NJ Rep. Josh Gottheimer takes action to keep AM radio in ‘every’ vehicle
NEW YORK - Brooklyn Car and Audio Security pays their bills by getting customers the right sound system for their cars.
Some sound systems detail every frequency where you can hear the highs, the lows, and everything in between.
Karahn, a customer there, was eyeing the right system for when he’s the DJ in the driver's seat.
"Usually for sports it used to be AM because there were a lot of sports talk shows on AM back in the days but music FM," the customer told FOX 5.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - JANUARY 09: Luxurious interior on a Tesla Model S full electric luxury car with a large touch screen and dashboard screen. The car is fitted with leather seats and aluminium details. The Model S is one of the world's top selling p
And the store's got what's needed to make whatever station Karan’s tuned into sing.
"It can work to your phone, it can work to your radio FM/AM the USB," said Ramzi Khalil, a manager at BCAS, but he chose a bright green Tesla as his car of choice, but it doesn’t have an AM radio inside since its being phased out by some manufacturers.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - JANUARY 13: Tesla Model S full electric sedan interior with the yoke steering wheel and large touch screen on the dashboard at Brussels Expo on January 13, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images)
"If Elon Musk can afford to buy twitter, to send someone to the moon, to send a rocket up there shouldn’t we at least be able to pay for AM radio in a vehicle," said New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer in press conference Monday.
He’s taking aim at Musk and companies like Tesla, BMW and Mazda who are moving on without AM Radio in their EV's.
He’s recommending until his bill ‘AM Radio for Every vehicle Act’ is passed in congress, EV's without the AM radio feature like Ramzi's, at the point of sale, would get a big red label on their sales sticker.
The labels would read ‘Warning: No AM radio, vehicle unsafe in certain emergencies.’
Meanwhile, Gottheimer’s bill still hasn’t reached enough majority support in the house or the senate to pass and as manufacturers pass on including the feature, his fear is Americans won’t get enough notice in the case of a dire emergency.
"When the cell phones run out, the internet gets cutoff or the television doesn’t work, because of no electricity or power to your house, you can still turn on your AM radio," said the congressman.
Luckily for drivers who want AM radio, there is plenty of inventory available to keep it in their cars.