent, etc. is reprogrammed every generation.
I stopped watching prepping channels recently. The constant drumming of “we are going to die” becomes white noise after a while. Do I believe in being prepared? Growing one’s own food? Becoming self-sufficient? Absolutely. But I am tired of living in fear waiting for the “big one.” It is exhausting and effects our mental health.
Were living through the big one- Heinlein’s Crazy Years. It’s like surfing- so long as you keep your balance and control, you stay on top and can enjoy the ride. If you don’t- very bad things.
Hi Ernie,
It is possible that we are experiencing the Crazy Years, but I look back on history – the Great Depression, World War II, various countries and their civil wars, the overthrowing of governments, the Year 536, etc. and we come to one conclusion…humans still survive. Did anyone think of the consequences of the USSA throwing two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What this could have done to the planet? The terminal radiation? The tens of thousands of innocent people caught in the crosshairs between two insane governments?
Is what we are experiencing today any crazier than what was experienced yesterday?
Thermal…not terminal, but it was terminal, too.
I have no doubt humans will survive. And having lived through the 70’s and 80’s I know, personally, that the crazy has ramped up exponentially. The current situation is highly unstable, with lots of pissed of people on the top and a tiny group of elitist losers holding way too much power and stuff at the bottom. What cannot go on wont- especially as the monstrous nature and size of the quackcine holocaust becomes undeniable.
‘It is possible that we are experiencing the Crazy Years.’ — RG
With Trump just indicted by the state of New York (source: NYT) and a Trans Day of Rage rumored on Saturday, today is Day One of the Crazy Years.
This fractured society is about to shake it itself apart.
Maybe a nuclear war will prove aong-,range blessing
RG,
The same people who bleated about how we need to “Feed the world” for years are now pushing to get rid of REAL food, calling it “Unsustainable”, while pushing for the masses to eat bugs and artificial meat grown in a lab. Somehow, in their twisted minds, THAT is sustainable. Have people on “The Left” become useful idiots for globalist technocrats, or have they become psychopaths themselves? It’s hard to say.
Hi John,
Who are these people? That is part of the problem. We are dealing with a bunch of nameless, faceless bureaucrats or guys too rich for their own good trying to establish rules for what they deem to be the new norm or some type of crisis. These same elites believe the rules need not apply to them.
They are going to be really surprised when the rest of mankind doesn’t line up and do their bidding. Of course, the college airheads will promote it for a while…until they grow up and realize Uncle Sam has his hand in their pocket at all times.
In twenty years of accounting/taxation I have yet to meet one person who has stated to me that they are not paying their fair share…even my clients who trend toward socialism. Actually, to be perfectly honest, they are usually the ones that balk the most when taxes are due.
The oligarchy can bray all they want on how things need to change but doesn’t mean they get their wish. To get that kind of order one has to promote fear. It almost worked during COVID, but the 24/7 news cycle was probably their greatest enemy. If it was the 1920s or the 1940s and people did not have the access to information that they do today it may have been successful. Three years ago, Fauci was a god. Today, Fauci is the devil. What occurred during COVID is now being questioned and the next plandemic will have far fewer participants.
Psychologically, I have noticed people are fine with change until it lands on their own doorstep. All of a sudden, they don’t want it.
Anyone going all in on Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers? I can only hope Mr. Gates wealth has been cut in half.
RG. The ironic thing is, people are okay with Socialism, when it means they get everything for free (the something-for-nothing crowd). They will be the first to squawk to high hell when the government confiscates everything from them to give to the other, something-for-nothings, because those folks were even worse off, or who were willing to bend over and submit a bit more than them. You are right: They are okay with all this, until it lands on their doorstep. The problem is, they think that day will never come. They are the “it can’t happen to me” crowd. Until it does. As for Gates’ wealth, even if it was cut in half, it would not be any skin off his nose. His net worth is 107.6 billion dollars. cut that in half, and he is still one rich evil bastard.
“His net worth is 107.6 billion dollars.” Actually, his net worth is about $1.00, the value of the trace elements sometime in the next few years when the evil bastard goes to join his evil master. Just a cheerful thought for you!
