mattyciii on Natural Cyclection comes up with an idea concerning unlicensed drivers – make the cars unusable:
In the corporate world it’s increasingly common for people to log onto their computer by placing a smart-chip equipped ID into a card reader and typing in a personal identification number (PIN). This is similar to the way people use an ATM. This “two-factor identification” provides strong authentication; it’s far more difficult to “crack” than a password, and it’s much harder for a user to share their logon credentials with another person (since two people cannot be using the ID at the same time).
In a society that requires “smart licenses”, starting a car would require these three steps: car keys would be required just like we do today, plus the driver would place their smart-chip license into a card reader and enter their PIN through a keypad or touch screen. The use and function of car keys would be the same as they are today – they would still represent permission from the owner to use the car. The other two steps confirm the driver has the government’s permission (i.e., a valid driver’s license) to use public roads.
I’ve been trying to come up with objections to this approach, but beyond obvious, mundane remarks about the development of black markets for circumventing the technology, I can’t really see any downsides.
But I think this may be pessimistic:
Like most every other safety system mandate – seat belts, air bags, tire pressure monitoring – smart card licenses and enforcement would phase in over time. The average age of cars on American roads is just over 11 years, so even if we implemented smart licenses today it would take a long time before the majority of cars were card-reader equipped.
Given the growing consciousness about pollution, as well as the growing popularity of electric cars, IF the car manufacturers implemented this on their electric cars quickly, we might see the infiltration of this technology into the market somewhat faster than marty anticipates.
