Ronzuki wrote:
Yeah, there's the flawed thinking regarding Nannyism...
Brake Pads: Required component to control and stop any moving vehicle rolling down the road (performing its primary function). Pretty important.
Clutch: Required component to couple engine power to manual transmission (the horror) propelling said vehicle down the road. It's primary function.
Spark Plugs: Required component to make the boom propelling said vehicle down the road. It's primary function.
Tires: While not necessarily required, certainly a preferred component over Amish preferred steel or solid rubber round things on buggies and tractors allowing vehicle to roll down the road. Again, a primary vehicle function thing.
TPMS Sensors: an expensive pain in the azz component that offers nothing to primary function. Required by the government.
Which one of these things doesn't belong here?...which one of these things isn't the same?....(ala Seasame Street jingle).
Yes, TPMS sensors aren't necessary in the primary function of a vehicle... but neither are airbags, seat belts, baby seats, or heck even turn signals, headlights, or mirrors for that matter to fundamentally operate and travel in a vehicle. See the problem here in this line of logic?
While I know you have a very strong lean towards Libertarian views, it's just common sense that the government has authority and jurisdiction over public roads. They are paid for and maintained by the government via taxes. People also share them publicly therefore they aren't a private resource which the government should not have a hand in regulating. In fact, things like building and regulating public roads is among the most fundamental roles of a government. While we can dream that we would all act like the most responsible, respectful, and skillful drivers on a shared road to diminish government involvement, that's as realistic as cupcakes shat out of a talking unicorn. Some people can't even be bothered to put their phone away despite operating something that kills more people than guns. Negligence is rampant in everyday driving. Hence, it makes way more sense for vehicle technology and legislation to compensate where people would predictably fail in personal responsibility. TPMS is a result of this.
It's simply an incontrovertible fact that driving is dangerous and the government is responsible for public roads. It should follow logic then that the government would implement laws that are aimed at making them safer. While some believe that TPMS (or even the Ford Explorer) originated out of environmental concerns, that's just factually incorrect. TPMS requirements were actually born out of safety concerns following a number of accidents linked to under-inflated tires. They were mandated after the TREAD Act (they sure try with acronyms, eh?) was passed by Congress following the Firestone/Explorer fiasco. Given people couldn't be relied on to properly inflate and check their tires (or companies to make safe products?), TPMS was made into law. It's hard enough convincing people to buckle-up for their
own safety thus laws and enforcement had to take effect to literally save people from themselves and unnecessarily drain public resources in emergency response and care. However, tire pressure affects more than just a single vehicle as it can cause accidents with others.
It's also like headlights; while many think it's for their own sake in seeing the road, in many instances, it's for others to see you. This is particularly the case when driving in the rain, fog, or even nighttime in a city with abundant street lighting. This makes everyone safer from each other. I don't see TPMS too differently; it's going to warn you of low pressure in your tires which isn't only a threat to your own safety but others on the road too.
So yes, it's annoying that we car enthusiasts have to deal with it when it goes off for the dumbest of reasons given the engineering didn't account for enough exception handling. I understand that frustration. However, it's literally telling people who are otherwise completely ignorant that their tires are low in pressure and to fill them up between picking their nose and posting on social media apps while driving. This mundane process prevents accidents that saves lives on the road which is a responsibility of the government. Thus it makes sense to me they were made into law.
I also want to use this discussion opportunity to state something I've noticed in the differences of our views on related topics; where we live and drive may have a big factor in our differing views. Ronzuki, you live in rural Pennsylvania and apparently so rural, the Amish are present. They are famous for their disdain of technology and modern urban life. They are known to live in rural parts so they can adhere to a traditional farming lifestyle that their religious views dictate. I know you aren't Amish but given you're close by, you must live far away from a big city with tons of people.
I, on the contrary, have pretty much always lived/worked in an urban setting with considerable people and traffic. I lived in major cities in Japan (a very crowded nation) for 1/3 of my life and then largely lived/worked in or around major US cities, including our nation's capital. I have dealt with a lot of traffic just from regional population density.
I now live in Orange County, CA and often drive through nearly the entirety of Los Angeles County. As a comparison, just these two Southern California
counties together rival the population of the
entire state of Pennsylvania. Hence, you can imagine the traffic density I deal with on a regular basis. I imagine that where you drive, you encounter maybe a hundred to a few hundred cars per hour, if that. For me, that figure is likely in the tens of thousands. I'm simply subject to more traffic, more cars, and vulnerable to more things going wrong in the hands of others for an equal amount of driving time. With that consideration, you can imagine why I'm more keen on technology and regulation to keep me and my loved ones safe than relying on the unknown individual's responsibility and goodwill. Some don't trust the government and that's good, but when it comes to driving, I don't trust the other driver.
For the others just here for TPMS programming issues, I apologize for the discussion tangent from the original thread topic, but it's in response to comments on my posts on TPMS.