Creekside Art Gallery Blog

MILEAGE TAXATION COMING?    Privacy Issues…More Money to Drive

WASHINGTON (CNN) Report — The Obama administration is not currently supporting a policy of taxing car owners based on their annual mileage, the Transportation Department said Friday after a published interview in which Secretary Ray LaHood originally called it an idea "we should look at."  The mileage tax idea involves tracking drivers through required GPS units in their cars.  In a written statement, the department later said, "The policy of taxing motorists based on how many miles they have traveled is not and will not be Obama administration policy."    The idea — which involves tracking drivers through required Global Positioning System (GPS) units in their cars — is gaining support in some states as a way of making up for a shortfall in highway funding. Oregon carried out a pilot program and deemed it "successful."

Some states are now seriously looking at the mileage tax as a way to make up revenue for their great shortfalls.   (CNN) –“Trips would be measured by a chip installed in a vehicle inspection sticker…”  States institute and regulate gas taxes and emissions controls and other car related schemes all on their own without the federal government involvement.   This tax could incapacitate those especially who drive extensively to earn a living.  It would certainly negate any “individual stimulus money” headed our way.

 PERHAPS much worse than the money out of our pockets would be LOSS of our Privacy!!  GPS in your cars can do much more than just count miles driven; they can track and store where you are, where you have been, and where you end up.  Who do you want to know this information?  Many critics of the Vehicle Miles Traveled program argue that tracking drivers with GPS devices constitutes an invasion of privacy.  “It’s outrageous,” said Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown to the AP.

Are you infuriated at this potential loss of personal privacy?

Do you want to allow your state government to pull this off?

How will “mileage driven taxes” affect your bottom line?    Affect your life?