by Michael Snyder
The American Dream
Once upon a time, the open highways of America were one of our greatest symbols of liberty and freedom. Anyone could hop in a car and set off for a new adventure at any time and even our music encouraged us to “get our kicks on route 66. But today everything has changed. Now the highways of America are being steadily transformed into a high tech prison grid.
All over the country, thousands upon thousands of surveillance cameras watch our highways and automated license plate readers are actually being used to track vehicle movements in some of our largest cities. Many state and local governments have come to view our highways as money machines and our control freak politicians have established a vast network of toll booths, red light cameras and speed traps to keep cash endlessly pouring in. If all of that wasn’t enough, TSA “VIPR teams” are now hitting the interstates and conducting thousands of “unannounced security screenings” each year. Driving on the highways of America used to be a great joy, but now “Big Brother” is rapidly sucking all of the fun out of it.
Eventually, it may get to the point where Americans simply dread having to go out on the highway.
The following are 10 signs that the highways of America are being transformed into a high tech prison grid.
#1 Surveillance Cameras
All over the United States, a vast network of surveillance cameras is carefully watching our highways. The following is an excerpt from a recent article in the Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/services-shopping/dp-nws-public-camera-surveillance-20120520,0,3815887.story about this phenomenon.
The room is large and well lit, and it buzzes with activity even though its occupants remain seated.
The video screen at the front of the room is as wide as an IMAX, though not quite as tall. It consists of 64 smaller screens – 16 columns of four apiece – that monitor every inch of interstate between Great Wolf Lodge and the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. There is an emphasis on tunnels and bridges, and one corner screen is tuned in to a 24-hour weather report.
If you are driving on an highway in Hampton Roads, VDOT is watching you.
#2 Automated License Plate Readers
In a previous article, http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/rise-of-the-beast-system-11-ways-that-amerika-is-becoming-more-like-north-korea. I detailed how automated license plate readers are being used to track the movements of every single vehicle that enters Washington D.C.
A recent Washington Post article http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/license-plate-readers-a-useful-tool-for-police-comes-with-privacy-concerns/2011/11/18/gIQAuEApcN_story.html explained that most people do not even know that they are there.
More than 250 cameras in the District and its suburbs scan license plates in real time, helping police pinpoint stolen cars and fleeing killers. But the program quietly has expanded beyond what anyone had imagined even a few years ago.
With virtually no public debate, police agencies have begun storing the information from the cameras, building databases that document the travels of millions of vehicles.
Nowhere is that more prevalent than in the District, which has more than one plate-reader per square mile, the highest concentration in the nation. Police in the Washington suburbs have dozens of them as well, and local agencies plan to add many more in coming months, creating a comprehensive dragnet that will include all the approaches into the District.
A lot of police cruisers are being outfitted with this technology around the nation as well.
So if you see a police car pull up behind you, there is a very good chance that a computer has already read your license plate and is giving the officer all of your information.
#3 Ridiculous Regulations
Some of the new “auto safety laws” going in around the nation are absolutely absurd.
For example, do you buckle up your pet when you go for a ride?
Well, in New Jersey you can now be fined up to $1000 http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/06/02/new-fines-in-place-for-cats-and-dogs-that-dont-buckle-up-in-new-jersey/ for not having your pet properly restrained while you are out driving.
#4 Outrageous Fines
In many areas of the country, unpaid traffic tickets can rapidly become a major financial burden.
For example, the new tolls on the 520 floating bridges in Seattle are absolutely killing http://www.king5.com/home/520-toll-late-penalty-fight-153604065.html some commuters.
Registered vehicle owners who do not pay their toll within 80 days or more will be mailed a $40 civil penalty for each unpaid toll transaction in addition to a $5 reprocessing fee.
WSDOT confirmed some tolls plus penalty fees have added up to more than $1,000.
#5 Oppressive Toll Roads
Toll roads have become one of the favorites “revenue raising tools” for our politicians.
At this point the tolls on some roads have become so incredibly oppressive that many people simply cannot afford to drive on them anymore.
And for some reason the toll increases are coming especially fast and furious this year.
A recent USA Today article http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-10/toll-road-bridge-tunnel-us/50722352/1 summarized some of the oppressive toll increases that we are seeing all over the nation.
•California and Washington authorized high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, where tolls rise or fall depending on traffic flow. Texas enacted laws authorizing private toll roads and allowing regional authorities to collect tolls. Indiana removed a provision requiring legislative approval for toll roads.
•Some Maryland tolls will double this year as the state seeks money to rehabilitate aging roads, bridges and tunnels.
The use of tolls on interstate highways also is spreading:
•Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, just won approval from the Federal Highway Administration to add tolls on Interstate 95 in his state. The state estimates that tolls on the heavily traveled corridor could generate $250 million over the first five years for 1expanding, improving and maintaining the highway.
•New York and New Jersey recently announced that E-ZPass commuters will pay $1.50 more and cash customers $2 more to cross bridges and tunnels between the two states.
•Georgia just created toll lanes on Interstate 85 in suburban Atlanta. The toll hikes are more than chump change: Cash tolls on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge jumped to $4 from $2.50, and to $12 from $8 on all the New York-New Jersey Hudson River crossings.
Toll roads are one of my pet peeves. Any time I see a tollbooth it immediately puts me in a bad mood.
#6 Red Light Cameras
Red light cameras are another favorite “revenue raising tool” for the control freaks that run things.
Unfortunately, these cameras don’t always work right so a lot of innocent people end up getting ticketed.
But politicians love them because they can raise a lot of cash. The following is from a recent Business Insider article http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-10/toll-road-bridge-tunnel-us/50722352/1.
This article was cut to fit space. The complete article will be publish in www.elreporteroSF.com next week.
