New EU

[bludclot]

i find that i cannot agree with the majority interpretation of these proposals:

technically (i.e. from a legal point of view (and from a councours judge point of view)) it is impossible to stop owners modifying their own vehicles. technically a vehicle is modified every time it is used - a stone caught in a tyre tread groove was not put there by the designer or manufacturer hence the vehicle is user modified. as soon as any super-tight anti-tampering legislation is challenged in court it will be argued away. we cannot have a situation whereby an owner drops a bike in a car park and breaks a screen and scratches various areas and then cannot legally pick it up and ride away because the thing is modified, it would be un-enforceable and plain lunacy.

tighter controls on vehicles are inevitable due to increasing numbers. if there were only 5 vehicles in the entire country then it wouldn't matter how much they pollute, 30 million however (est. uk otr vehicles) require some reasonably tight controls to allow us all to travel together without clogging up our air and making so much noise as to make life unbearable. granted there's been some misguided directions taken but generally we as a society have managed to increase vehicle numbers and usage while maintaining reasonable traffic flow and pollution levels. for this we should be thankful but also appreciate that increased legislation is unavoidable in order to maintain current air quality levels. (the alternaitve is to scale down vehicle production...)

our stated government response to the eu proposals reeks of considered reason to me. if i had to respond to the proposals myself as laid out so far i could not do so any better. the anti-tampering bit that seems to have so many throwing their hands in the air is yet to be outlined, therefore any properly structured and reasoned response cannot yet be made. no ruling body in their right mind will legislate away a complete industry (i.e. the aftermarket parts producers, retailers etc) overnight, if only for purely economic reasons. plus, as pieeater so correctly says, a new industry in plug-in workarounds will surely emerge.

the situation in belgium (i believe) whereby car engine modification is illegal has not stifled the modifying scene - it is alive and healthy and has taken its own direction. so even if anti-tampering laws are attempted it will not stop modification.

i am not saying that i welcome the proposals but i am saying that they are inevitable and necessary. the governments and manufacturers of this world should be working together after all, in order to give us, the buying public, vehicles that we want and are realistically useable without alienating (or poisoning!) other society members.

i choose, therefore, not to protest these proposals at this point.

bludclot.