New Blog: The Tesla Approach to Distributing and Servicing Cars

[strider]

This is funny. I learned something about USA reading about these issues. I thought USA was the home of the free and brave, and a capitalist society. These laws that prohibits companies to sell their own products is something you expect to find in Poland in the dark ages, or in Sweden 40 years ago.

The US hasn't been a capitalist society for a very long time. In order to practice capitalism you must have capital and we have none - just a ginormous mountain of debt. The nice way to say what we have is crony capitalism. The more correct way is a kleptocracy where the elites gain power and then change the laws to keep everyone else down.

 

[rolosrevenge]

I think that Tesla should just close the offending galleries and on open the service centers instead. It's not like their suffering much from a lack of demand, and every person who takes delivery in a banned state will probably generate several more sales just by driving around. So what's the need of the galleries in those places anyways?

 

[jerry33]

If existing galleries are closed, they admit they are breaking the law. That's probably the worst thing they can do because the dealer associations in other states will try the same tactics since they've seen Tesla will fold under pressure.

 

[Grendal]

If existing galleries are closed, they admit they are breaking the law. That's probably the worst thing they can do because the dealer associations in other states will try the same tactics since they've seen Tesla will fold under pressure.

+1 Stay open until the court orders them to close their doors. File for appeals. Eventually they move up to the Supreme Court for the state, and if they lose there they get to go to the Supreme Court for the United States. If they eventually get there they will definitely win. The Dealer Association will buckle and give them a pass long before that, because the last thing they want to happen is have the law overturned.

 

[TESLAficionado]

I can not belive this is possible, on one hand super innovative and on the other medieval....the whole lawsuit business is out of contol in the US. Fingers crossed that justice will win in the end.....in the interest of the customers

 

[jerry33]

I can not belive this is possible, on one hand super innovative and on the other medieval....the whole lawsuit business is out of contol in the US. Fingers crossed that justice will win in the end.....in the interest of the customers

The legal system in the U.S. is about proof, not about truth or justice. Now you'd think that the latter would follow from the former but there are many ways to game the system. In addition, precedence plays a big part so if you can get one ruling in your favour, it's easier to get a second favourable ruling--at the same judicial level. The two ways that outdated laws are removed are typically:

1. leave them on the books but don't enforce them. Some states still have laws on the books that require a vehicle driving at night to have a person with a lantern in front of them. Technically, you could get a ticket for breaking this law but practically it never happens.

2. Have the law declared as unconstitutional.

It's also possible to have the lawmakers either repeal the law (a slow an expensive process) or have them add an amendment that invalidates the law in whole or in part (quicker and cheaper).

The lawsuit business is out of control because in the 1850s the law forbidding lawyers to hold public office was repealed. The law was created because lawyers are officers of the court and it was thought (in my opinion correctly) that those enforcing the law had a conflict of interest if they also made the laws. Over the last ~250 years the politician-lawyers have altered the laws bit by bit to favour their profession.

The Canadian system is far superior:

1. Lawyers can't work on commission. If you want to sue someone, you have to pay the lawyers' fees up front. This tends to restrict lawsuits to those who are willing to put up.

2. There are Ombudsmen to catch most things that fall through the cracks. This takes care of those who have been harmed but lack the financial means to seek remediation.

Of course no system is perfect, the Ombudsmen can be corrupt or uncaring, but generally those are few and tend to raise a public outcry.

 

[Robert.Boston]

These dealer laws clearly need to be amended to allow an automobile manufacturer to own dealerships provided that the company has no franchise dealers in the state, and further provided that they may not subsequently create franchise dealers in the state without giving up all company-owned stores. In other words, pick one retailing model and stick to it exclusively. Company-owned dealerships would be subject to the same requirements regarding service standards, etc., as franchised dealers.

 

[rolosrevenge]

These dealer laws clearly need to be amended to allow an automobile manufacturer to own dealerships provided that the company has no franchise dealers in the state, and further provided that they may not subsequently create franchise dealers in the state without giving up all company-owned stores. In other words, pick one retailing model and stick to it exclusively. Company-owned dealerships would be subject to the same requirements regarding service standards, etc., as franchised dealers.

But that makes so much sense, it will never happen.

 

[Norbert]

Some states still have laws on the books that require a vehicle driving at night to have a person with a lantern in front of them. Technically, you could get a ticket for breaking this law but practically it never happens.

Really?

 

[jerry33]

Really?

One in the U.S. and one for the U.K.

California: Motor vehicles may not drive on city streets unless a man with a lantern is wallking ahead of it.

Washington: All motor vehicles must be preceded by a man carrying a red flag (daytime) or a red lantern (nighttime) fifty feet in front of said vehicle.

U.K.: If a self-propelled carriage is driven on the Queens highway (any road) then a man must walk four miles in front of it waving a red flag (by day) and a red lantern by night.

 

[Norbert]

One in the U.S. and one for the U.K. [/I]

Slightly off-topic: I liked this one for Alaska :
• Kangaroos are not allowed in barber shops at any time.

- - - Updated - - -

Whereas Texas is leading the way:

• A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.

 

[KD5MDK]

One in the U.S. and one for the U.K.

California: Motor vehicles may not drive on city streets unless a man with a lantern is wallking ahead of it.

Washington: All motor vehicles must be preceded by a man carrying a red flag (daytime) or a red lantern (nighttime) fifty feet in front of said vehicle.

U.K.: If a self-propelled carriage is driven on the Queens highway (any road) then a man must walk four miles in front of it waving a red flag (by day) and a red lantern by night.

While I recognize one of the bored ones as an actual legal practice common in the past, in general that's a very poor source given the absence of any citations of original documents. Note that the lists share many common references. If I created a new page with all those and added a line for "In Louisiana it is illegal to be male on Saturdays" it would look just as authentic as those pages.