I stopped watching mainstream television years ago, RG. Hell, Al Gore has been bloviating for decades, that the coastlines of the U.S. would be underwater by the year 2000, because of climate change. The globalists must not be too concerned, seeing is how Obama and Big Mike bought beach front property in Martha’s Vineyard. And never mind Gore’s two mansions and private jet. It is simply too difficult to take these people seriously, even if “global warming/climate change” was real. And yes, Ernie, one day Gates will end up in the smoking section of eternity. People like him (and Rockefeller, and Soros) just seem to have way more than nine lives, so as to try and inflict misery on those they deem not worthy of life. But yes, one day, Ernie. If we are lucky, the rest of us will survive them and what they are trying to inflict on the rest of us.
It only affects one’s mental health when it is presented as prepping. I was introduced to Austrian economics at a young age and immediately began to see that what the bankers were doing to the markets was not just idiotic, it was flat out wrong. I made plans to deal with the inevitable consequences of their stupidity. That’s not prepping. That’s what used to be known as common sense.
Likewise, I also began to see that my diet was causing some serious health issues, so I stopped eating processed crap and after doing quite a bit of digging in the garden, my health improved so drastically that I no longer felt any reason to maintain health insurance or seek out those who were indoctrinated into the Rockefeller’s idea of medicine.
I routinely hear of shortages of wheat, corn, soy, pork, coffee, and sugar. I don’t consume any of those things anymore anyways. Most of my supply lines extend no further than the forest beyond my property line. Most of what I forage for was planted by me so I don’t have to look far and wide to find something to eat. Some look at that as being prepared. I see it as common sense.
I don’t see myself as all that prepared at all, but then I don’t compare myself to people who continue to rely upon corporate Amerika for all of their daily needs either.
“Some will say: What’s the problem? No one should be drinking and driving. This will not affect people who don’t drink and drive!”
My response would be “Well, no one should be looking at their smartphones while driving, either. Perhaps Sleepy Joe should also mandate a device that verifies the driver’s phone is off, and ‘bricks’ the car if they turn it back on.” I can already hear the snowflakes singing!
Indeed, Blue –
As always, this is about more control – the “drunk driving” thing is just the latest excuse. What the authoritarian Left seeks is total managerial control over everything; you will be free to act as they say only. They cannot abide any discretion because it is an implicit threat to their belief that you have no right to any – at all.
First it was drunk driving. Implied consent. I was a lawyer in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s in Hillsdale County MI, the 1st Circuit Court in Michigan. Our then Circuit Court Judge, Harvey W. Moes. (I have some stories I could tell some second hand some first about Harvey). Harvey threw out the implied consent as unconstitutional in Michigan. Which it is as well as a logical fallacy. Consent by definition must be overt not implied. He was of course reversed by the Higher Courts. Harvey also ruled that cops noses were not akin to bloodhounds, one acerbic ruling was “since he can’t smell the stink of his own testimony, I cannot give credence to his smelling alcohol, a colorless, odorless liquid”. Since that day cops have had their way.
Harvey also ruled that retirement savings in divorce cases belonged to the saver and was not Marital Property to be divided in a divorce. Now it is fair that anything earned during a marriage (partnership) should be for both parties, his ruling was based on keeping it simple. The division of retirement assets in a divorce is a can of worms. They keep squiggling. Eric I am sure you understand. He was of course reversed, opening up the current litigious can of worms we have. Case is Boyd v. Boyd, I knew both of the parties.
Next up on the hit list was Domestic Violence. It became the crime de jour after Drunk Driving. We now have all kinds of laws, injunctions, domestic violence agencies, another big industry like MADD.
Now we are going to thought crimes against any minority especially deviants. I do not include Gays and Lesbians, I think they are real. The other members of the alphabet, not so much, when it entails surgery.
I spent many years as a defense attorney, and divorce lawyer. Steadily the standards changed. I finally quit the defense attorney game when I realized I could not defend people, only try to cop a deal, even for the innocent (there are a few of those out there) I stopped doing divorce as nobody ever is happy about the outcome, and always it is the lawyers fault.
