A controversial bill that would require all new cars to be fitted with AM radios looks set to become a law in the near future. Yesterday, Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass) revealed that the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act” now has the support of 60 US Senators, as well as 246 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, making its passage an almost sure thing. Should that happen, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be required to ensure that all new cars sold in the US had AM radios at no extra cost.
How about a tornado? You see the weather got green so you switch to am radio because that’s how you hear about the weather which is drastically important that you know immediately.
How old are you? You open a browser and look at live Doppler. If the power is out you’re in the shit already and should shelter in place but you use a phone in that case same purpose.
Nobody hears the tornado siren and goes “Jesus Christ, Mabel! Go to the car for the AM radio!”
If I’m driving? I know to switch to radio. Especially if I’m in bumfuck nowhere. Especially especially if I’m in Appalachia where the mountains fuck with cell service and fm, but leave am fine. Sure I’ll have to hear a sermon, but I know it’s the emergency broadcast medium of the United States federal government. Also vehicles should have it in case cell service is down. In case your phone is dead. In case you forgot your phone. In case a lot of shit happens because I know if all else goes wrong the feds are broadcasting on AM unless things are ok.
I’m 29.
I think a great option for you then is to buy a car with an AM radio or to just, idk, buy an AM radio. I myself am getting out of the car at the earliest possible opportunity in that situation. But as a plains dwelling EV driver who is mostly at home, this is something of a fantastical edge case.
If you don’t have a radio and you regularly need it or anticipate it will be your lifeline, it sounds like YOU the consumer made a mistake.
And I think it’s fair for my federal government to demand all vehicles have emergency access to their emergency alert system. Like that’s what we’re talking about here. A dirt cheap system that takes basically no energy to maintain compatibility in an industry that’s infamous for its willingness to kill its customers for a buck.
Now if we want an emergency band that it’s allowed to mandate sure. But honestly as a nice to have, fuck it make the bastards throw in an fm too.
There’s places with no cell coverage and solid AM/FM radio coverage
And AM travels twice as far as FM.