Say Anything Blog

In California they’re poised to foist new regulations on the masses requiring a new sort of reflective window glazing on auto glass that will supposedly help combat global warming by keeping the inside of cars cooler.  The problem?  The window coatings seriously interfere with electronics inside the cars including GPS units, cell phones and satellite radios.

And this isn’t just California’s problem.  Remember that our most populous state is such a large market that it’s easier for car manufacturers to make all their cars compliant with California standards rather than manufacture a special line of cars for sale in California.

Consumers nationwide should protest to a hyperactive California regulatory agency on the verge of ruining automobile global positioning systems and other safety features. Because California is such a large market, car manufacturers trying to comply with Golden State mandates might change auto designs nationwide.

At issue is a rule being considered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) threatening to require all cars and light trucks sold in California after 2012 to feature metallic reflective window glazing to keep interiors cool and thus use less air conditioning. Less AC, goes the theory, would mean lower carbon emissions.

Toyota tried this approach back in 1989-94, and it was a disaster. The problem is that the new windows would reflect radio waves, thus highly compromising the use of GPS units, garage-door openers, laptop computers, satellite radio systems, parolee ankle bracelets, wireless medical equipment and cell phones. CARB admits the mandate would interfere with radio signals but is poised to promulgate the new rule later this month anyway. A 15-day public comment period would follow, during which alert consumers could overwhelm the bureaucrats with objections.

First, I’m not sure why the government would need to mandate something like this.  Nobody likes it when the inside of their car turns into a blast furnace in the summer.  Everyone wants better fuel mileage out of their vehicles.  So if this is such a brilliant idea, why aren’t they already doing it?

Second, electronics not working in cars isn’t just an inconvenience.  It’s dangerous.  Here in North Dakota, where major winter storms strand people on the roads every year, cell phones are a life line.  And, indeed, just this week the state was faced with a tragedy where three college students from Dickinson State University ended up driving their jeep into a pond out in the country and drowning.  The girls made calls from their cell phones for rescue as their car was sinking.  Tragically, they didn’t call 911 which would have allowed authorities to pinpoint their rescue and perhaps rescue them.

But if this new California regulation were in place they might not have been able to make the call at all.  As coincidence has it, the Jeep they were in was registered in California.

So this isn’t just a silly regulation that won’t like achieve the goal it’s intended to achieve.  It’s a regulation that will inconvenience millions of Americans, and perhaps even put them in danger.