I now do other areas of the law where I can benefit people, estate planning (keeping your money for your kids), Bankruptcy (cutting your losses) and of course free advice to my friends. I am closely approaching advanced age being over 50 according to the standards of the Social Security administration. I have been around long enough to see the collapse that is accelerating.
Morning, Ugg!
Yes, this business of “implied” consent is as oxymoronic as being “asked” (that is, told) to hand over money to the government. Both are etymological and moral obscenities. Using the logic, such as it is, a man could claim any woman who allowed him to hug her has given implied consent to have her ass grabbed. It astounds me that so many people cannot draw obvious inferences and relationships. I think it is part of the reason how we got from where we once were to where we find ourselves now.
In re divorce: Been there/done that. I was pretty lucky – chiefly because my ex is not a vile person. But the thing that terrifies – rightly, in my view – many men about marriage is the prospect of losing their finances as well as their marriage. I think if the government were not involved in marriage, there would be more of it. If things go bad and the couple decide to split, then each leave with what they came into it with; i.e., their stuff. Not the other spouse’s stuff.
What annoys me most about most car reviewers, particularly the hipster millennial types on youtube – they cant get over how wonderful it is every time a car company puts the google or amazon bitch who listens to you in the car…. i mean when I started getting out in the car the whole POINT was you’re in an environment where NOBODY will know what you’re doing (listening to music in the car singing like an idiot) , nobody will know where you go…. its pure freedom. Now they LIKE It when the car is constantly monitoring you, and now its also reporting the results to google/amazon / probably all the alphabet agencies too
Amen, Nasir. That’s what WE like about driving.
But the next generations are beholden to that unholy twonky in the dash, which is monitoring and dictating their every move and making a record of it all in a database somewhere.
Sickening.
And no phone. Leave a message on my answering machine and I’ll call you back when I get home – if I feel like it.
Is the point to push us toward auto pilot cars? How do I get home when the machine determines I’m drunk? Hit autopilot. Or use public transit, which is what they REALLY want.
Many states don’t inspect or don’t care if you delete airbags. I assume there will be a thriving market in nanny bypassing.
‘pay again, when … the “service alcohol sensor” light comes on.’ — eric
Or the “non carbon-neutral fuel” light comes on:
‘The draft proposal suggests creating a new type of vehicle category in the European Union for cars that can only run on carbon-neutral fuels.
‘Such vehicles would have to use technology that would prevent them from driving if other fuels are used, the draft said.’
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/eu-proposes-exception-e-fuel-combustion-engines-2035-2023-03-21/
This proposal is like prohibiting the use of red diesel in highway vehicles, but worse: now your 2035 Porsche will conk out if gasoline is poured in the tank, while Alexa dials the authorities to narc you out as a climate criminal.
First time in my life I’ve ever agreed with the ghastly Victoria Nuland: fuck the EU.
The EU is only a few years ahead of us, because that liberal mind rot is contagious, and our politicians will inevitably catch it.
One spreader of mind rot — cliiiiiimate envoy John ‘Lurch’ Kerry:
“We’re doing a lot more than just the Inflation Reduction Act,” Kerry said. “The IRA is a package that in and of itself can get the 40 percent [reduction]. But in addition, the president is issuing executive orders. There’ll be changes on automobile, on light truck, heavy truck, heavy duty — a number of initiatives that are being taken by states, subnationals, cities.
‘Kerry said he hasn’t traveled on private jets over the course of his job as the presidential climate envoy, and wealthy individuals who do fly private jets while traveling to promote policies reducing global emissions can afford to offset their personal emissions, “and they are working harder than most people I know to be able to try to effect this transition.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/john-kerry-says-new-climate-change-executive-orders-are-coming
It’s pure confabulation that billionaires flying to Davos are ‘offsetting’ their emissions. And the offset scheme is a scam in itself.
In Kerry’s skewed world, rich toffs are philanthropic saviors of humanity, entitled to all the hydrocarbons they need to spread the cliiiiiiiimate change gospel to the toiling masses of butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.
Hi Jim,
Do you know who else has been spreading “Hot air” (no pun intended) like John Kerry has while claiming they’re justified in flying private jets because they’re “Saving the planet”? Bill Gates. There seems to be NO limit to the utter arrogance from these elitists.
