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The problem is that our government cannot be trusted. The car-ification of the united states in combination with endless driving regulations creates a dragnet f

The problem is that our government cannot be trusted. The car-ification of the united states in combination with endless driving regulations creates a dragnet for the police to simply stop and detain anyone going about their daily lives. There's no reason license plates expire, there's no reason we should have to pay for inspection, there's little proof it even is effective in improving safety. Drivers licenses again prove very little. People are pulled over constantly for suspended and expired licenses, were the unable to drive? clearly they were. The issue with license plates is that it creates a automatic background check on every person who drives past a police officers with an ALPR. It's about as bad as the slave catching squads from the ante-bellum era. There's no reason I should have a bench warrant from missing a traffic ticket in New Jersey cause a police officer to detain me, arrest me, jail me, and send me back to New Jersey. The problem is, you cannot separate the benefits from the bad. The problem is the government routinely abuses their power of licensure (see may-issue licenses in new york) to the point they cannot be trusted to license at all. Given the rampant abuses on our civil rights from the government, especially state and local governments who tend to do the day to day brunt of enforcement, I hesitate to offer them any option to be more efficient.

pxeboot 4y ago
These things are all decided by individual states. Permanent license plates and zero inspections are definitely a thing in some parts of the country. Drivers licenses with very long validity periods were too, until REAL ID became essentially required.
pixl97 4y ago
Ah, libertarianism coupled with if you cannot solve every case then you shouldn't solve any case. I can separate the benefits from the bad. The road without rules is a net loss for everyone. Companies and individuals would gladly save on getting inspections if it saved them a few dollars at risk to everyone on the road when their bald tires and bad brakes finally failed them.
dahart 4y ago
> The problem is that our government cannot be trusted. Depends on what you mean, it sounds like you’re saying the government cannot be trusted to be perfect. I’d agree with that. But the counter problem is that the public cannot be trusted either. A huge number of people can and will avoid maintaining their car if they don’t have to, will wait to purchase tires until after they’re bald, will drive with smoky exhaust, will avoid paying sales taxes if they aren’t caught, will crash their cars and run if they can’t be tracked down, etc. etc. This isn’t really a government problem, it’s a people problem. People just happen to make up the government. > There’s no reason license plates expire, there’s no reason we should have to pay for inspection, there’s little proof it even is effective in improving safety. Kind of a lot to unpack there. Contrary to your claim, there are reasons plates & registration & IDs expire. Whether you accept and agree with those reasons is a separate question. Cars do change hands and degrade over time. It makes sense to check in, especially from the POV of the govt who maybe primarily wants to tax any sales, and keep track of who’s associated with each license plate. Safety and emissions inspections are improving our safety & air, and there’s data over time to show it. > Drivers licenses again prove very little. There’s some proof; we have lower accident rates than some other countries where drivers have a lower barrier to entry. Aside from that, licenses are partly for identification. You might not like that, but that is part of their purpose. > It’s about as bad as the slave catching squads from the ante-bellum era. Hard disagree. Treading dangerous water with this one. > There’s no reason I should have a bench warrant from missing a traffic ticket in New Jersey cause a police officer to detain me, arrest me, jail me, and send me back to New Jersey. Sure there is, you appear to be fleeing when you miss a court date and drive across state lines. I’m skeptical this happens with any regularity over minor traffic tickets with no other context and a clean record. But again you’re saying “no reason” when what you mean is you don’t like it. > Given the rampant abuses You’ve established that you have a fear of abuse, but not that it’s affecting you routinely. I haven’t seen any dragnets ever, personally.
- kelnos 4y ago
  > Safety and emissions inspections are improving our safety & air, and there’s data over time to show it. I'm curious about this. Most US states do not require regular safety inspections, and some of those that do, only require them for a subset of vehicles (only commercial vehicles, only vehicles over a certain age, etc.). Around half of states require emissions testing, though often it's not yearly, and there are often exceptions for newer cars. Certainly there are political and cost-related drivers to not requiring this sort of testing. But I do wonder what studies have been done, specifically for safety inspections: do they significantly reduce incidence of vehicle crashes, or at least of fatalities or serious injuries when crashes do happen?

pxeboot 4y ago

These things are all decided by individual states. Permanent license plates and zero inspections are definitely a thing in some parts of the country. Drivers licenses with very long validity periods were too, until REAL ID became essentially required.

pixl97 4y ago

Ah, libertarianism coupled with if you cannot solve every case then you shouldn't solve any case. I can separate the benefits from the bad. The road without rules is a net loss for everyone. Companies and individuals would gladly save on getting inspections if it saved them a few dollars at risk to everyone on the road when their bald tires and bad brakes finally failed them.

dahart 4y ago

> The problem is that our government cannot be trusted. Depends on what you mean, it sounds like you’re saying the government cannot be trusted to be perfect. I’d agree with that. But the counter problem is that the public cannot be trusted either. A huge number of people can and will avoid maintaining their car if they don’t have to, will wait to purchase tires until after they’re bald, will drive with smoky exhaust, will avoid paying sales taxes if they aren’t caught, will crash their cars and run if they can’t be tracked down, etc. etc. This isn’t really a government problem, it’s a people problem. People just happen to make up the government. > There’s no reason license plates expire, there’s no reason we should have to pay for inspection, there’s little proof it even is effective in improving safety. Kind of a lot to unpack there. Contrary to your claim, there are reasons plates & registration & IDs expire. Whether you accept and agree with those reasons is a separate question. Cars do change hands and degrade over time. It makes sense to check in, especially from the POV of the govt who maybe primarily wants to tax any sales, and keep track of who’s associated with each license plate. Safety and emissions inspections are improving our safety & air, and there’s data over time to show it. > Drivers licenses again prove very little. There’s some proof; we have lower accident rates than some other countries where drivers have a lower barrier to entry. Aside from that, licenses are partly for identification. You might not like that, but that is part of their purpose. > It’s about as bad as the slave catching squads from the ante-bellum era. Hard disagree. Treading dangerous water with this one. > There’s no reason I should have a bench warrant from missing a traffic ticket in New Jersey cause a police officer to detain me, arrest me, jail me, and send me back to New Jersey. Sure there is, you appear to be fleeing when you miss a court date and drive across state lines. I’m skeptical this happens with any regularity over minor traffic tickets with no other context and a clean record. But again you’re saying “no reason” when what you mean is you don’t like it. > Given the rampant abuses You’ve established that you have a fear of abuse, but not that it’s affecting you routinely. I haven’t seen any dragnets ever, personally.

kelnos 4y ago
> Safety and emissions inspections are improving our safety & air, and there’s data over time to show it. I'm curious about this. Most US states do not require regular safety inspections, and some of those that do, only require them for a subset of vehicles (only commercial vehicles, only vehicles over a certain age, etc.). Around half of states require emissions testing, though often it's not yearly, and there are often exceptions for newer cars. Certainly there are political and cost-related drivers to not requiring this sort of testing. But I do wonder what studies have been done, specifically for safety inspections: do they significantly reduce incidence of vehicle crashes, or at least of fatalities or serious injuries when crashes do happen?