I've been arguing FOR something like this for awhile. Not necessarily GPS tracking of a vehicle, but at least vehicle registration based on the wear the vehicle causes to the public roads.
It's always struck me as absurdly unfair that
1) a 6000 pound 80's sedan costs $30 a year to register to drive,
2) a 3500 pound new Honda costs $400 a year to register to drive,
3) and a 8000 pound 4-year old pickup costs $200 a year to register to drive.
Assuming even weight per square inch of tire surface area, then the heavier the vehicle weight, the more wear the vehicle causes to the street. That pickup causes the most damage to the street, the 80's sedan next, and the Honda considerably less. Yet the Honda subsidizes road wear of the other two vehicles.
If registration were not a bastardized sin tax on buying a new car, you might have a few more people buying new cars and reducing the number of overweight clunker sedans on the road.
I drive a truck and I acknowledge that my truck causes more road wear than many other cars. But it irks me to see some 70's landboat that weighs more than my car, cruising along and the guy only paid $30 to keep that thing on the road. I'm okay with Priuses paying less vehicle registration fees than me. It's fair.
And, likewise with mileage. Pizza delivery guys put more wear on the road than I do. They should pay for it accordingly. I put more wear on the road than Granny Clementine, who only drives down the block to church once a week. I should pay for it accordingly.
I do however, disagree heartily with goobermint tracking or more nefarious devices (ignition override, distributor coil interruptor, etc) installed in my car. I will disable such devices immediately if they become mandatory, then populate the onboard computer with reasonably accurate data for legitimate tax purposes but no tracking/routing information.