Of course this is a horrible edict, and now I’m thinking, how will “remote start” work (certain luxury cars have this feature) with this nazi device installed? Will you blow into your remote control or phone first?
“Fill out schedule B. You should recieve authorization to start your vehicle in six to eight weeks.”
https://youtu.be/uNOLnjb4xyQ
You can remote start but not drive until conditions are met (currently the key or chip key put in the ignition). Remote start is a lifesaver out here in American Siberia.
As I said before, this is the last new vehicle I buy
Nothing wrong with preowned, someone else took the hit
I brought up this travesty buried in Biden’s spending bill to my friends in CA, and they generally supported it. Their argument is that they never drive drunk, so it won’t harm them, and if it saves one life, it’s worth it. There are lots of assumptions here; that the technology works being the main one, because no such technology exists and it absolutely will prevent people from driving when they’re not drunk. When I point this out, I’m just dismissed as a hysterical kook.
Nobody’s going to fight this. The normies want their shackles tightened, and we’re the oddballs who don’t.
I can see a general revolt by crazy roaming angry birds focusing on car lots filled with check point prisons being vandalized relentlessly.
It will have a direct effect. A heavy-handed approach will make ’em think a little.
Charles Boycott learned his lesson the hard way, nobody wants to help you dig your turnips. Stop being a dumbass, dumbass.
The customer is always right and the customer can make a difference one way or another. Go all Popeye or something.
just sayin’…
Nobody is going to eat your shit sandwich. Joe Biden has one ready for you now.
Take a hike, Joe. And fuck you too.
“One that enough people will hopefully come to understand while there is still time. ” Eric
Sorry Charlie….like Carlin said, No one seems to care. The only thing that will get todays toadies riled is when the checks from the mafia stop, reduce or are delayed. France is a prime example. Locked down,,, forced jabs,,, airport pat downs,,, mutilating children,,, are perfectly fine.
Think the mafia cares? Big Joe was cracking jokes yesterday in Nashville when he arrived to convey his sorrow over those killed by a government nurtured deranged freak of nature. Those at the reception laughed heartily at his comic act. Welcome to the new and improved America.
‘Part of the Biden Thing’s “infrastructure” edict …’ — eric
And another: more eurotard-style market distortion to subsidize EeeVee infrastructure grifters:
‘Shares of Blink Charging rose Wednesday, after it was awarded a Multiple Award Schedule contract by the U.S. General Services Administration.
‘The contract simplifies the federal procurement process, making it easier for government customers and federal agencies to buy Blink equipment.
“We anticipate that federal government purchases of EV charging equipment and services will accelerate significantly in the coming years. Blink is well positioned to provide innovative solutions to these government customers,” said Chief Revenue Officer Michael Battaglia.’
https://archive.ph/2g5Yj#selection-369.0-377.649
Who authorized the “Biden” Wokegov to do this destructive industrial policy shit?
We are watching the real-time embezzlement and impoverishment of Americans, as our socialist command economy stagnates into leftist-decreed eurosclerosis … and the entire “Biden” family receives fully identified and tracked wire transfers from communist China.
America’s corrupt cesspool of government makes Mexico look like frickin’ Sweden by comparison.
Mexican government is held in check by those mean cartel types which is why American intelligence (sarcastically meant) want to invade Mexico to eliminate Mexican competition! Hell,,, Ukraine was their drug hub from Afghanistan and the far east which is why they’re so pissed at Russia and WE are supporting Nazis.
And we thought it was for demockracy….
Yeah, and I kind of appreciate the Mexican corruption. If you get waylaid by the policia after you’ve been swilling cervezas, all you need to do is slip the nice hombre 500 pesos and you’ll be on your way. Esta bien!
Many years ago, not long after the formerly sane Jesse Ventura moved to Baha Mexico, he stated that the bribes he paid to the constabulary to leave him alone were far cheaper than taxes in the US.
Which is what taxes are. Protection money. Paying them to leave you alone. But not as cheaply as Mexico.
