Hacked Prius Running on Muni Power Lines (2014)
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How can this be legal in the first place?
It's almost certainly not (statutes that make it illegal to tap into your neigbor's electricity downstream of the meter could easily be warped for this use case). However, a combination of factors could make that a non-issue in the short term for the Prius driver.
1) The people who enforce the law usually don't enforce it to it's fullest against middle aged white men driving Priuses.
2) Most people in a position to screw the driver over for the laws he's violating aren't well versed in that niche of the law. The probably just look the Prius and go "WTF did I just see".
3) This guy might have some connections that help out in keeping enforcement from looking his way.
4) Something else I'm not thinking of.
I can attest that this does happen.
Point is there is probably no law on the books making it illegal, it's perfectly reasonable for a citizen to assume (after reading the law; consulting with a lawyer) that they are allowed to do that because no one said otherwise (as long as they are safe about it). It's not like the law explicitly makes hitting crossing buttons legal.
But the city probably would pass an ordnance pretty quickly. That part is definitely wrong.
Ok, maybe that's just what I'd do.
Either way, good for a laugh as the afternoon starts to drag on.
Those electric buses are such poor rides. As soon as the driver lets off of accelerator, the whole bus shakes. You'd think they'd do something about having a smoother ride.
That technology is sold it really is a PoS. I certainly don't want to be anywhere near the tangled mess if an earthquake strikes and all the wires come tumbling down.