So if the news (aka: rumors on the internet that happened to end up on a couple of news websites) is to be believed, Oregon is toying with the idea of implementing a new tax system that charges you based on the number of miles driving in your vehicle. Why you ask? Well, the state feels that with more and more people buying hybrid vehicles and more fuel efficient vehicles they are loosing taxes normally collected at the pumps.They want to install GPS units in every car and track your route each day to determine how many miles you have driven, and those miles will have a fee associated with them.
Big brother?
You bet. Nothing better than a detailed map of where a person has driven everyday. What if I drive a "normal" vehicle or a fuel inefficient vehicle? Would I need a GPS unit installed? Why do they need to know the route? Wouldn't a simple odometer reading be enough? It should be.
Of course, no hard numbers were released as to how much money they can potential lose with more people driving fuel efficient vehicles. One thing to consider however if that for a short term loss in some tax collection, it will have long term benefits on the environment and the populations health. Another fact is that there are more and more cars on the roads today, and barring a few, they all need gasoline, so that also equals more money.
All in all, it's not the best way to go about collecting tax (not that I agree with the amount of tax collected anyway), but in someone's eyes in government this is the cheapest way to collect the most money. However, I don't see the majority of people knowingly agreeing to such a technology.
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