By Joe Westenberger
There are various laws that people view as pointless. These laws were established for a reason, but most people disagree with these laws. There’s quite a few of pointless laws, such as jaywalking, changing lanes before an intersection, etcetera. When I think of a pointless law, I think of this one; modifying your own car. As of February 8th, 2016, President Obama approved a bill against citizens modifying their own cars. This has been causing problems and disagreements for the car community, because of all the money people have invested into their cars.
Although there are people against this law, it makes some sort of sense. The older generations don’t want these young adolescents and adults ripping their roads up in their race cars. Understandable, so why isn’t there a law for going 10 under the speed limit, obstructing traffic? This is incredibly frustrating, especially when you need to get somewhere in a hurry. Why shouldn’t they be required to take a drivers test when they turn 75 or 80? That might sound a little ridiculous, but so does the fact that people with modified cars getting tickets, and even sometimes getting their car taken away.
In an economic standpoint, it also doesn’t make sense to ban aftermarket or racing parts for vehicles. There are hundreds of specialty companies that make racing and off road use parts for cars and trucks, let alone, all of the specialty shops with their main purpose being performance oriented servicing. There have already been thousands of jobs lost over this ban increasing the unemployment rate, and a ton more to come. The racing industry is giant, and it was just getting started.
Fast forward to july of 2016, After all these car enthusiasts became concerned about these new laws and driving their illegally modified cars, they got together to form an act against this called RPM (recognizing the protection of motorsports). This group of people created this, to protect their rights of their modified cars. Since this was created, DRAGG (drag racing against gangs and graffiti) was created, by police, to stop the violence on the streets. Organizations like DRAGG are beneficial in the car community in the way people look at racing and modified cars.
After all, on Thursday, August 23rd of this year, the EPA finally abandoned their law stating that it did not have a benefit to the EPA’s emissions goals. This was expected because of the opportunity cost that this would have had (long term) on the big automotive performance companies and the overall impact on the economy. Yes, there are some cons to having race cars ripping down the streets at two in the morning, but in this case, the negative externalities were overruled by the organizations like RPM.
I never knew that in February 2016 that President Obama enacted a law against modifying cars. It never crossed my mind that that would be an issue. I agree with this standpoint in this blogpost that there would be an increase in unemployment because I did know that there are many car companies that create specialized parts for cars, as like additions or extensions to make your car better. Besides small extensions, I guess it never crossed my mind that drag racing has become more popular among people, especially teens. I can see why the EPA abandoned their law with all the negative concerns, because yes there would have been some major opportunity costs when it came to big auto companies. Overall, I found this as an interesting read, and it would be interesting to see how the demand for specialized car parts changed after the EPA abandoned its law - would increase demand or decrease demand?
ReplyDeleteI agree that this law is very pointless, from an economic standpoint especially. Yeah there may be negative externalities to these modified cars to other people but the farthest they really go is accidents or noise problems. This is just for certain groups of people too, like elderly. On the other hand, the positives that the whole race car culture create definitely outweigh the negatives. It allows car performance & body specialty shops to have a huge market and also helps car production and purchases nationwide. Racing and car modification also has a huge subculture and allows for many people to share common interests in cars and enjoy their hobbies. It may sometimes be obnoxious to other people who have no interest in cars like this but that does not matter because there a lot of things that appear obnoxious, it is all just opinion-based. Plus, this culture gives the economy a huge boost and creates a whole new market for businesses. I agree completely with your article, this law is a huge waste of time and money that could spent on bigger problems and I am glad they removed it.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like every day there are more and more laws enacted that disagree with the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Though the base of our nation as a whole, it seems less people care about the freedoms given to us by the founding fathers. Sure, not everything they did was a success, and yes certain freedoms can be infringed upon if they are proven to be affecting the rights of others, but trying to ban a relatively harmless act of car modification is crazy. The funny thing is that the common point A to point B driver is likely more of a danger than a car enthusiast. People who care about their vehicles are going to normally drive to protect them, and they are smart about driving because they know what their cars can handle. Restriction of car modification is infringement on liberty and the pursuit of happiness for many.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on this. People should be able to modify their cars how they would like if they are not putting others in danger, and in this case they aren't. Although there are some people that abused car modifications and put some people in danger 95% of people modifying their cars are safe drivers. Most drivers that do modify their cars, know more about driving and what their car can do, so it can make it easier and safer to drive with modifications. I totally disagree with Obama's law to ban modifications on cars and making that illegally. Also I do agree this has had a big impact economically, for people who work and live off car modifications.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read, while not completely about economics, it gave me insight as to the different rules that have been instilled to make it harder for people to modify their cars. Obviously there is a reason behind the law--there is no need to go more than 5 or 10 over the speed limit at pretty much any time, so why would someone put parts on their car that make them go unnecessarily fast? Also, the general public shouldn't have to jeopardize their road's safety because the minority of car people feel like they should be allowed to add flames or road destructive parts to their car. I am not knowledgeable on the topic of cars or car parts but adding accessories to a car seems unnecessary to me.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with some of your points, a few of your arguments are incorrect. You say that there should be laws against driving TOO slow on the roads, but there already is a law about this. It's called the "reasonable and prudent" limit. This law is in place to enforce that, in addition to staying under the posted limit, cars must also go at least a certain speed. Also you questioned why adults turning 75 and 80 don't get tested. People have to renew their licensed every 8 years with no special provisions for the elderly. While the gap between tests may need to be shortened, there is still a rule to ensure that people are still fit to drive 8 years after they get their license.
