The city of Vancouver, B.C., Canada will soon start using infrared and ultra-violet scopes to determine how much air pollution is going out the exhaust stacks of highway trucks in that city. The devices send out beams from a portable testing trailer that measure the density of the exhaust.
The Air Care On-road testing system is being used only for study purposes now, but it doesn’t take much imagination to see where this could head. In addition to a radar gun the cops could be equipped with an “emissions gun,” and if you’re over the limit I could see this scenario playing out:
Driver: “What’s wrong officer, was I speeding?”
Police officer: “No but our Air Care gun clocked you at 3.5 grams pm per brake horsepower, and your NOx is through the roof!