“Public Acceptance”

By
eric
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It’s not just the presidential selection that’s coming up this November. Right around the same time that the country will be forced to choose between Orange Man and Senile Man – none of the above never being allowed in “our democracy” – the “rule” forcing what has been marketed to the public as anti-“drunk driving technology” will be “finalized” by the federal regulatory apparat.

All of the foregoing bracketed in air-fingers quote marks to mark the oleaginous verbiage of the authoritarians who use it to obscure what they actually mean.

And intend.

The “rule” – it sounds so innocuous – is in fact a mandate that will be enforced. “Finalized” means the details of what will be imposed, with force ensuring compliance. All of this decided by a cohort of burrowed-in bureaucrats no one ever voted for in “our democracy.”

As for “drunk driving”:

The term is used interchangeably with “impaired” driving – the latter term encompassing all kinds of driving that has nothing to do with whether you’ve been drinking. It encompasses driving contrary to the rules – which they intend to equate with “impairment” – thereby draping moral opprobrium over the shoulders of any driver who deviates in any way from the rules. Such a driver is the equivalent of “drunk,” you see.

Or rather, you see how it goes.

All part of the campaign to garner public acceptance of the “technology” that will be means by which the “rule” is to be enforced, come the 2026 model year.

So sayeth the Alliance for Automotive Innovation – which is the lobbying arm of the car industry that is now an adjunct of the industry of government.

“Highlighting the necessity of consumer awareness and buy-in, the Alliance stressed that merely having advanced detection technology in vehicles is insufficient without accompanying education and acceptance among consumers,” according to the trade publication, Automotive News.

“Fundamentally, for the technology to be a success, the public will first need to accept the idea and ultimately the devices.” 

The “necessity of consumer awareness”? Meaning, browbeating consumers into acceptance. Of a piece with the way “consumers” – a disgusting term that has oilily supplanted customers – were browbeaten into “buckling up” for “safety.” The “buckling up” being less about “safety” than advancing the principle (and setting the precedent) that we are idiot children in need of parenting.

“Consumers” are to be made “aware” that driving without the “assistance” of “technology” is “unsafe.” And that to drive faster than the speed limit, or to accelerate (or brake) other than tepidly or to fail to use a turn signal for at least one full minute before changing lanes (a slight exaggeration, but only slightly) constitutes the equivalent of “impaired” driving. Which must be regarded as the same as “drunk” driving – no matter that you haven’t had so much as a sip of anything alcoholic to drink.

The Automotive News piece confesses the fact while soft-shoeing it:

“NHTSA’s current focus involves gathering input from various stakeholders to establish performance standards for the technology. While the specifics are yet to be determined, potential implementations could include a combination of sensors and cameras capable of detecting driver intoxication. Although the primary emphasis is on alcohol impairment, considerations for addressing drowsy and distracted driving are also on the table.“

Mark all the (added) italics.

Who are these “various stakeholders”? Well, they certainly aren’t consumers. The latter being merely hogs at the trough who must accept what they are (force) fed.

As is natural for “consumers.”

Customers, on the other hand, would have a say in the matter. For just that reason, there are none such anymore. Or – rather – the system has decided their say no longer matters. It is the “stakeholders” who matter. They are the regulatory apparatchiks and the car industry apparatchiks, who now work together in their own interests. Those of the consumer being of little to no interest to these “stakeholders.”

“Considerations for addressing drowsy and distracted driving are also on the table.”

Isn’t it wonderful that our “stakeholder” owners are “considering” such things? It hardly raises eyebrows. It is taken blandly, as a given. The natural order of things. This says a great deal about just how far things have gone in an extremely wrong direction. Unless, of course, one takes the position that institutionalized busybody-ism is a right thing. And there are, unfortunately, many people who take exactly that position.

Many of them being “stakeholders.”

Automotive News continues:

“The Alliance, representing major automotive manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, and Toyota, underscores the necessity of a comprehensive consumer education campaign alongside the impending rulemaking. They stress that misconceptions about the technology could hinder its effectiveness and acceptance among the public.”

You know, like the “education campaign” that attended the pushing of mRNA drugs on people who were (rightly, as it turned out) hesitant to be injected with them.

“Misconceptions about the technology could hinder its effectiveness and acceptance among the public.” By which is meant the truth – as well as the implications. 

Never mind.

Our “stakeholders” are just looking out for us “consumers.”

. . .