“Hell, everything’s legal in Mexico. It’s the American way.”
—Jimbo Kern
In high school I had a friend from Mexico, who was staying with his Aunt. He told us, In Mexico you can fix it with money.
Hi Mr. Gold,
That works very well in the USSA, as well. The problem is the American bureaucrats tend to be a lot greedier than the Mexican bureaucrats so it will cost more.
Hi ML,
Soon the USD will be as worthless as pesos…
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2023/03/30/brazil-inks-deal-use-yuan-not-dollar-trade-china/
So maybe we will be able to get a better deal for our bureaucrats. Hell, if the USD becomes worthless, which looks like will happen, buying the police could be quite affordable as long as the trade is made in yuan.
Of course the obvious solution would be shifting the responsibility to the individual and holding people who cause harm to others responsible for their actions. But we’re so far down the regulation road I think it’s too late for that. Not to mention there’s a fair bit of coin to be made with the system the way it is now. The state licenses the driver, in effect setting a minimum level of competence, and therefore the driver has been certified. But the state bares no responsiblity if the driver doesn’t know how to drive. The state minimally monitors drivers and logs real or imagined transgressions that have very little to do with actual driver ability, making them public records, making your scarlet letter visible to all, but still probably won’t revoke your license. But the insurance mafia will extract more money because their chicken bones tell them you’re now a higher risk.
The one* easy thing that the governement could do to increase safety on highways is make the driver’s tests test for driver competence. Oh, they make it more of a hassle by forcing a minimium time spent “learning,” but they really don’t seem all that interested in making sure people can read and understand instructions and navigation, basic physics, health and yes… safety. Because as soon as the test requires 8th grade reading comprehension anyone who flunks out will howl DISCRIMINATION! and we’re right back to forcing technology to come up with a solution to a problem that really doesn’t exist. And I’d be OK with a recurrent test when you get your license renewed too. Wouldn’t have to be anything big, just a condensed written exam.
*Actually the one thing the state could do is fix the damn potholes, but that’s another story…
Hi RK< While I oppose all forms of government permission-slipping as a matter of principle, I agree that - in an imperfect world - licensing ought at least to correlate with competence. The way to do this would be easy. Simply require the applicant to do a road test in a vehicle with a manual transmission - or a motorcycle. If a person can drive stick or ride a bike, they have baseline sufficient skills to drive a car competently. If not, they don't.
And parallel park if I may add my two cents.
In 1972 I had to.
When I was assigned a company vehicle I had to go through a driver training program. The final test was only a little more difficult than the state test I took at 16, and mostly focused on company specific scenarios. But people did fail the test, and they were no longer employed, at least not in a role that required operating a company vehicle. Some people clearly don’t have the aptitude to drive. Dumbing down the highways has been a massive failure and more tech isn’t ever going to solve it.
Missed my point. If the state was held accountable for certification failures, as my employer was, there’d be far fewer incidents.
Because there would be far fewer drivers, which is exactly what the Psychopaths In Charge want.
Fewer incompentent drivers would be an acceptable trade off, because it would reduce the cost of owning and operating a vehicle drastically. No need for the various “safety” add-ons, insurance, and an assumption that people on the roads are going to be driving, not texting, eating, dressing, etc.
But would it really lead to fewer drivers? At the margins, sure. But I believe most people can be trained to drive properly, it’s just not required.
This sort of makes my point…
https://youtu.be/X4SYXpBc9bE?t=49
LOL, I remember having to pass my road test: With a manual transmission. And showing I could parallel park. I just with that in these parts, those who switch their driver’s licenses over had to show that that they knew how to drive on icy, snowy roads. But hell, we got people who have lived here their entire lives, who cannot drive worth a damned, so I suppose that aspect of driving does not not matter much.
All of this creeping tyranny has been enabled and encouraged by the court system. Implied consent, qualified immunity, civil asset forfeiture, etc. all made up out of thin air by the courts. No “law” was passed by our so-called representatives authorizing any of this but it continues and expands. I actually wrote to my Clowngressman awhile back about asset forfeiture being blatantly unconstitutional and got a form letter back thanking me for writing, yada yada yada. Guess they all feed at the same trough.
