Watched at 65 mph?
When New Hampshire dispensed with tokens in favor of EZ-Pass, I was one of the stubborn hold-outs who declined. I was uncomfortable with the idea of affixing my car with a device capable of tracking where I’d been. Not that I have anything to hide but something about it was just a bit too big brother to me. Most motorists do not understand this attitude, I imagine vegetarians get the same treatment, they try and convince me; cite how quick and easy it is; they gloat as they speed through NH’s many tolls while I fumble with quarters. People seem to take it as a personal affront, a judgment of their choice to surrender privacy for convenience.
Taking this issue one step further, I heard on the radio last weekend that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, had proposed doing away with highway tolls entirely. He would replace them with a chip, hidden inside our inspection sticker, that would track how much individual automobiles used his roads, and then bill those drivers accordingly. Unlike my sacrifice when it came to EZ-Pass, it didn’t sound as if there would be any choice in the matter. Register your car in Massachusetts = get tracked.
Perhaps I am too feverish about this issue. Maybe it does just amount to paranoia. But I wonder what it means to a profession that is so devoted to protecting the privacy of the public when that very same public is invited and then forced to potentially surrender that privacy and does so with no complaint?
