OBD / Big Brother

Tue Oct 22 14:42:27 GMT 1996

From: ralph at teaminfinity.com
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 18:17:54 -0400
Subject: CAJI! >>>  Everyone say: "OBD III and ME"  <<<

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REPEAT AFTER ME,  "OBD III AND ME"

Big Brother won't just be watching you,
He'll be sitting in the passenger seat.

Fiction writing is harder than simple reportage because what goes on in real
life frequently beggars the imagination in a way no contrived plot line ever
could.  For example, would you believe it is now possible for government
bureaucrats to shut your car off at the push of a button via global
positioning satellites transmitting signals to your car's on-board computer?
Not only is this scenario technically feasible - it could easily become a
working reality if a proposed new engine computer system - "On-Board
Diagnostics III" - gets mandated by Washington regulators.

All 1996 and newer cars and trucks already have On-Board Diagnostics II
computers that were deemed necessary in order to comply with ever-stricter
new car emissions standards and to make "tampering" with emissions control
equipment more difficult.

OBD II computers are "intelligent" in the sense that they have the ability
to continously monitor the functioning of a car's emissions systems. If any
component begins to deteriorate, the OBD computer causes a dash light to
come on a "trouble code" to be stored in the computer's memory indicating
the need for service.

The theory behind on-board diagnostics is that by constantly monitoring
engine performance and signaling the driver when a fault occurs - overall
emissions levels can be substantially reduced.

EPA and other advocates claim pre-OBD vehicles could develop faults that
generated higher than acceptable emissions levels without causing any
noticeable change in operating characteristics - so the owner could keep on
driving for months before the problem is detected during the course of a
tune-up.

Further, pre-OBD vehicles could be modified with add-on equipment
(non-factory camshafts, computer chips, etc.) and no one - particularly the
government - would be the wiser.

OBD thus ushered in the era of "sealed hoods" - i.e., cars that cannot be
maintained/modified by their owners without triggering the system to
register a fault and possibly causing it to fail an emissions test.

The automotive aftermarket - which makes engine components and related parts
- - could be put out of business by OBD.

Even a routine upgrade to a larger wheel and tire combination, for example -
something many owners of trucks and sports cars do for improved performance
- - can throw off the OBD system since it monitors literally every aspect of
vehicle operation and will detect any "non-stock" part or modification done
to the vehicle.

But OBD III has the potential to be more than inconvenient. It could very
well outlaw the home mechanic, "hot rodding" and subject the driving public
to total control by bureaucratic overlords in state and federal agencies.

Here's how it would work: You're driving along in your 1998 model car
equipped with OBD III. Earlier in the day you installed a high performance
muffler system for quicker acceleration. You drive by a roadside infrared
emissions monitor (they're commonplace now). It senses you have "modified"
your vehicle and, in the blink of an electronic eye, relays information
about your vehicle to the Department of Motor Vehicles. A DMV minion taps a
button that sends a signal to global positioning satellites; the GPS bounces
the signal back to Earth, to your car's OBD III com- puter - a signal that
tells the engine to shut down.

You wait by the side of the road with your lifeless car for the envionmental
cops to arrive and take you downtown for committing "crimes against the
planet." As surreal as this scenario might sound, it's frighteningly close
to reality. The technology has been around for a few years now. Each car
with a computer could be programmed with its very own elec- tronic signature
that would allow instantaneous identification by the authorities.

Utililized to its full potential, OBD technology coupled with GPS would make
it possible for government to automatically monitor the speed of every car
on the road - sending tickets through the mail to the driver of each and
every car that exceeds the posted limit.

Or, let's say your registration is a little out of date - or you haven't
renewed your driver's license. The computer knows all and could immediately
alert authorities the moment you venture out of your driveway.

Big Brother won't just be watching you. He'll be sitting in the passenger
seat.

OBD III is, fortunately, only a proposal deep within the rankled bowels of
the EPA at this point. But lately this kind of thing has become law all too
easily and quietly. Once written into the code these usurpations of our
freedom are almost impossible to get rid of.

Many alert car enthusiasts now believe present efforts to get rid of older,
pre-computerized vehicles via so-called "clunker" laws and "enhanced"
emissions tests are partly motivated by the realization that such vehicles
cannot be monitored and controlled as easily as computerized cars. They may
be on to something. Should the government at some point in the future decide
to impose a "state of emergency," it could shut down almost every car in the
land at the flick of a switch making it difficult for people to travel
anywhere.  Only those lucky few with older cars would not be helpless and
immobile.

Maybe that's why certain folks are so eager to see us all driving
computer-controlled cars - and why they devote so much energy to removing
all cars built before the early 1980s from the roads.

Eric Peters writes on automotive issues for The Washington Times.

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