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Related posts:
  1. “Public Citizens” Attempting to Shame Ford and VW
  2. Public Roads as Tesla’s Private Test Track
  3. Sail fawns and “one for the road” – Why not ban bad drivers instead?
  4. What’s Not Coming . . . and What Is
  5. The “Kill Switch” . . . for the Car Industry

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

60 COMMENTS

  1. You need to understand this: The political terrorists want you dead but they will settle for your submission.

    I am sure about the first part but unsure about the second. The global political terrorists just want us dead because there are too many global tax slaves to control. If you are not totally enthusiastic about all the psychological beatings they do to you, and what they tell you to think, they will just kill you. That’s the plan.

  2. Comprehensive consumer education? Ah, better grab your wallet to make sure it’s still there. That term always portends doom of one sort or another.

  3. “Meat Sack”…that just cracks me up, Eric. As I have mentioned before, a “Kill Switch” technology up here in these parts is going to get someone killed in some fashion. You can bank on it. During the “Spring”, we all drive like we are in a game of “Frogger”, trying to dodge the frost heaves on the road, thanks to perma frost. Doing so helps preserve our shocks and struts. We drive where the roads are clear during the Winter months (all 9 months worth), and the lines (when it is snowy) be damned. What if I slam on the brakes to avoid a kid on the road, or a moose? Someone is going to get stranded in BFE, and end up dead at -40 below because of this “saaaafety” technology. Can you imagine getting grounded on your way to Anchorage, in BFE, with no cell phone signal, and no way to call anyone because your vehicle decided you had used up too many “points” (for lack of a better word), and killed your engine? What if the engine kills, and you cause an accident on the highway? Who is at fault, then especially if the driver did not want the “saaafety” feature in the first place? Yeah, it is going to take some big wig to die, or someone he/she loves before anyone decides this “saaaafety” feature is dangerous. As for those of us who have vehicles without such, I really hesitate to take my own, newer vehicle in for maintenance; What if they decide to install the kill switch without my knowledge or consent? Geez, you know this country is going to hell when the “Conspiracy Theorists” starting running out of ideas, because they have all come true.

    • Hi Shadow,

      Of course! But none of those entirely reasonable objections matter because of the object – which is to control, limit and – ultimately – end driving as we have come to know it. Mobility – individual mobility – must be controlled if you are to have a controlled society. Axiom.

  4. So what is the magical alternative? A supposed Libertarian society would be very similar to a Monarchy. If you’re not some wealthy elite with substantial land you’ll probably be latter day peasant who has to rent everything with the magical advice: “don’t like it? leave!”

    • Personal responsibility. Individuals forming compacts. Credentialing through association or contract, and liability on the entity issuing the credential.

      One reason why drivers are all over the spectrum in terms of ability is because the government is free from liability for a bad driver. The state issues the licenses, which implies the driver is able. If the driver is at fault, why not the issuing agency?

  5. The green eco fascists don’t like EV’s either….

    leftist EV pushers getting pushed back by more communists….communists fighting communists….lol…

    European Gigafactory near Berlin has halted work until further notice after suspected arson attack nearby left it without power on Tuesday.

    Local media published a letter purportedly from a far-left activist organisation called the Volcano Group that claimed responsibility for the incident, in a 2,500-word attack on Tesla and its billionaire CEO Musk.

    “We sabotaged Tesla,” read the letter about Tuesday’s incident, posted on website kontrapolis.info, describing the attack as a gift marking International Women’s Day on March 8.

    “Tesla consumes earth, resources, people, workers, and in return spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer cars and monster trucks each week.”…..

    .the green eco fascists get it….EV’s are very dangerous and destructive….built with resources using slave labor….and destroy the environment…..

    and they said EV’s were supposed to be green….lol…the truth emerges….always….another nail in the EV coffin….

    Note……. the eco fascists aren’t targeting ice cars…..

    https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-plant-germany-without-power-after-suspected-arson-attack-bz-2024-03-05/

  6. About 15 years ago the State of North Carolina issued a press release stating that 24% of highway fatalities involved alcohol. When you broke it down it really revealed how few fatalities are CAUSED by drunk driving.

    First, “alcohol involved” means anyone involved in a fatal crash had a measurable level of alcohol in their system. The driver that caused the crash didn’t have to have any, just someone. Without going too deep it boiled down to not very many (less than 10%) were caused by a drunk driver and even few because they were “impaired”.