You left out the “social contract”, which none of us signed.
Still no word on whether we will see Johnny Cab in his post-driving career in medicine on this season of “Picard”, but one of the interesting story threads the writers seem to be working is what happens when the vehicles (starships) are too automated and interconnected, subject to central control.
Checkpoints are a hallmark of totalitarian regimes.
Hi Publius,
I’m sure our would be overlords would have LOVED to set up vaccination checkpoints as part of their push for digital vaccine passports.
John,
They probably prefer the invisible kind. So that they can continue to try to claim that they aren’t really doing that (while doing it all the time). Too much visibility.
Absolutely. They don’t want us to see the Central Scrutinizer until the curtain goes up on the final act.
The liberal-Marxist maxim of one person’s bad behavior is everyone’s bad behavior and free speech is not allowed because it can cause bad behavior in others. (Freedom poses a risk to everyone.)
I was at a dinner party last weekend with friends (maybe now former friends) who are liberals. One is a low-information voter and the other is a rabid pro-abortion advocate. I’d been quiet for 2-years around this group and not letting them know my pollical views, just being friends was ok until the other night. They were advocating censorship on someone they felt was running lies in a political ad and wanted them silenced. It got down to one of them stating “you can’t yell fire in a theater” which I responded: of course you can, what if there was a fire? So, you are saying you can’t yell fire in a theater because *others* will behave badly and kill innocent people in a panic? What would happen if the fire alarm went off accidently with the same result…the theater owner is guilty of manslaughter? When does personal responsibility play into people being accountable for their own behavior? They went back to their original argument and had no response.
So, the Marxist’s false argument for freedom is a risk to others and others will behave badly when free, therefore you are not allowed to have free speech. Nor outrageous speech, nor owning guns. Nor being un-vaccinated. Nor driving without 1st proving you are sober.
Hi Hans,
You had friends who wanted someone silenced for allegedly putting out lies in political ads? They’d best be careful what they ask for, because someday they might find someone or some government wanting to censor THEM for something. There were also people who wanted HARSH measures taken against the unvaxxed, but the definition of “Unvaccinated” was eventually expanded to include those who DID get a COVID vaxx but not however many boosters the CDC “recommended” based on ever shifting goal posts.
There was also a narrative that seemingly came out of nowhere in 2021 which compared unvaxxed drivers to drunk drivers, as if to imply that only drivers who’ve been vaxxed were sober, and those who weren’t were at as much risk of causing a wreck as drunk drivers.
How the sensor will separate the driver from a passenger should be interesting. Or will it be “illegal” to ride after drinking too? Already “illegal” in many places to drink while riding, with open container laws.
With all the assets car makers are flushing down the toilet chasing the EV unicorn, it could be there won’t BE a new car market by the 2026 model year, or shortly thereafter. Or, for the same reason, added to the cost of implementing edicts, and failure of the bank system, no one will be able to afford one.
I started loosing what little interest I had in new cars, after driving a couple of late model used cars with TPMS, neither of which were especially accurate, and one was woefully inaccurate, to a dangerous degree. Both gone now for several years.
So what if your “drunk driver sensor” is just as woefully inaccurate? Used mouthwash? Ate a piece of candy with some rum in it? Can’t drive for two hours? Bought a couple of bottles of liquor, and one of them broke in the back seat, and your car shuts down? Might be a bit inconvenient if you happen to be merging onto a dual lane highway, or trying to pass with marginally safe space to do so.
Computers are the ultimate moron, including the much touted AI. They believe any and every thing they are told by their designers.
Does it test for weed too? Shrooms? Fentanyl? Gingivitis?
>So what if your “drunk driver sensor” is just as woefully inaccurate?
Tough luck, comrade.
You will have to maintain it, even if you are a teetotal Mormon/Muslim/WCTU member.
Next up: quantitative CO2 sensors for the driver and all passengers.
Refuse to start the car if your “breathing license” is not up to date.
And how much CO2 are you licensed to emit, anyway?
NO ONE allowed to mass more than 80 kilos without a bodybuilding/bodyguard license (which will be very expensive, and hard to get, except for the goons which protect the political “elite”).
