Many Americans are unaware that buried in the Democrats’ 2021 infrastructure bill is a measure to take just a little more of our freedom away from us that liberals have been trying to force on car manufacturers for years.
With President Biden’s signature on bill in November of 2021, they finally got it.
The Democrats sold the measure as a “safety device” to prevent drunk driving, one they will now force every car maker to add to every new vehicle starting in 2026. The device is a remote kill switch that could allow the government, the police, and car makers to disable your car from the comfort of their offices to prevent you from using it.Alarmingly, the language in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is somewhat vague. It does not fully describe what this device will be able to do, if it doubles as a monitoring device outside the legislation, and how and when it can be used against citizens.
All the bill says on page 135 is that the device must “passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired” and “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an impairment is detected.”The devices are also to be mandatory.
This is little but a limit on freedom and a personal privacy nightmare.The language in the bill means that the system is “passive,” meaning it is always on and cannot be shut off. It also means that the device will be able to completely shut down your privately-owned vehicle against your will and without your say.
It all sounds like a new level of state-sponsored surveillance.The operation of cars will be in the hands of computer algorithms. And as we have seen with how badly algorithms work on social media, how can that fill anyone with any confidence?
The legislation has also not been vetted for its constitutionality. Will this intrusion into our lives and this curtailment of freedom pass muster with the Fifth or Sixth amendments? The former assures the right not to self-incriminate and the latter is the right to face one’s accuser.I’ve been associated with this technology since the beginning of its development and it has always been viewed as a prevention device rather than an enforcement device,” Michael said, adding that the new legislation has “nothing to do with giving law enforcement access to a kill switch.”
According to the AP, Robert Strassburger, president and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, claimed the NHTSA is pursuing rules that would prevent third parties from gaining access to the devices.
But neither Michael’s nor Strassburger’s assurances are reflected in the law itself because it does not preclude law enforcement or third parties from having access to the mandated devices. Indeed, the actual law is silent on those issues, meaning anything could happen and anything could change after implementation.
Finally, there is the problem of hackers and software bugs. Will hackers be able to brick your car unless you pay them to release control of the vehicle? Will future software updates contain bugs that will shut you down while you are driving and cause life-threatening accidents, like the dangers of the supposed self-driving technology that have already been so problematic?
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You can always safely ignore anything they say!