    It’s called lying with statistics. Ask the average person and they’ll tell you half of all fatalities are because of drunk drivers.

    The propaganda is massive and effective.

    • Never mind that if half are caused by drunk drivers, half are caused by sober drivers. Should we then be required to take a couple of shots or a couple of beers, or a couple of glasses of wine BEFORE we drive? The logic escapes me.

  7. I’m beginning to wonder, whats the point of having a government in the US? The Dim/rhino parties along with all their ‘safety’ organizations and ‘stakeholders’ have absolutely nothing to do with improving society. Its a ginormous grift, a gathering place for control freaks, contentious women, Fee-men, and lazy grifters out to get something for nothing.

    Dims/rhinos have set a new gold standard, never allowing failure to stand in the way of failing more. Its turning into a real shit show.

  8. A consumer is a person or entity who uses something. Like a houseplant, you consume air and water. No choice in the matter. A customer is a person who has a choice: to whom do you choose to instigate this business relationship? You give your “custom” to someone based on your likes and needs. That’s my guess about why we have transitioned to “consumers.” Our choices are being narrowed and/or taken away. You are meant take what you’re offered and be happy about it.
    What bothers me most about all this tech and assistance is they are implying driving is hard, like it requires laser-focused concentration like a Hollywood bomb tech dismantling an intricate terrorist apparatus. One little slip up and all is lost.
    Driving is easy and doesn’t really require much brain power. I’ve done it sleepy, drunk and stoned and everyone in my car and around it was just fine. I’ve never even had a close call. 90% of it is just keep the car between the lines.
    Of course, no one who’s peeing-down-their-leg drunk should be driving, but most arrests I’ve seen or heard of are barely over the state-imposed breathalyzer limit. Being unable to stand on one leg while leaning backward and reciting the alphabet is not akin to being unable to drive. I can’t do that sober. But most people who have had a couple of drinks are just fine to drive home. No one will be hurt unless the cops get them.

  9. Unintended consequences of such “Alcohol detection” sensors are easy to see.

    People who most often drink and drive are attempting to medicate some other condition, most frequently some anxiety disorder. These common people outnumber the occasional smashed partying teenager 1000 to 1. Liquor warehouses in just about every town in America prove the point.

    This stupid “war on alcohol” through technology will fail as abysmally as the larger War on Drugs. Counter-tech devices will flourish and many alcohol abusers will simply switch drugs to another substance that is not detectable.

    • ‘People who most often drink and drive are attempting to medicate some other condition, most frequently some anxiety disorder.’ — David

      ‘A clinical trial’s encouraging results won FDA breakthrough therapy status for an LSD formulation to treat generalized anxiety disorder, Mind Medicine Inc. announced Thursday.

      ‘A single dose of MM120 (lysergide d-tartrate) led to a 48% rate of remission from generalized anxiety disorder at 12 weeks following the drug’s administration, according to MindMed.’

      https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/07/health/lsd-anxiety-fda-breakthrough-therapy-wellness/index.html

      I find myself physically incapable of watching “Biden’s” delusional mumbles tonight, without a life-altering dose of mind-bending substances.

      “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” — Dr Timothy Leary

  10. The reality is, the “deciders” have already decided what they want, and that is how its going down no matter that the majority may be opposed completely. The “public” comment section is merely theatre. In fact it’s used to make the opposition look like they are the crazy weirdos. They will say, all these angry people showed up and shouted nonsense, so that is why it’s needed, to protect you from them….

    The “deciders” are not even public officials anymore for the most part. It’s the hacks with degrees from Ivy League “schools” at the alphabet agencies (rule by “experts”) that have the real power. Since when should the enforcers be the ones coming up with the rules? Would you think it was crazy if your local police department was the one creating the laws for your town? Of course you would! But that is what we have now, they are in DC.

    I sometimes look at a blog run by a retired (small catholic college professor) gentleman a few counties south of me (he is in rural Indiana, I’m near Chicago in the Indiana suburbs). He goes to public village, town and county etc board, council meetings to report on them, since his local “newspaper” doesn’t bother to anymore.

    His take is that the local deciders actually don’t get to decide all that much anymore. It’s been decided in DC and Indianapolis for the most part already. All they do is try to figure out how it’s going to even work (or more likely not work) there in their rural area. Since most “deciders” are urbanites, they make decisions for rural people knowing nothing about rural areas. So it’s about as workable as you think it is.

