OT- Black cars and Kalifornia, Talk of banning black cars by 2012 Options

[Lou W]

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CARB


I'm not sure if this is the place to post this, but I thought it was interesting.......

[horizontally-opposed]

I dunno....

Sometimes, I think we look at a lot of things as "rights" that, on occasion, mean taking away the rights of others. Sure, banning black cars may be off the deep end, but there are other four-wheeled choice rights I wouldn't mind seeing banned -- like (ridiculously) jacked up 4x4s that can no longer steer or stop safely, and will go over whatever they hit in the event of an accident. Rubicon Jeeps? Fine. Super chromy F350s you need a ladder to climb into? I'm not so sure. And don't get me started on Harleys with straight pipes...

As for future car colors, some of the reader comments on thetruthaboutcars.com make a lot of sense to me. Interior color needs to be considered, just as glass does. The ramifications need to be considered, too. Requiring glass shops to keep records is rediculous. But, if applying a new standard would have a real, measurable impact on emissions, I might be all for it.

Don't get me wrong, I love a black car when it's good, but I love the idea of leaving my kids (and I don't even have any yet....) a better California more than I love black cars. Especially black NEW cars. Then again, I do not want to convey the idea that I think Kalifornia will legislate this intelligently. Just look at the smog laws we have now. They miss so many gross polluters it's silly -- and have given rise to a whole cottage industry of crooks, as well as an annoying every two-years tax. And the pollution caused by almost all of the State's vehicle fleet having to go to get tested every two years. What was that about roadside testing stations that could recognize serious polluters and send a notice to the owner -- and recognize when a car is too old to be required to comply? Oh yeah, that was a pretty good idea (way better than speed cameras!) -- and it disappeared. Wonder how much of CARB and its friends would have been impacted.

The scary thing for we 914 folk is the idea that a day may come when we can drive our cars, but the pollution tax attached to them will make doing so prohibitive. The question will be would such a tax be fair? The answer, I'm afraid, might be that it would be, given that we are spewing out all kinds of toxins compared to the guy enjoying his Lotus Elise -- toxins that everybody has to breathe.

I sure hope it doesn't go that way, but I can tell you that I felt VERY guilty driving a Ruf CTR around. It ran so rich that I had to hold my breath at stoplights to keep from getting sick. I guess that was the only way Ruf knew how to make 500 hp in a streetable air-cooled engine and make it live back in 1988. But I could almost see the vegetation along PCH turn brown and then purple as I drove up the coast. I don't feel anywhere near that guilty when driving my 1973 914 with FI, but I know I'm not running as clean as I can in my other cars...

pete