Ah, well. At least it will get rid of the fat chicks.
Hmm, and what if shooting a can of this “Clean Dr. Multi-Pourose Duster” that I use to get rid of the dust bunnies off my keyboard did the trick? No need to worry if you are too drunk to drive. Just keep a can of the canned air (normally used for your computer keyboard) in the car, and let “it” be your breathalyzer. I mean please, if there is a law, someone will find a way around it.
If you can find the sensor, you can probably enclose it in some kind of container, and drive regardless of your inebriation status.
Depends on how exactly the sensor works. But I bet it’ll be defeated successfully about 5 minutes after it hits the market.
‘it could be there won’t BE a new car market by the 2026 model year’ — John Kable
Fine with me. I’ll piss on Detroit’s grave.
As Peanut — a crusty old mechanic in the lawnmower shop where I worked as a teenager — used to say: ‘Either FIX IT, or fix it where it CAN’T BE FIXED.’
Let me use your toothbrush
Have you got a clean shirt?
My right hand, my right hand man
If he can’t fix it, I don’t know who can
–Joan Osborne, Right Hand Man
During the height of COVID jab mania, there were people who tried to compare unvaxxed drivers to drunk drivers. That made absolutely NO sense whatsoever, but if there are still such people out there, they’d probably LOVE these kill switches that will be installed in automobiles built in 2026 and beyond to be able to detect if a driver got the latest mRNA “vaccine” from Pfizer.
Hello, John, ugh, yes, I read where kill switches were going to be mandated in new cars. I cannot remember if the new year was 2025, or 2026. Either way, I agree with Zane, in that I (hope) this is the last new (2022) car I buy. Between the kill switches, the endless, nanny, saaaaftey crap, and the proposed breathalyzers? I may not be old enough to not need another vehicle somewhere along the way. If we do not end up back in the stone age before then.
Hi Shadow,
I read that new cars will be required to have kill switches and breathalyzers starting in 2026. I have a late 1990s truck, which I intend to keep as long as I can. The only thing it has that is even anywhere near Nanny State-ish is a light that turns on when starting the truck to remind the driver to “buckle up”. If it ever becomes necessary to get a different vehicle, the latest model year vehicle I’d get would probably be around 2007. It was around that time that automobile manufacturers started putting in all sorts of Nanny State stuff, and a few years later, manufacturers started installing “Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety” features as well. However, with John Kerry saying that the Biden Thing might issue MORE executive orders on “Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimate change”, one such EO could include a diktat that ALL gas powered vehicles are to be banned in favor of EVs. If that happens, I’m a hard “NO!” on that. I may have to look for that old song “Red Barchetta”, as I’ve heard it mentioned here many times but never heard the song.
My semi-retired WRX is an ’07. New car is a 2022 Camry, which is nice, but I pray it is the last new car I ever have to buy. I hold onto the WRX even though it 234,000 miles on it, and even getting plenty of offers of others wanting to buy it. It being nanny-free is so refreshing. It is getting more difficult to choke down buying a “new” car that costs ten times more than what I paid for my first new car some thirty years ago, and then being force-fed what I do not want, and then have to pay for what I do not want. Oh, and I think I may have found your song? It is from “Rush”…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIZ73q9M-Gk
Amen, Shadow –
There are a few new vehicles that appeal to me, such as the Ford Maverick and Subaru Crosstrek (with manual) but even these cost around $23k, not counting the obnoxious property tax (in my state) plus the equally obnoxious insurance, which add thousands to the cost over a five year period. And – like you – I do not want air bags or a touchscreen or any form of “assistance” technology. And resent being obliged to pay for it. And spending even $23k on a pretty basic car strikes me as financially ridiculous, unless you’re really affluent. I think most people aren’t because they buy what they can’t afford (and so finance).
It’s disgusting that there aren’t $11,000 economy cars and $15k basic pick-ups.
‘Hang on to what you’ve got.’ — eric
As a matter of principle, I will not buy a vehicle with a nannying shutdown system — at any price, including free. If enough of us refuse, the US will come to resemble Cuba, with only pre-2026 vehicles on the road decades later … and ‘auto makers’ only a distant memory. Good riddance to bad Wokeness!
