CA is getting out of hand. It's complete Orwell 1984 style around here.  The totalitarian state of CA have been setting up surprise mobile smog stations that measure emissions as you drive past them, taking down your plates as you go through.  They're trying to pop "gross polluters."  If you emit more pollutants than the pre-set level, you will receive a nice little letter in the mail.  At first, I heard that the testing was just a pollution survey with no effect on the individual, but from what I have read, at this point the letter asks you to fix your car and offers help with repairs.  Another option is to let them crush the car...

I've heard people spot these all over San Diego over tha last couple months, but they have been popping up all over Orange county within the last month.  The stations are usually setup on freeway onramps, but earlier in the month, I saw one on surface streets in Costa Mesa right by the DMV.  This is the 3rd mobile smog trap I have seen this month.  The first one I saw this morning was entering the 405 south at Bristol and the second was entering the 55 north at Edinger.  Anyone in the area, keep an eye out.  This is complete BS.

"Smog Check II is the most innovative and aggressive clean air plan in the country," said Jim Schoning, chief of the Bureau of Automotive Repair.  "Over 50% of the pollution in this state is emitted by vehicles, and only a small percentage of the cars on the road are responsible for the majority of those emissions. This program stresses finding and repairing the highest polluting vehicles -- and provides incentive for individual motorists to exercise the personal responsibility to properly maintain their cars."  I wonder if they even took into account commercial vehicles, public transportation, etc.  It seems as if they are claiming to target only a minute portion of the general public, but yet they perform unwarranted searches on every single individual.

Although I would probably pass the sniffer test anyway, it's still amazing how invasive and aggressive the state of CA has become.  It's just a trip to think about how people predicted things like this 80 years ago and they are really coming full circle.  Welcome to 1984, only 23 years later.