please follow along for a couple of minutes on this one ...
For years the primary method of funding US highways was the collection of federal and state 'road taxes' on every gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel, It's now becoming a well known fact that the amount of 'road taxes' being collected have fallen precipitously, thanks to cars getting better gas mileage, thanks to hybrid / electric vehicles etc. As such, the present level of 'road tax' collection is now beginning to fall short of the amount of money needed to maintain state and federal highways.
Some US states and cities had been experimenting with alternate methods of collecting 'road tax', in an effort to both restore previous dollar amounts of 'road taxes' collected, as well as to more 'fairly' deal with the fact that gasoline and diesel fuel are no longer the only 'fuel' sources for motor vehicles. This leads us to the following ... from the LA Times at
(snip)A black box in your car? Some see a source of tax revenue
The devices would track every mile you drive —possibly including your location — and the government would use the data to draw up a tax bill.
WASHINGTON — As America's road planners struggle to find the cash to mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in a little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car.
The devices, which track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats, are at the center of a controversial attempt in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system for funding America's major roads.
The usually dull arena of highway planning has suddenly spawned intense debate and colorful alliances. Libertarians have joined environmental groups in lobbying to allow government to use the little boxes to keep track of the miles you drive, and possibly where you drive them — then use the information to draw up a tax bill."(snip)
My concern with this approach is that gov't 'black box' tracking of miles driven, as well as gov't tracking of WHERE the car was driven, is likely to have a 'chilling' effect on future strip club customers !!! I can envision angry wives' divorce lawyers already filing for court orders to release gov't collected info proving that their husbands' vehicles have frequently been parked at GPS co-ordinates corresponding to strip club parking lots !!!



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