On Fri, 3 Jan 2003, H R wrote:

> If something like this in Oregon passes, soon other states will follow.

Perhaps Oregon is trying to compete with California and Texas, our
traditional national showcases for bad legislation.

> When you come back with your westy from a cross-country trip
> a few years into the future, you might be greeted with a $1,000 road use bill
> in the mail.

Which brings up an interesting question -- how would states coordinate
collecting these taxes for interstate trips?  With gas taxes it takes care
of itself.

I think generally these proposals will be doomed by the incredible amount
of administrative overhead they'd require.  There are also technical
problems.  Odometers are often inaccurate, and GPS is unreliable and easy
to defeat.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full.  To the
 |___/             pessimist, the glass is half empty.  To the engineer,
                   the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."