Bribing drivers into tracking systems?

Back when the big petition on road charging was leading the news, the Government was dispatching ministers to news rooms to denounce the petitions basic premise, that the plans was about tracking of drivers. The Government's line was that it was all about congestion not tracking. This didn't change the fact that tracking would be used of course.

In a speech delivered by my favourite transport minister, Stephen Ladyboy, the argument was put forward that any tracking data would be safe and would be held by third party companies anyway, this was propped up by the dodgy argument that mobile phone companies "can work out where you are, and nobody seems to worry that they'll abuse this information".

This argument is nonsense simply because we all enter into a contract with mobile phone companies and acknowledge that reality, where as if the Government introduce road charging then we would have little choice over the matter.

As the Government back peddled on the issue we've now reached the point where this morning's Times is reporting that plans will be introduced through bribery incentives instead. Basically if you accept the installation of a blackbox tracking system you'll get a discount on fuel duty.

Now personally I've always believed that the use of incentives (pleasure) rather than punitive taxes (pain) will always produce better results in behavioural change, so on the face of it, this sounds like a good idea. However, and there is always an however with any Government and especially this one, there is one slight problem.

This proposals is starting out as the method to trial only. If the results of the trial are successful then presumably it would be pushed harder as the route we should all want to take. At some point in the future, when that happens there will come a time when the number of people using such a system will provide the Government with the means to say "we're going to make this compulsory".

We've seen this with the ID cards debate already. First it was voluntary, then it suddenly became clear it would be compulsory. Why then should the Government expect anyone to believe them on road charging? As with all encroachment on civil liberty it starts as small things, each pitched in isolation, and then slowly grows to encompass larger targets.