    This is a take from a person who is undoubtable liberal and probably voted Democrat (and probably still does) his whole life. So that disconnect of why this happened is STILL there, even with all the evidence. That’s why the needle doesn’t seem to move much with the bureaucrats, because they don’t have to.

  11. On a good note:

    https://www.ednc.org/03-06-2024-michele-morrow-a-lifelong-christian-conservative-is-the-republican-candidate-for-north-carolina-state-superintendent-of-public-instruction/

    Unfortunately, this is one of the “nicer” articles I could find about her. The rest (all liberal leaning) have painted this lady as “far right wing insurrectionist”. I don’t even live in NC, but anyone with enough balls to call today’s public school system “indoctrination camps” deserves our vote just for their honesty.

    I hope North Carolinians are willing to give her a chance. It can only benefit the state’s education system as a whole. I think I will send a “donation” her way.

    • Caution advised: one of the few Republicans in Arizona’s radical-Democrat Katie Hobbs administration is education superintendent Tom Horne. I thought that was good news. Then I found out who he’s carrying water for:

      ‘The State Superintendent of Public Instruction says less than half of Arizona’s schools have confirmed with him they are teaching middle and high schoolers about the Holocaust and other genocides.

      ‘In Arizona, students are required by law to learn about the Holocaust and other genocides at least once in 7th or 8th grade and once in high school. “But it doesn’t say how much,” he said.

      ‘A new bill that Horne says will help hold schools accountable is making its way through the statehouse. HB2779 would require at least three days of Holocaust education on two separate occasions between 7th and 12th grade.’

      https://tinyurl.com/3pcp9mad

      Although Michelle Morrow’s other positions sound admirable, I would ask where she stands on compulsory Holocaust instruction, which is already mandatory in N.C. middle and high schools starting this school year. But hey, why not start it in kindergarten? /sarc

      • Hi Jim,

        We are not going to get 100% perfect, but I will happily accept 90% or hell, even 70%. I am not going to demand that someone think exactly as I do. Nowhere in the world does that exist. My own spouse and I do not see eye to eye on every subject either, but we have a pretty workable relationship.

        I don’t expect the public school system to see “truth” in every subject that they teach. When I went to school it was still taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America, the Civil War was about slavery, Franklin was a great President, and the USSA is the embodiment of democracy and freedom. We are not going to beat back the narratives. Let’s be honest, the direction of history is controlled by the winners. That’s the way it is. The losers never get a say. It doesn’t mean that the winners are right, stating fact, or even an ounce of truth.

        If Mrs. Morrow wins in November and can just reinstate the proficiency requirements of reading, writing, and arithmetic that is a start. That means there is less time to focus on gender fluidity and DIE/ESG initiatives. I will settle for kids that can perform basic math in their head. Anything that will push us back from the on goings of Bizarro World.

        I, as the parent, can teach my children my view of the world from my own family room. If I do it right I can trounce any untruths supplied by the government control system.

        • Someone said all the white tribes originated in Germany….they are the most hated tribe right now….they are the tribe that kicked the slave owner’s/control group’s ass last time…..see the defeat of Rome by the German tribes…

          2000 years ago the control group/slave owners invaded Europe and genocided and enslaved the white tribes….they have been slaves longer then anyone else….

          The white tribes are the best warriors….

      • Other than the three R’s everything I ‘learned’ , especially recent history, has turned out to be false or in the best case stretched….

  12. There was a train in the railroad yard yesterday with probably 100 oil tanker rail cars behind the engines. Oil sells, the supply is there, demand has its benefits. In the financial world, it is economic supply, what is available for sale in the crude oil market.

    Russia produces 10,000,000 barrels of crude per day, 4,000,000 is for the domestic supply, what keeps them going, 6,000,000 barrels are for sale on the world market. That’s each day, times 75 USD per barrel, 450,000,000 USD each day for Putin’s piggy bank, not too shabby.

    Crude oil is fungible, everybody wants to buy some every day, doggone it anyhow.

    Have to accept some facts as fact. Nobody knew that your car would become a prison cell, here we are. Not much to see these days. Beer time, coffee time is over.

    BNSF Weekly Report

  13. As I understand it, the population must be conditioned to except all of these absurd. Immoral, illogical and degrading concepts in order to be ready to except what the criminal banking cartel have planned for us all.
    With every issue from all directions under their control they seek to induce stress into the healthy mind.

