Less Joy out of Driving

Every year driving for me gets just a bit less fun. Now it appears that some states that accept EZ Pass are using the transponders to see if you are speeding. It's already used as a tracking device. Transponder information has also been used in court to prove where a person was located.

I don't have one, but living out here in the woods I'm a long ways from the nearest toll booth. If I had to drive through one every day I might feel differently about it. As it is, when I go through a toll both, I almost always go to the lane with a real live human in it. People like me keep them employed.

Some roads have cameras that scan your license plate and then send your bill in the mail. My only experience with that was outside of Miami. At the time I was driving a high ground clearance pickup truck pulling an empty boat trailer. That must have messed up the system somehow as I never got a bill.

How long will it be before transponders become mandatory? Maybe they won't even bother with transponders and just track everyone using their cell phones?

Remember when people would talk about the freedom of the open road? It's like US freedom in general: for a certain value of free, within certain parameters, and as long as you can pay for it.

-Sixbears