by Michael
Imagine that you just received a very alarming phone call and you are in a panic to get home. Unfortunately, since your eyes are wide and full of alarm because of the phone call that you just received, the AI kill switch in your vehicle will not allow you to drive anywhere. This is not a scenario which may or may not happen someday. This is already federal law. Section 24220 of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was signed by Joe Biden directed the NHTSA to establish permanent standards for impaired driving safety equipment on all new vehicles within three years. Fortunately, Congress gave the NHTSA some more time in 2024, but now another deadline is looming. If Congress does not act, very soon all new vehicles in the U.S. will come equipped with systems that determine who gets to drive and who does not get to drive.
Automakers are arguing that the technology still isn’t ready because it makes way too many mistakes.
Some drivers just naturally have eye or head movements that make them appear to be impaired in some way.
Of course others are extremely upset about this dystopian law because of how extremely intrusive it is.
Do we really want AI to track our eye and head movements every time we enter our vehicles?
Unfortunately, even though it has been on the books since 2021, most Americans have never even heard about this very alarming law…
The measure, often referred to as the Halt Drunk Driving Act, anticipated that as early as this year, auto companies would be required to roll out technology to “passively” detect when drivers are drunk or impaired and prevent their cars from operating. Regulators can choose from a range of options, including air monitors that sample the car’s interior for traces of alcohol, fingertip readers that measure a driver’s blood-alcohol level, or scanners that detect signs of impairment in eye or head movements.
Once the NHTSA sets the final rules, there is no going back.
At that point, it would take an act of Congress to overturn the law.
Recently, there was an effort to remove funding for the implementation of this measure, but that effort was soundly defeated…
A Republican-led effort to remove the Halt Act’s funding was defeated in the U.S. House last month by a 268-164 vote. Another bill to repeal it entirely awaits a committee vote.
Most of the opposition has stemmed from suggestions that the law would require manufacturers to equip cars with a “kill switch”. That would essentially allow them to “be controlled by the government,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on the social platform X, drawing comparisons to George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.”
I honestly don’t think that Congress is going to do anything.
So we are going to be stuck with this change.
The goal of the law is to reduce the number of accidents caused by impaired drivers, but they are attempting to do this in the most dystopian way possible…
Tucked into a broader federal safety initiative is a requirement for impaired-driving detection technology in all new vehicles. The goal sounds simple enough: reduce crashes caused by drunk or fatigued drivers. It’s a problem that has been around for decades, and lawmakers are trying to address it with new technology.
To do that, automakers will need to install systems that monitor drivers in real time. These systems rely on cameras and sensors that track things like eye movement, head position, and overall attentiveness. It’s not just observing — it’s constantly analyzing what the driver is doing.
Some of us are easily distracted.
And some of us are often tired because we work all the time.
Does that mean that we are too “impaired” to drive our vehicles?
Under the new rules, AI will get to decide that.
In other words, you may be the one making payments on the vehicle, but a computer will decide whether you get to drive it or not…
If the system detects what it believes is impairment, it doesn’t just issue a warning and move on. In some cases, it could prevent the vehicle from starting or limit how it operates once you’re already driving. That means the car itself becomes the decision-maker, not the person in the driver’s seat.
For many drivers, that raises immediate concerns. It introduces a scenario where a machine decides whether you’re allowed to use something you own, based on its interpretation of your behavior.
I don’t want a computer to be interpreting my behavior every time I get behind the wheel of a vehicle.
What kind of “Big Brother” nonsense is that?
Yes, we should certainly be taking steps to prevent people from driving around drunk.
But how much of our freedom and how much of our privacy are we willing to give up for just a little bit more security?
There will be lots of traffic accidents no matter how much we allow AI to track, monitor and control us.
The way that this law is written, each one of us has to pass a test each time we want to operate a vehicle.
That is insanity.
The good news is that even supporters of this new law expect the NHTSA to put off any final decisions until next year, and once the rules are permanently established automakers are expected to get at least a couple of years to fully implement them…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is establishing the rules to implement the Halt Act, told the AP in an email that it’s still “assessing developing technologies for potential deployment” and expects to report back to Congress soon. Even supporters predict the agency will push the decision at least into 2027, and auto companies still would have another two to three years to install it.
Needless to say, when automakers start rolling out new vehicles that come equipped with AI kill switches, many Americans won’t even consider purchasing them.
When sales of new vehicles completely tank all over the nation, perhaps many members of Congress will reconsider what they have done.
We don’t want our vehicles to be surveillance machines.
Enough is enough.
If we don’t take a stand now, they will just keep pushing the envelope.
Liberty is such a precious thing.
Once it is gone, it can be so difficult to get it back.
