California’s “Cool Cars” initiative seemed like it might be a cool idea: Ban the sale of darker colored vehicles, which in the long run would lead to less energy usage when cooling them down. Neat idea, if not a little…okay, extremely authoritarian. But now things are getting even more ridiculous.
Now the California Air Resources Board is insisting that automakers make windows more energy efficient. That seems reasonable. A 45% decrease in solar energy entering each vehicle by 2014. Also seems reasonable. A 60% decrease by 2016. Okay, fair enough.
But here’s what the geniuses at the CARB didn’t seem to realize: In order to block solar rays, a glaze of metal oxide must be applied to the windows, which has the unintended side effect of blocking radio signals, including, but not limited to: Cell phones, Wi-Fi receivers, GPS units, garage door openers, and parolee ankle bracelets. Also, it would effectively kill the soft-top Jeep Wrangler, which really sucks since California is home to the famed Rubicon trail, a popular test site for 4×4 vehicles.
According to Autoblog, Honda tried a similar technique about twenty years ago, but quit because of the aforementioned radio signal issue.
Or maybe it was an intended consequence. Hey, kill two birds with one stone, save the environment, and effectively ban texting while driving! Genius. As for (relatively) innocent parolees? Well, hey, gotta crack a few eggs, ya know?
I’m waiting to see if the Federal Communications Commission might have a little something to say about this.