Meanwhile, this week Woke eurotards announced their plan for economic suicide in 2035: “100% CO2 emission reductions for both new cars and vans from 2035” — with an exception for “CO2-neutral fuels” after 2035.
https://tinyurl.com/3v3crntj
This plan features the same sort of EeeVee subsidies used in the US:
‘Every manufacturer must ensure that average CO2 emissions from its fleet do not exceed its annual emissions target. If they do, manufacturer must pay a premium of €95 per [excess] gram CO2/km per vehicle. Consequently, zero-emission vehicles will eventually become cheaper than vehicles running on fossil fuels.’
Wunderbar! EeeVees will become cheaper than liquid fuel vehicles, because we arbitrarily jacked the price of the latter.
What’s missing from this non-market plan is ANY consideration of its cost to auto buyers. That’s literally of zero concern to cliiiiiiiiimate central planners, ruling by decree.
But the fact is, the plan’s direct and secondary costs are enormous, and will serve to smash Europe’s eclownomy until living standards recede to feudal levels, or else some cucked countries finally grow a pair and GTFO. Stupid white people!
From a 0hedge article today on the same topic:
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/eu-end-sales-new-gasoline-and-diesel-cars-2035
“The review will take into account technological developments, including with regard to plug-in hybrid technologies and the importance of a viable and socially equitable transition towards zero emissions,” the Council of the EU said.
——-
“Socially equitable” transition? Someone needs to define this clearly.
And this:
Commenting on the formal approval of the 2035 end to new gasoline and diesel car sales, Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, said, “the EU has taken an important step towards zero-emission mobility.”
——
Zero emissions “mobility”. Hmmm….
Hi Jim,
Not really zero emissions mobility, more like zero mobility.
Stupid white people!
Agreed. Although the other colors aren’t doing too well with their forms of government. You have hard communism in China. You have dictatorships in Africa, though they didn’t get too far into jab mandates. In Latin America, you still have a huge stronghold of “for the people” bullshit democrat voting patterns here and overseas. Look at what’s running Mexico.
I do view France, the UK, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Italy and others as horrid. The Eastern Euro countries are slightly better, though they are not known for having a pair. Hopefully they will show.
Hi Swamprat,
I do love how the French are shutting down the country to protest the WEF puppet Macron. That’s what the USSA needs – a general strike; sadly the AGW’s in France are just as evil as here and seem to enjoy beating up demonstrators.
Agreed. While there are good demonstrations in France, but what about the fact that they have never been able to elect a LePen or that other guy. We are led to believe that the vast majority of French believe in open borders, pluralism and whatnot over borders, economic nationalism and culture.
It has been very disappointing. I can’t belive that Macron was reelected.
On the other hand, the vote fraud might be as prevalent as it is here.
Expertly written article – especially regarding implied consent. The idea of sensors in the car snitching on YOU is really a bridge too far. Dark days ahead.
OT – who knew the Taliban had a sense of humor – https://twitter.com/TalibanPRD/status/1640987617184342017
There are two reprehensible terms in this country. “At will” employment. And “imlied consent.”
Both are purely man made legal constructs designed to diminish individual rights and aggrandize corporate and government power over people.
I don’t know about the car snitching on you being a bridge too far. It is in your face, but consider this… when you change insurance policies, the govenrment knows because the insurance company rats you out. Happened to me 20 years ago. Although I had insurance, I had to go and prove it to the DMV. My fifth amendment right to presumption of innocence just got thrown out the window. Disgusting.
People will put up with anything it seems.
Until their stomach starts growling day after day.
>“At will” employment.
Can be a good thing for the employee.
If a crooked employer starts stealing money out of your paycheck, you can walk off the job with no repercussions, then file a claim with the State Labor Board.
Not a damned thing the crook can do, except pay up when you prevail @ Labor Board, which costs you nothing besides your time to show up and prove your case.
BTDT.
As an “at will” employee, you do not have to give notice. If your absence negatively impacts his business, too bad for him. He should have thought twice before attempting to steal from an employee.