Author: Eric Peters

That we have a Cop Problem is obvious. How to fix it, not so much. The problem – a chunk of it, at any rate – derives from an overweening postmodern concern for the “safety” of cops to the detriment of those they (ahem) serve.Plus what’s known in the lawyer game as qualified or (worse) sovereign immunity. It means they get away with doing things that would ruin ordinary people who did exactly the same things. It’s a crazy idea. If, that is, you don’t want to end up with a Cop Problem. Take any group of people and make it known that … Continue reading →

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It had to happen – and now it has. VW – and soon, everyone else, inevitably – is under the gun over “emissions” that aren’t even pollutants. Carbon dioxide. This inert gas (look it up if you missed it in high school chemistry) doesn’t contribute to smog, cause acid rain, deplete the the ozone layer, irritate the lungs, or harm babies. Plants breathe it and by breathing it, produce the oxygen we need to breathe. If C02 is a “pollutant” then according to the same logic, so is water vapor (oy, don’t give them ideas). But carbon dioxide is a … Continue reading →

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It is important to make distinctions. To know exactly what we are talking about before we “do something” about it. For instance, drinking and driving and drunk driving. There is a distinction to be made here. An important one. Why on earth should it be illegal – a crime – merely to have been drinking and driving? Emphasis on merely. Put another way, why should it be a punishable offense to have been drinking when one’s driving can’t be faulted? Unless of course the object of the exercise is to impose a kind of low-rent Prohibition –  to punish people for drinking – this … Continue reading →

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About two weeks ago, I got a new (2016) Mustang GT to test drive. 435 hp. This is a mass-produced, docile, AC-equipped street car with a dead-calm idle. Anything from back in the day – the ’60s and ’70s – that made that kind of power would have been a handful to drive on the street and also would almost certainly have been either a low-production, bracket race-intended animal (e.g., an L88 427 Corvette) or modified. Almost nothing that came from the factory back in the day made 435 hp. Or even 335 honest hp. I wrote about this before … Continue reading →

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Remember the famous scene from the original Star Wars? Obi Wan and Luke run into an Imperial checkpoint heading into Mos Eisely spaceport. Using his Jedi powers of suggestion, Obi Wan whispers to the imperial stormtrooper, “You don’t need to see his identification… These aren’t the droids you’re looking for… he can go about his business.” No fuss, no muss. Buying a new car at a fair price is not unlike dealing with an Imperial checkpoint. Here are some Jedi mind tricks that will help you pass through the gantlet unscathed: * Never shop when you’re desperate for wheels –  Going car shopping … Continue reading →

VW was the only major automaker selling affordable diesel powered passenger vehicles in the United States. You could, for instance, buy a diesel-powered Jetta sedan, Golf or Beetle for about $22k. Not anymore. At least, not for awhile. VW announced yesterday (Wednesday; see here) that it will withdraw emissions certification applications tendered to the EPA for all 2016 model year diesel-powered VW passenger car models. This means they will not be legal for sale in the U.S. Which means they will not be sold. Which means, if you want an affordable diesel-powered car, you had better hurry to your local (or not-so-local) … Continue reading →

Would you be interested in a brand-new, fully warranted, five-door crossover SUV built by a major, name-brand automaker that gave you 50-plus MPG with a gas (not diesel or hybrid) engine, that has a top speed around 125 mph, is capable of getting to 60 in 12 seconds (about the same as a Prius hybrid) that stickered for less than $5,000? Yeah, me too. It’s called the Renault Kwid (see here) and it looks kinda-sorta like a Nissan Juke or Kia Soul and is about the same size as those units. It isn’t a latter-day Yugo either. The Kwid comes standard with AC, power windows … Continue reading →

It’s not just VW’s problem now. The company may go the way of the Dodo because of brutal fines and crippling lawsuits and media demagoguery that’s turning the VW brand into the automotive equivalent of NAMBLA. But if you think it’ll stop there… . So, where will it stop? How about real-time monitoring of the emissions output of all cars, all the time? This would certainly put the kibosh on “cheating” – by owners as well as car manufacturers. And it’s already in the works. Has been, for some time. This VW debacle will simply provide the necessary justification for implementing … Continue reading →

Well, there’s good and bad news wafting upward from the immolation of Volkswagen over its now-public end-running of the EPA’s preposterously over-strict emissions rigmarole (more about that here and – audio clip – here). First, the good news: * The affected vehicles actually run betterthan they would have, had VW not “recalibrated” the software that runs the computer that controls the operation of the engines in these vehicles. They get higher mileage – and give better performance. The last time something like this happened – that I know about – was back in 1973, when GM’s Pontiac division (RIP) tried to slip the … Continue reading →

This could kill VW – until recently (until last week) the world’s largest car company. But unlike say the exploding Pinto fiasco this is not a story about defective cars. It is a story about defective public policy. None of the VW cars now in the crosshairs are unreliable, dangerous or shoddily built. They were simply programmed to give their owners best-case fuel economy and performance. Software embedded within each vehicle’s computer – which monitors and controls the operation of the engine – would furtively adjust those parameters slightly to sneak by emissions tests when the vehicle was plugged in … Continue reading →

Democracy is an incredibly successful long con. It works because of the illusion of consent. People actually believe they are “represented.” And so, they accept impositions that would otherwise be intolerable, if imposed on them by a king or a fuhrer or generalissimo. But when the “people” have decided… . Except of course, they’ve done no such thing. It is all an illusion, a rhetorical sleight-of-hand that deftly hides the reality that it is not the “people” who decide anything but rather a small handful of individuals who wield vast – almost unlimited – power by claiming to act on their behalf. Which is … Continue reading →

They want us out of our cars, that’s the bottom line. “They” being the California General Assembly – which just passed a bill (SB 350, the “Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015,” see here) that mandates a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use statewide by 2030. The legislation empowers the California Air Resources Board – a literally dictatorial entity that can simply issue decrees that have the force of law, without any person in California ever having voted yea or nay – to achieve this reduction by any means it considers necessary. What means might be considered necessary? … Continue reading →

You’ve heard about the automated car. How about automated policing? Instead of government drones (that would be cops) picking our pockets at gunpoint, the “work” (and profit) is being turned over to private contractors, who do the same at camera-point, using debt collectors to force us to stand and deliver. This is not new – but it is becoming more blatant. If you ever had any doubt that the issuance of speeding tickets was little more than another form of tax collection, consider what’s going on in Youngstown, Ohio. The recently city signed a three-year deal with one of those … Continue reading →

You buy a disposable lighter, use it until the fluid inside is used up – then you throw it away and buy a new one. Hence disposable. Cars are becoming that way. Hell, they already are. Have you priced a replacement automated manual transmission? Emphasis on replacement. These boxes don’t get rebuilt. When they break, they get tossed – and your choice is to spend from $3,200 to $6,700 (see here) on a new automated manual transmission. Or, toss the car. Which becomes the more sensible choice when the car itself is no longer worth more than the cost of … Continue reading →

It’s a good idea to skip the high heels if you’re going out for a hike. Similarly, a two-wheel-drive truck is just about the worst possible choice for attempting to make your way up a steep gravel driveway in summer. Forget winter. I rediscovered this truth the other day afternot making it up my friend Tim’s steep gravel driveway in my 2WD pick-up. Combine loose gravel (which behaves a lot like snow) a steep incline and a vehicle (my truck) with most of the weight up front – but all the power going to the (light) rear end. Slip-sliding away… This same steep … Continue reading →