I have owned four Ford vehicles in my life. The first was a Lynx, which I inherited from my father. Even in showroom condition, a Lynx is just a couple of steps up from a Pinewood Derby Racer. Since the old man was not diligent about things like oil changes, transmission flushes, or even tire rotations, that poor Lynx lasted about two years before blowing a head gasket and giving up the ghost.
I also owned two serviceable Ford sedans, but the one Ford that holds a place in my heart is my '03 Ranger. Actually, it was Mrs. Brown's ride when we met. When she wanted to upgrade, I paid it off and made it into a work, hauling, and camping truck. The tailgate doesn't work, there is an issue with the electrical system I have never been able to track down, and the step bars are turning into rust depositories, but man, does it run! It still cranks and drives like a dream, even after all this time. I have had to take it in for repairs exactly once, and that was because of a minor issue with a wheel.
Other than that, I have never had a bit of trouble. It must have been part of a manufacturing run in which the industry screwed up and made a quality product. Ask a man who owns a Ranger from that era if he is interested in selling the truck, and you had better hope he just says no. You'll be lucky if he doesn't draw down on you. He would probably tell you to leave the premises if you asked to borrow it. People have knocked on my door in the middle of the day, offering to buy my truck. The answer is always, "No. Go away." They can have my Ranger when they pry it off my cold, dead driveway.
Setting aside my love for my cherished Ranger, I probably won't buy another Ford any time soon. At least not one made in the next ten years or so. Or twenty years, if I live that long. This is because the next generation of Fords will probably have names like the Ford Snitch, the Ford Squealer, and the Ford Quisling. Possibly the Ford Rat Fink.
The technology already exists for monitoring your speed and driving patterns. Companies are selling that information to places like insurance companies that can use the data to hike your rates or cancel your policy. At one point, some carriers offered a device you could voluntarily install in your car to report your driving behavior. This was pitched as a way to reward good drivers. Right. There are also traffic cameras in most cities designed to keep an eye on driver activity and alert law enforcement about speed or other violations. Mrs. Brown's car has a feature that will momentarily take control of the wheel and squeal like a stuck pig if it thinks you are making an improper lane change, even if you aren't.
Now, CBT reports that Ford has filed a patent for a new system called “Systems and Methods for Detecting Speeding Violations.” This system will not monitor the car in which it is installed. Instead, it will use an array of sensors to track the speed of cars and trucks around the vehicle in question. Sensors and cameras would capture an image of the speeding vehicle, log the GPS data and other information, and then send the entire package directly to law enforcement. Then officers could decide whether or not they want to locate the vehicle and pursue it. Although I am willing to bet that the information would also go directly into a database that would trigger an email containing a ticket or summons.
As noted above, traffic monitoring technology is already in use. CBT cites a New York Times piece that notes that Ford and other automakers sell driver data to brokers, who in turn sell it to insurance companies. Then there is this disturbing tidbit from the article:
Moreover, several reports have indicated that automakers collect extensive personal data, including facial features, behavioral characteristics, and even sensitive information like sexual orientation and religious beliefs.
Religious beliefs? How do they know that? It is not as hard as you might think. My phone knows exactly where I go to church. Every Sunday morning, it sends me a message letting me know how long the drive will be since it knows where I habitually go on that day and time. Never, ever, EVER forget that data is being compiled on you almost every second of every day, whether you consent to it or not. You may not have an FBI profile, but you have an extensive data profile, and it would probably freeze your blood to know who has that information.
Along with the thorny issue of data collection, CBT rightfully points out the matter of ethics. Your car can be identified and tracked without your knowledge by a car driven by someone who may be completely unaware that their vehicle is targeting yours. CBT notes:
Ford, a leader in providing police cars, with over half of the police vehicles in the U.S. bearing its logo, is now at the center of a debate over privacy and data usage. While improving road safety, the company’s technology could potentially be used to monitor and report driving behavior extensively, raising questions about the extent to which such data should be used.
According to the article, in December of last year, Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent letters to Ford and thirteen other automakers, asking them to adopt stronger privacy practices. In response, Ford said it allows customers to turn off vehicle-sharing data and all connectivity features. But (and there's always a "but"), doing so would restrict access to “certain applications and services that rely on this data.”
To be honest, I'm not sure how well the technology would work. I don't know about your neck of the woods, but in Utah, I-15 runs right through the state. If there is NASCAR in Hell, it looks like I-15. In the urban areas, the speed limit is 70 MPH. But no one drives 70 MPH. 80 MPH is the average speed at which you usually need to drive just to maintain the flow of traffic. There are plenty of drivers who go 90 MPH and higher. I've seen people flip off old ladies driving the speed limit. And that's not considering the ones who are auditioning for the reboot of "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior."
On I-15, at least through Utah County, it would not be surprising if someone in a metal hockey mask jumped on your hood and tried to murder you with a homemade chainsaw. I estimate that Ford's nifty little spy gadget would last all of 10 minutes on I-15 before gagging on the Blue Screen of Death. And I doubt that the local constabulary, including the Utah Highway Patrol, has the time and manpower to track down that many violators. And any UHP trooper reading this would likely concur. I'll bet there is a stretch of road near you that is very similar. And how accurate will it be? How many "false positives" will it issue, resulting in someone unjustly having their license suspended until their court appearance?
Technology is developing at a nightmarish pace, and no, I am not being hyperbolic. By the time Ford rolls it out, the system could be very adept at locating and reporting on violators. In the future, you may find yourself facing a citation for no other reason than passing another car or trying to get a loved one to the hospital. This new technology may make the roads safer, and there is no excuse for reckless driving. That having been said, as technology grows, so does the surveillance state. And as the surveillance state grows, so does the number of crimes for which you could find yourself charged, justly or otherwise.
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