    Take a look around, is it working?

  14. “Fundamentally, for the technology to be a success, the public will first need to accept the idea and ultimately the devices.” — Alliance of Automotive Imbeciles

    Read between the lines: why is AAI saying this?

    It’s obvious. They’ve run some polls and convened some focus groups. They found that people almost universally loathe the idea of a tattletale sensor that could shut them down, even if they are ‘compliant.’

    To put an even finer point on it: without actually saying ‘no’ to their fedgov overlords, AAI is quietly, discreetly positioning itself, two or three years down the road, to say ‘we told you so.’

    Just for comparison, how is public acceptance of ‘vaccines’ going? Vaccinazi ‘doctor’ Mandy Cohen can’t give them away.

    Alcohol sensors, which unlike ‘vaccines’ are vaporware, are headed for the same fate. No amount of brainwashing can rescue an infeasible, nonexistent technology.

    But as usual, it’s going to take five or ten years for this slow-motion, controlled flight into terrain to end in abject failure. Just so we’re clear: Rep Debbie Dingell (D-MI) is the idiot bitch who thought up this farcical snipe hunt and inserted it into the notorious Section 24220. Children scream for mommy when they see this withered witch offering them razor-bladed apples:

    https://tinyurl.com/nh9rp7ad

    • Yeah

      That’s the curse of being smart & paying attention.

      You get to say “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard, don’t do that,” then get ridiculed as you watch everyone try to do that for about 3-5 years, only to discover that it is indeed exceedingly stupid. Then you get to repeat the cycle with something else. Over and over and over again. People never learn. Once in a while someone will come back and acknowledge that you were right the whole time, but no one will ever take your advice.

  15. ‘They stress that misconceptions about the technology could hinder its effectiveness and acceptance among the public.’ — linked article

    Sounds just like the so-called ‘vaccines,’ don’t it? Consumer ‘hesitancy’ was based on ‘misinformation,’ they insisted — until large-scale studies on ‘vaccine’ victims showed that the misinformation came from the government: ‘ninety-five percent efficacy,’ my bleeding ass. Now the compulsory vaccinazi regime has collapsed, except in benighted bastions of ignorance like Hahhhhhvid.

    But to take a step back, alcohol detection sensors are NOT going to roll out at warp speed like ‘vaccines’ did. In my comment to NHTSA on March 5 (the close of the 60-day public comment period — 8,442 comments had been submitted by then), I quoted NHTSA acting administrator Ann Carlson:

    ‘Carlson said there were close to 1 billion separate daily driving journeys in the United States. “If it’s 99.9% accurate, you could have a million false positives,” Carlson said. “Those false positives could be somebody trying to get to the hospital for an emergency.”‘ — Reuters, Dec 12, 2023

    https://tinyurl.com/3svh2wvk

    Follow the logic: (1) breath and touch-based alcohol sensors CANNOT achieve 99.9% accuracy — not now, not ever; (2) many millions of false positives per day are unacceptable; ==>(3) this alcohol sensor clusterf*ck is headed for a big, fat #FAIL.

    Look at the people running this shitshow. Their 20-year adventure in Afghanistan ended in a chaotic rout, handing a trove of materiel to the Taliban. Their Ukie war is ending the same humiliating way, with Ukie troops fleeing Avdiivka as Russians drop them like fish in a barrel and blow up their Abrams tanks. Now it looks like gangs may take over Haiti, right here in our own backyard.

    The US fedgov is run by abject hacks, incompetents and losers. Just as Tanzania will never put a man on the moon, NHTSA clowns will never develop a sufficiently accurate alcohol sensor. And you can take that the bank, comrades. Skoal! 🙂

    • Excellent points Jim, what can’t work won’t work, no matter how hard the PTB push it. Good article in the WSJ today pointing out how the USSA is rapidly running out of electricity supply even as demand goes parabolic due to all the data centers being built to run Big Brother, aka AI. What a shitshow, I hope I live long enough to see it all come crashing down; will be eating popcorn while saying “told ya so”. 😆

      • After the Fall, we’ll be warming our cold, chapped hands over a barrel filled with burning brokerage statements, as a 2-pound can of pork ‘n beans bubbles on a tiny camp stove nearby. But it was worth it! 🙂

  16. Changing the meanings of words to push their anti car narrative….

    This is happening in the insurance industry right now….

