This "car-tinkering app" is used as a glorified GameShark for deleting factory emissions controls, I don't feel sorry for anyone who uses this to roll coal or whatever. Instead of investigating everyone on the list of users of this app, should the government instead ban diesel engines knowing their emissions controls software will be defeated? Should environmental regulations be relaxed? What is really the solution here?
Or, I don't know, enforce current laws on the books and have cops do their job?
I've watched traffic code enforcement drop to essentially non-existent numbers largely because apathetical agencies and "officer safety" concerns.
I'd rather they go after people actively rolling coal instead of violating the rights of thousands of Americans like me.
They want testimonies to use against the app. The solution they're trying to pursue is to outlaw the app, not investigate its users.
...via investigating users.
That would suggest the users are defendants. They supposedly just want witnesses. I had another comment questioning this though.
Periodic vehicle inspection for emissions and safety compliance. Many jurisdictions already have this for gas engine emissions, a handful of states already have safety inspections. Done right, it can be low burden and low cost, and basically put an end to Def deletion. Done poorly it's grift to the shops that do the inspections, and an economically external annoyance to vehicle owners, and unnecessarily limits the ability of people to tinker with their own vehicles.
I don't really care how it affects car modders or people with sports cars. I have a sports car, and yeah the California smog test has been super annoying cause of electrical problems with that are unrelated to its actual emissions, but I knew what I was getting into when I bought something known for unreliability. Fixed it myself. There's a dude across the street with a modded car who always complains he has to bribe the smog guy $500, as if he was forced into driving a track car on the street. I just want regular cars to be drivable without undue burdens, and the enthusiasts can deal with it.
California gasoline tax pisses me off more because it's higher than anywhere else and the money seemingly goes nowhere.
As someone who lives in a state that got rid of emissions testing before I could drive it sounds like a horrifying thing to have to deal with.
Why is it horrifying? I've taken cars in for testing for years. It's pretty quick and painless.
Was going to say, you only hear stories from the relatively few people who have issues, not the people who go in and out as usual.
> Done right, it can be low burden and low cost
The rules mostly penalise the poor (and often unfairly).
You are severely underestimating how hard "done right" is.
I'm from New Zealand and the yearly car checkup is burdensome. About $75 and an hour wasted minimum to get car checked.
However the workshop profits come from fixing faults so their economic incentive is to find faults.
It costs you way more time if something needs fixing (parts delays, getting car and from workshop, etc.)
Our warrant of fitness regulations are ostensibly for safety (yours and others). However the jobsworth wonks have zero incentive to balance the risks versus the costs. The rules get stricter every year for goals that have no measurable outcome.
Many of the safety regulations are sensible, but many are just bullshit.
New Zealand sounds unreasonable. It's reasonable in like California. They don't mandate yearly checkups, just smog testing which is every 2 years for cars older than 8 years.
federal and state governments buy and operate diesel vehicles without emissions controls because of how bad they are in critical situations. rules for thee but not for me.
These drivers aren't in critical situations, and their mods aren't designed for that
Honestly, how do you know? Regardless, it's completely unfair. The government knows emissions control tech takes one of the most reliable workhorse powerplants in the world and neuters it, weakens it, and makes it more susceptible to failure. A lot of folks delete their diesel trucks not to "roll coal" or own the libs, but because it makes their vehicles more reliable.
So what? It's anti-social behavior. What thought does the deleted diesel truck driver give to his fellow citizens, whose otherwise reliable respiratory systems are weakened and made more susceptible to failure by toxic fumes and particulates?
I'm realizing a lot of folks in this thread do not understand diesel emissions systems at all and why you might want to delete one.
I understand and I don't care. Your personal interests as a diesel truck driver don't override others' interests in health and clean air
Maybe they don't, but I get it. Optimizing for lower emission doesn't mean highest reliability, or even necessarily highest fuel economy. Emissions parts can fail and be expensive to replace. That doesn't mean people should be allowed to delete emissions. Last time I had my cats fail, the cheapest option was to saw them off, I didn't do that.
Modern trucks, even with emissions controls, are more powerful than anything older. Engines are more reliable if anything, though there are plenty of pesky non-engine electronics ruining the useful lifespans of modern cars.
If you're talking about black smoke out of the exhaust, no it doesn't help reliability. If you just mean tuning to optimize not for emissions, yeah it can help if you know exactly what you're doing or screw it up if you don't, either way you'll only find out later. Doesn't seem to matter because most professionals already make their living without messing with their trucks.
idk who downvoted you, that's not appropriate, so +1'd you to avoid comment death