ReplyDeleteOverall your thought process was well thought out and your points made sense. When I think about economics, I really didn't think of speeding laws but, I do get what you are saying. The economy can be affected by cars not being allowed to be modified. An example is of the countless number of auto body custom shops that make these types of vehicles. If the law was to get serious enough, these businesses would end up becoming failed opportunity's and countless numbers of men and women would lose their jobs. This also has an impact due to the fact that they would need to attend schooling to find another job/skill and have to start all over again. Though ripping down a street at two in the morning is not looked highly upon, neither is creating job loss and unemployment due to the fact that people always want to complain about non-sense. In all your post made a lot of sense and I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard much about this law or anything much about modifying cars in general, so this was interesting to read about. Personally, I haven't heard much on issues or problems regarding modifying cars, but I can see why there's danger in it. If it was a law, there should be a reason for it, like Madeline Manriquez said. I agree with her comment about this law,.. why would anyone want to go over the speed limit at that much of a difference? But on another note, it's also bad enough that it was made into a law to not modify the cars. This was huge in terms of unemployment and I can tell why people may disagree about that as well, but it still comes down to the danger factor.
ReplyDeleteYou make somewhat valid points, but you also contradict yourself. You say that the law against jaywalking is pointless, but you think there should be laws against going to slow or obstructing traffic (which have actual laws already). However, I do believe that people should be able to modify their cars, as long as they follow the rules of the road and don't endanger others.
ReplyDeleteI think that modifying your car should be allowed and only certain modifications that could be harmful should be illegal. Otherwise, the industry of car parts could be greatly affected because less people would be buying car parts. This in turn would cause firms to shut down. To prevent this, the law should be amended to only outlaw dangerous modifications.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting piece, with some important points made. I would also wonder if there is a negative externality created by modified cars, beyond public perception. For example it would be interesting to see if there was scientific proof of harmful increased emissions or pollution caused by consumers modifying their own cars.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read this post since I've never heard of this law. Perhaps I'm wrong, but maybe that's because the government and news media didn't believe that it would directly apply to and affect a significant portion of the population, and thus wasn't worth sharing or discussing on TV. How come the government tried to enact this law, though? That was my major question while reading this post that wasn't really answered. If it was strictly for safety reasons, that I would understand. However, this law would remove some degree of portraying one's individualism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about how there are more important issues that should be banned rather than modifying your car. Honestly, I don't see the big deal in that. Like you said it is only going to cause problems with unemployment for the car industries. I feel like car people who care about their car and modify them are going to take extra care of their car since they are adding car stuff to it. Also, if Modifying cars makes people happy then why take that away from those people?
ReplyDeleteI really do understand this issue. I have never been pulled over myself but I do like your point about people going way to slow because I have been stuck in a situation where someone was going 15 under the speed limit so I had no choice but to pass them. I never really did look at the issue about not being able to modify your cars in the sense that it hurts the economy because of all of the people who have jobs and sell those parts. It was a great point you made. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your standpoint on this issue. I do enjoy seeing modded cars and trucks and I find them to be very attractive. However, some laws about this such as maximum lift heights are valid due to the possibility of a roll-over. Also, laws about loud exhaust also have some valid points such as noise pollution. But within reason, I agree with your standpoint on how people who be able to modify their cars. The auto parts industry is massive and they have a large market. Downright banning many mods on cars will hurt this industry causing people to be laid off which will in turn hurt the economy. Overall, within reason, I agree with modding cars (within reason) for both economic reasons and for personal reasons.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this standpoint of this issue. The car community and industry is huge, I myself love cars. But it is understandable why people don't want modified cars on the road. But also its not their decision to tell another person what they can and cant do to their car. I think that if the parts do not hurt the environment as in putting more fumes into the environment then you should be able to do whatever you want to your car its your property. Whether you ban upgrades on cars people will still do it just like street racing is illegal they still do it banning upgrades is not going to fix anything.
ReplyDeleteI understand the issue of the topic and I understand your point to the issue. I never heard of the the law President Obama had published nor the groups RPM or DRAGG that were created. Which I also see the other side of the point that if people weren't going to street race why would they need to modify their car. However, making people stop modifying their cars will close the industries that invest in modifying cars will no longer be in business. In the end I agree people should be able to modify their cars but to a certain extent because it will help with economically and personal interest of the people.
ReplyDeleteI can correctly assume you are into custom cars and potential racing. So you see more downsides than upsides. I agree on a lot of things you have said about the issue but the biggest thing that we all need to remember is that it interferes with a police officers duties. Lets say one of these customized cars gets pulled over for what ever reason it puts the officer at risk. He or she does not know the standard layout of the car nor if the car has any weapons with in the car. Sounds unlikely but police officers don't like the word potential risk. So in the end it may be fun to customize cars and what not but it has a greater risk of putting peoples lives at risk and yours.
ReplyDeleteLooking through not only your piece but the other comments too, I would totally agree with you and I don't think some of the people leaving comments understand your point. Yes, it is dangerous to go race on the streets and freeways, but I don't think that was your point. If someone gets pulled over for having a modified car but they were not speeding or disobeying any traffic laws, it is pointless for them to get pulled over. There is just as much risk in pulling someone over with a modified car as anyone else so there is no "added potential risk" that another comment mentioned. If there is someone who is driving 55 mph in the fast lane on the freeway, they are making it more dangerous for everyone else on the road. People have to understand how the roads are suppose to work and quit complaining about people going moderately over the speed limit. I would feel more than comfortable driving my car 90 mph on the freeway if there wasn't someone going 10 under swerving across the lanes. But let's not forgot, I'd be in the wrong for speeding. For example Germany has the Autobahn, a freeway across the country where most parts have no general speed limits. On the Autobahn, however, someone who is in the fast lane driving slow and refusing to move over can get ticketed for making the road more dangerous. I think that America need to reconsider and redesign the way roadways and realize what is really making the road dangerous.
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