    The word accident won’t be used anymore…it implies it couldn’t be avoided….so no need for crash avoidance tech….

    The word crashes only will be used…implying the crash could be avoided….the problem being people are too stupid, defective for such a dangerous activity….all vehicles must now be driven by tech..AI…..for public safety…lol….

    And ban all old tech cars…..for safety….

    The bigger problem is self driving AI tech is very defective…there will be more crashes……drunk people can drive better…..

    there will be more crashes….maybe that is the point/plan….then ban cars for slaves completely….the end….

    • The opposite is all the EV fires….that danger is hidden, lied about 24/7

      It is never in the news…it is banned….it screws up their EV push….

      The EV haters control that narrative completely…always spreading the real information that EV’s are a huge danger with their lithium fire bomb batteries….

      The EV pushers have lost that battle…the real truth has leaked out to consumers, slowing down already nearly dead EV sales….

  17. Lest people have forgotten, during the height of COVID jab mania, there were efforts by obsessive jab pushers to compare drivers who were unvaxxed with drunk drivers, which NEVER made any sense. Such people would likely have also advocated devices in automobiles to detect whether the driver received all their “COVID vaccines” recommended by the CDC, which is now a crazy as hell NINE COVID jabs (If you’re over 65). Not sure what the latest “recommended” dosage is for people under 65; it could be EIGHT for all I know.

    • *Surplus Consumers* — it’s the scientific, gender-neutral term, when you need to kill a bunch of people in a hurry. Or *Gazans* in street slang.

  19. I’m not sure if this new technology is a hill to die on but I do know I won’t be buying anything with it installed in. But when your late model car goes in for service, don’t be surprised when even your 2020 car has all the kill switches that the newest cars have when you get it back .

    Many questions can be asked; such as can it be disabled, what affect will covering those sensors that watch you drive have, will removing internet connectivity shut the car down, etc.? Anyone know?

    All I know is I’m going to hug my old car, it might be old, it might be slow but it will never rat me out…….

    • “what affect will covering those sensors that watch you drive have, will removing internet connectivity shut the car down”

      These new cars are connected 24/7…if blocked they will probably brick…but you still have a nice lawn ornament….

      if you change, block, disconnect something…it is connected 24/7 ratting you out…again becomes a brick….

      maybe if you screw with their car, they will come and tow it away…..

      These cars are getting to be a lot of software…..you don’t own software…you are only licensed to use it…break the rules…licence cancelled….

  20. People conflate regulation with standards. Standards tend to be good, you wouldn’t want to have to wire up a plug every time you buy something new. Generally standards are agreed upon by the community, or by the first successful manufacturer. The gasoline filler and pump. Edison sockets for lightbulbs. RJ-45 connectors for Ethernet, and of course TCP/IP. These standards didn’t come down from on high (despite what Uncle says, computer networks predate the Internet and the first ARPANET didn’t run TCP/IP until much later), they came from industry adoption and compacts.

    They’re rarely the best solution but almost always good enough.

    Compare that to regulation. Almost immediately flaws are discovered. Or there’s a hardship imposed on the consumer, who didn’t ask for the new “standard.” It doesn’t make the product better, only compliant. The manufacturers put minimal effort into the new regulation, fitting the letter of the law and no more. They comply with the regulation.

    As many here know, I fly drones, now as a side hustle thanks to my own poor planning and Bidenomics. The big regulatory change of 2022 was rollout of Remote ID, which was billed as “a digital license plate for drones.” Now, I already had to register my aircraft with the FAA, am required to request clearance in controlled airspace and maintain my license. But that’s not enough because people aren’t in compliance. So the FAA came up with RID, which was billed as ADS-B for drones. But then DHS and municipal LEOs got wind of the project and added their two cents. Just knowing where the aircraft is fine, I guess, but DHS added the requirement that the remote pilot’s location be broadcast as well. Basically made it so anyone can find me when I’m flying with a simple app instead of a dedicated radio. A company called Dronetag has capitalized on this regulation by introducing low cost add-on modules they’re calling the Basic Solution (BS).

