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Comment by erkt | Hacker News Reader

Literally all rights are privileges and protections granted by the government.

It’s funny to read someone write “US goes full fascist” in a negative light while actively arguing to take away freedoms from law abiding Americans.

It’s already illegal to drink and drive. Now you want it to be illegal to modify vehicles?

Can I lobby to shut down vehicles who fail to use their turn signals?

I buy a car and remove the device immediately: how is the law enforced? Do cops check our equipment every time we get pulled over? Do we have to reinstall it for every smog check?

Who do I get to sue when I can’t bring my dad to the hospital because he had a heart attack after I had a glass of wine.

There’s a little risk in life, please learn to coexist with it and stop trying to force people to jump through hoops so you can feel a little safer.

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> It’s already illegal to drink and drive. Now you want it to be illegal to modify vehicles?

I mean, it's hardly without precedent. You can't remove your license plate, you can't remove the seatbelts, you can't remove the muffler, you can't remove the catalytic converter, you can't remove the side or rear view mirrors. My state requires an annual inspection to confirm these things are all in place and working.

> Who do I get to sue when I can’t bring my dad to the hospital because he had a heart attack after I had a glass of wine.

General advice is that if it warrants drunk driving, it warrants a 911 call for an ambulance.

> You can't remove your license plate, you can't remove the seatbelts, you can't remove the muffler, you can't remove the catalytic converter, you can't remove the side or rear view mirrors

Of course you can. You just can’t drive it on public roads. Plenty of vehicles aren’t street legal.

A glass of wine isn’t drunk driving. The concern is allowing a computer to make what could amount to life a death decisions.

I’m sure you can imagine that there are lots of people who live in different situations than you. Waiting for an ambulance might take several hours or may simply not show up. How about that it may cost several thousand dollars?

What happens when your fancy kill switch simply malfunctions and kills a car in a life and death location like a desert in the summer.

Please try to account for more than a suburban environment when passing national laws.

This is the kind of nanny law that pushes people to plug their nose and vote for the other guy.

Edit: then to than

> A glass of wine isn’t drunk driving.

Then it's unlikely your car will count it as such.

> The concern is allowing a computer to make what could amount to life a death decisions.

Your car does this continually. Should it fire the airbags? Tension the seatbelts? Engage the antilock brakes? Oops, one wheel is slipping, adjust power to the others.

> What happens when your fancy kill switch simply malfunctions and kills a car in a life and death location like a desert in the summer.

The same thing that happens if the starter or fuel pump or battery fails.

> This is the kind of nanny law that pushes people to plug their nose and vote for the other guy.

That's the evergreen threat of the folks who always find a reason to vote for the other guy anyways.

This is a problem with many laws. For instance, we don’t allow people to commit mass shootings. But what if Zondar the Planet Eater gives me an ultimatum and only ten minutes to execute? “Kill all these children or I will eat the planet”. Straightforward choice to kill the kids. Then who do I sue? We should think about the unintended consequences of these things. After all, who wouldn’t want to make that deal with Zondar. He eats planets! Next they’ll make it illegal to save the planet!

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