GPS

Has anyone heard about the goverment wanting to put gps in cars and trucks so they can tax you on the miles you drive? They have been talking about it here in NY, and Mass...

A professor in Iowa city got 1.6 million dollar grant from the state here to do a study on the GPS mileage tax , pay as you go . They were soliciting people to volanteer to try the units for a year .

To my knowledge, the idea first surfaced publicly a few or handful of years ago in Oregon. Latest heard about a day or two ago somewhere on the east coast. Maybe Maryland or Massachusettes, not sure. Gotta be careful with these kinds of things. Years ago when lived in Illinois, they came out with those transponders for tollways that automatically deduct from checking or credit cards for tolling on interstates. In Illinois they call them I-PASS, in Indiana they call them I-ZOOM. Folks raised questions of big brother using them to keep tabs on John Q. Public, for which the government quickly said, "Oh no no no, we will never do that, trust us". Anyone trust politicians? Well, I don't anyway. So far as I know they haven't used them that way...yet, but the divorce lawyers sure have. I can't count the number of cases those records (gps) subpoenaed by divorce lawyers to catch cheating spouses that weren't supposed to be where the transponder gps showed them really being and when. Got one of those nifty gps's for your car or truck? Don't cheat on your spouse...her divorce lawyer will aquire those records when you least remember doing it. As far as the government using gps to track folks beyond taxes? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm certain they would never do that. Aren't you? Chuckle.

We've fallen a long ways since the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution, haven't we? Do they even discuss them in today's school history books for our children? Probably not.

Mark

I made up my mind when I first "joined" this site that I would "avoid" politics and rants, etc. but this one really, REALLY stomps on my toes.

I'm an OTR truck driver.

Fuel taxes are collected/paid at the pump and go to IFTA for dispersion according to how much fuel is burned in each state regardless of where fuel was purchased. This is calculated using mpg for truck and number of miles driven in each state. I record my mileage/odometer reading each time I cross a state line. Boss periodically files a report and the fuel tax issue is settled with an additional amount owed/paid or a refund due....kind of like your income tax...nice to get a refund or you have to pay, etc.

My concern...especially for truckers...is that the tax liability due at one time...or even periodically...maybe too great and be the root cause of some having to go out of business or cheating on taxes due.

Please contact your legislators and explain some of the facts of life to them. This concept of a "mileage tax" is poorly thought out. It would be much better to pay-as-you-go as is the current practice.

It is my opinion that the same principle would/should apply to the 4-wheelers and farm folk also.

IF we really gotta have more money, would be much better to bump up the tax rate at the pump than create some awkward, potentially confusing system as this would be.

By the way...I average 130-135K miles annually.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit!!

I don't like it but does anyone have a better idea to make electric cars pay road taxes?

NY collects miles driven each year on NYS vehicle inspection, all needs to be done is send you a bill.

EZ pass records your in and out times on NYS thruway, they could send you a speeding ticket...

GM ONSTAR can gps on later vehicles, and records vehicle speed for last 30 seconds...

Its nancy pelosi's idea

did you see where they convicted a guy for the murder of his babysitter? He'd been having an affair with her & killed her to keep her from talking. Unbeknownst to him, his wife suspected an affair & placed a GPS unit in his truck. His story didn't match the GPS points but did match the murder site.

who's gonna pay for the gps units? we all know the answer, but to go a little deeper, the satellites up there wouldn't be able to handle the traffic, so guess who pays for the extra satellite and land based (is it called WAS?) capacity. how much does it cost to shoot up a few more satellites?

i sure hope the dreamers in washington take this into consideration.

It's a terrible idea, so I'm sure it will come to be...... Who pays for all the extra garbage needed. Sheez.

--->Paul

The top and bottom of it is they want to know where you are every minute of the day as well as the charging idea. They already know your speed and where-abouts if you have a mobile phone switched on (how long before it doesn't need to be actually switched on).

They can easily trace for a number and see if it is used in any particular house, to get your addy, even if the phone is not registered in your name - so they could check to see if calls were made to or from your addy to see if you have a mobile phone, or if a phone 'resides' at that addy, I daresay.

In the UK details like this are routinely recorded but the police have to pay to access the information from the system operators, so the government is considering setting up a data collection system for themselves. Just more Big Brother.

With all vehicles on the system, car theft should be a hazardous occupation, and stopping a vehicle need not involve a road block!

Regards, RAB

I thoguht it was in the computer, not Onstar.

I know a guy that put a lead shield over his GPS unit. And would take it off at different times.Really messed with the trackers mind.They checked his truck many times and never did find anything wrong.

Big Brother is watching. Cel phones, OnStar, toll boths, trafic cameras, gas station cameras, credit cards, bank cards.
You can't do anything without some snoop being able to stick their nose in your business.
Odd thing is. There is more time, money and accuracy in monitoring law abiding citizins. Than catching criminals, illegal aliens & terrorists etc.

Quit talking like the government needs more money,the state and federal can do what we do, cut spending not cut their growth.(Any time your government says they are are holding spending down that is code for we will only grow our department by 15%) These idiots that people elect just because they belong to a party,how about electing people that care about America first and not about getting re-elected again. OK Rant is over!

Then we should attach a gps to every person and every vehicle. It's for our own good you know.