    The latest version of the BS was released this week, and I’ll share the press release with you. It’s worth a read.

    https://www.suasnews.com/2024/03/dronetag-unveils-time-limited-offer-combopackage-with-new-generation-broadcast-remote-id-module-for-99-usd/

    Dronetag BS was created for the community of American drone pilots annoyed by the FAA policy forcing them to use Remote ID on their small or custom-made RC models and FPV drones

    “But Ready, if you’re not doing anything wrong, why be concerned?” Well, there have been cases where people shoot down drones that they believe to be spying on them. A recent case in Florida (of course) a man was found guilty of shooting down a $30,000 police surveillance drone that he believed was spying on him (actually was part of an investigation of his neighbor). If I’m flying near your house, I’m not flying over your property other than for a quick transit and not interested in anything in your yard until you pay me. But people assume the worst. And now they have an app that will lead them right to me.

    I’m giving some serous thought to writing the history of small drones from a libertarian perspective. Everything that the FAA does is textbook regulatory reaction that doesn’t make any difference other than to make it more difficult for the pilot trying to do things by the book. They really want civilian drones gone from the airspace.

    • Off topic, but seeing as you seem to be a drone expert, I’ll run this story by you.

      My wife and I noticed one evening out our window a drone in the distance. It was silently hovering and adjusting for wind as drones do. It was dark, so all we could see where the lights on it. As we were watching it get closer it hovered a while longer, then to our surprise it slowly built up speed and took off in a straight line south and I clearly heard a jet engine on the thing! This is in rural Oklahoma.

      I’m sure the military have the tech, but I’ve seen nothing but prototypes on the internet.

    • RE: “I’m giving some serous thought to writing the history of small drones from a libertarian perspective.”

      Seems like a great idea! .PDF it and perhaps make a Buck or two for your efforts while spreading the ideas of Liberty to the unwashed masses of that crowd.

    • I have a 2nd generation DJI drone collecting dust. BUT! It has that old “wild west” version of the software on it. No nannies, no phoning home, no monitoring, no geo-fencing. I could loiter it over the White House if I was so inclined.

      I’m guessing I would be in deep doo-doo if I just started flying this untagged unlicensed basically “invisible” drone anywhere?

      • If you’re caught. There’s basically no enforcement of drone laws because the flights are so distributed and short. If you flew the same flight for weeks perhaps you’d be tracked down (and there are methods for identification other than Remote ID) but for a quasi-random flight on any given day, you’re probably never going to be noticed. Many airports and a number of sensitive areas have counter-drone detection equipment in place that will detect DJI and other telemetry signals. Some can even issue a force landing/return to home command. But if you’re out in the woods in class G airspace no one will know you’re there. It’s a big sky. Plenty of room for everyone.

        That said, the industry/hobby really doesn’t need more hot dogs. Keep it on the DL, operate line of sight and keep a look out for other aircraft at all times. Fly responsibly.

        • Thanks for the info. That is why I said its mothballed. I dicked around w/ it back when they were new/hot and never really did much else but I always sort of perceived it may be valuable for what it -wasn’t- more than what it was. Which as I said, by modern standards its a “stealth drone”. 😂

          I’ll save it for when the wheels come off and I need to do some recon in my AO which sadly, could be a reality in our lifetime.

  21. Everything about the wording of the article Eric referenced triggers me. “Including the necessity of a comprehensive consumer education campaign”. As in: you car drivers are so illiterate all we need to do is throw in a few important sounding multi syllable terms into our articles and you probably won’t ever realize what we really mean. Which is you have no business driving. You are irresponsible useless consumers of our stuff who should really just stay at home and eat your Amazon delivered Pop Tarts paid for with your SNAP card. We stakeholders are the only ones who should have the ability to travel by car. This sort of snide condescending language and tone pretty much epitomizes the communication style of media, government and big corporations today.

    • Keep an eye on the mainstream news for more “deadly Ds” stories. Every accident will have a reporter on the scene, asking the hard probing questions of the investigation officer “Was the driver texting?” “Were they drowsy?” “How much did they have to drink?” Of course if the answer was that the driver was wide awake and sober, just that the pothole threw him into a skid, that won’t make the cut. But for sure when they throw it back to the studio they’ll be sure to remind everyone to watch out for “The Deadly Ds!”

      Back to you, Juanita.

  22. “The Alliance, representing major automotive manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, and Toyota”

    Therein lay the problem. The “alliance” should tell the fed gov to go to hell. Instead they ask fedgov which of her holes to lick.

    I actually can’t think of a instance in my lifetime where a private business told the fed gov to get bent. All ears if anyone knows of one.

  23. But we must be controlled, or people will die.
    Never mind that every single one of them WILL die, regardless what the Psychopaths In Charge do. Life is a terminal disease.

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