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U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
241–250 of 381 posts
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#242Earlier quoted context omitted.
Man I got hit so many times as a cyclist in TX and GA. It took me awhile to realize that in GA, it was sometimes intentional. I hadn't realized how much bicyclists were disliked.
I don’t known if its the heat or lack of greenery but everything I hear about riding bikes or motocycles in Texas just makes it sounds like there is some deep latent aggression there. I have bicycled in a bunch of states including the Southeast and never encountered anything like the stories people tell about Texas.
It has basically 0 pedestrian or bike infrastructure (at least where I was at, Irving, was that way). You have to drive everywhere otherwise you are literally in the middle of the got dang road.
The speed limits are also all high. They get up to 50 mph in as many places as possible.
It also doesn't help that they've got some of the worst road marking of any state I've been in. There were a lot of roads where it was simply unclear how many lanes were supposed to exist.
Now imagine throwing a bike into all this.
I don't think it's so much aggression as it is really really terrible infrastructure.
Also, FTR, Texans are actually pretty polite drivers (at least they were circa 2011 in Dallas area).
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
California is rather strict on emissions. Other states don't care. I used to work for my state's version of the DMV and the only public facing page where one could report things was to report people who would not register their cars locally (many people who purchase very expensive cars chose to register them in Montana). There used to be a web page to report license plates that were worn and needed replacing (like th…
Vehicle regulation in the US is piss poor. Here's the full list of states that require all passenger vehicles to be inspected for safety and emissions every year: * New York * Massachussets * Vermont
It's probably a much larger list if you expand it to every other year. Though that won't make for nearly as exciting a post.
That reminds me, I am overdue for a smog check...
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vehicle regulation in the US is piss poor. Here's the full list of states that require all passenger vehicles to be inspected for safety and emissions every year: * New York * Massachussets * Vermont
Why should that be required? Let people do as they will and impose penalties for problematic behavior (including negligence). I lived in a state with safety inspections and AFAICT it was little more than yet another disproportionate speed bump for the poor and a complete waste of time for society at large. I do see the merit of inspecting larger trailers (such as for boats) once a year given the combined increased li…
For emissions there is often nothing visually wrong with the car. So you’d essentially be giving up on enforcement if you didn’t require everyone to get their car checked at least every few years. Doing it every year is IMO overkill.
As to safety inspections it’s not a very large effect, but they do save lives and the expense is generally rather small. Yes it impacts the poor more, but that’s because getting unsafe vehicles fixed or off the road is kind of the point.
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#245> It has already submitted forum posts and social media evidence showing some users employing the system to disable emissions controls. Is right-to-repair going to get scrod by illegal activity, like everyone got scrod by media piracy? We knew we'd get scrod back when MP3 piracy started, and many people were warned what would happen, but they still did it, and it played out just like was warned. Illegal activity crea…
Was the terrible consequence of pirating MP3s that music is now cheap and widely available because media outlets had to compete with Napster?
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t known if its the heat or lack of greenery but everything I hear about riding bikes or motocycles in Texas just makes it sounds like there is some deep latent aggression there. I have bicycled in a bunch of states including the Southeast and never encountered anything like the stories people tell about Texas.
It has basically 0 pedestrian or bike infrastructure (at least where I was at, Irving, was that way). You have to drive everywhere otherwise you are literally in the middle of the got dang road. The speed limits are also all high. They get up to 50 mph in as many places as possible. It also doesn't help that they've got some of the worst road marking of any state I've been in. There were a lot of roads where it was s…
> I don't think it's so much aggression as it is really really terrible infrastructure.
As one that has been hit and coal rolled, I'll stipulate that I have a biased take that would disagree. I get that people in Irving are probably not as used to bicycles, but where I'm at is one the most popular places for biking (white rock lake). So drivers in this area are definitely used to bikes. These people to me are the meme version of the MAGA crowd. They're also the people that have no qualms doing 50mph in a 30mph zone. Infrastructure or not, these people are these people
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#247This "car-tinkering app" is used as a glorified GameShark for deleting factory emissions controls, I don't feel sorry for anyone who uses this to roll coal or whatever. Instead of investigating everyone on the list of users of this app, should the government instead ban diesel engines knowing their emissions controls software will be defeated? Should environmental regulations be relaxed? What is really the solution h…
Periodic vehicle inspection for emissions and safety compliance. Many jurisdictions already have this for gas engine emissions, a handful of states already have safety inspections. Done right, it can be low burden and low cost, and basically put an end to Def deletion. Done poorly it's grift to the shops that do the inspections, and an economically external annoyance to vehicle owners, and unnecessarily limits the ab…
States, like Texas, are getting rid of this. Although they still collect the fee of course.
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
California is rather strict on emissions. Other states don't care. I used to work for my state's version of the DMV and the only public facing page where one could report things was to report people who would not register their cars locally (many people who purchase very expensive cars chose to register them in Montana). There used to be a web page to report license plates that were worn and needed replacing (like th…
Vehicle regulation in the US is piss poor. Here's the full list of states that require all passenger vehicles to be inspected for safety and emissions every year: * New York * Massachussets * Vermont
Safety inspections I’ve dealt with were largely regulatory capture for auto shops. Oh, your fender is rusty? Better replace that, even if this is your fishing wagon!
CA doesn’t require annual smogs, but once your car is a certain age, it’s at least biennial. I just did ours last week.
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why should that be required? Let people do as they will and impose penalties for problematic behavior (including negligence). I lived in a state with safety inspections and AFAICT it was little more than yet another disproportionate speed bump for the poor and a complete waste of time for society at large. I do see the merit of inspecting larger trailers (such as for boats) once a year given the combined increased li…
For emissions there is often nothing visually wrong with the car. So you’d essentially be giving up on enforcement if you didn’t require everyone to get their car checked at least every few years. Doing it every year is IMO overkill. As to safety inspections it’s not a very large effect, but they do save lives and the expense is generally rather small. Yes it impacts the poor more, but that’s because getting unsafe v…
I have never met anyone who properly fixed an emissions problem, and I think that's what GP meant by willful violations. Any car old enough to have emissions problems isn't worth enough to fix properly, so you cheat it by doing things like buying a spacer for the O2 sensor.
Personally I'd be shocked if emissions inspections had a significant effect on total vehicle emissions, and I think that the most effective things are done at the manufacturer
Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vehicle regulation in the US is piss poor. Here's the full list of states that require all passenger vehicles to be inspected for safety and emissions every year: * New York * Massachussets * Vermont
Why should that be required? Let people do as they will and impose penalties for problematic behavior (including negligence). I lived in a state with safety inspections and AFAICT it was little more than yet another disproportionate speed bump for the poor and a complete waste of time for society at large. I do see the merit of inspecting larger trailers (such as for boats) once a year given the combined increased li…
I live in a country with mandatory (mostly-)yearly car inspections (and all other motor vehicles).
Many time you don't even know that there's an issue and they only find it during the inspection. Handbrake works only on one side, normal brakes don't work properly on one of the wheels, there's play in one of the joints or tie rods, etc.
You park, pull the handbrake, you have no idea that if you parked on an incline, your car would roll downhill, but because they noticed it during an inspection, you get that fixed. At the same time, you're forced to replace all the blown lightbulbs etc., even the ones not used daily (fog lights, etc.), since they check those too. Many people don't even notice their brake lights not working.