Soon the government might shut down your car.
President Joe Biden’s new infrastructure gives bureaucrats that power.
You probably didn’t hear about that because when the media covered it, few mentioned the requirement that by 2026, every U.S. car must “monitor” the driver, determine if he is impaired, and, if so, “limit vehicle operation.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) objected, complaining that the law makes government “judge, jury, and executioner on such a fundamental right!”
Congress approved the law anyway.
A USA Today “fact check” told readers, don’t worry, “There’s no kill switch in Biden’s bill.”
“They didn’t read it, because it’s there!” automotive engineer and former vintage race car driver Lauren Fix said in my new video.
The clause is buried under Section 24220 of the law.
USA Today’s “fact” check didn’t lie, exactly. It acknowledged that the law requires “new cars to have technology that identifies if a driver is impaired and prevents operation.” Apparently, they just didn’t like the term “kill switch.”
But it is a kill switch.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants that.
I said to Ms. Fix, “It would save lives.”
“Are you willing to give up every bit of control of your life?” she asked. “Once you give that up, you have no more freedom. This computer decides you can’t drive your vehicle. Great. Unless someone’s having a heart attack and trying to get to the hospital.”
The kill switch is just one of several ways the government proposes to control how we drive.
California lawmakers want new cars to have a speed governor that prevents you from going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.
That would reduce speeding. But not being able to speed is dangerous, too, according to Ms. Fix.
“[If] something’s coming at you, you have to make an adjustment,” she said.
New cars will have a special button on the dash. If you suddenly need to speed and manage to find the button when trying to drive out of some bad situation, it lets you speed for 15 seconds.
For all these new safety devices to work, cars need to spy on drivers. Before I researched this, I didn’t realize that they already do.
The Mozilla Foundation reported that car makers “collect things like your age, gender, ethnicity, driver’s license number, your purchase history, and tendencies.” Nissan and Kia “collect information about your sex life.”
How? Cars aim video cameras at passengers. Other devices listen to conversations and intercept text messages.
Then, Mozilla stated, 76 percent of the car companies “sell your data.”
“I just bought a new car,” I said to Ms. Fix. “Nobody told me about this.”
She replied, “Oh, it’s there. Buy a new car, you get that really long document. ... The small print says, ‘We’re collecting your data. We know everything you’re doing in your car, and we own (the data). There’s nothing you can do about it.’”
Finally, President Biden’s infrastructure bill also includes a pilot program to tax you based on how far you drive.
“A mileage charge seems fair,” I said to Ms. Fix. “You pay for your damage to the road.”
She replied, “Correct. But when you start allowing them to do this, they could say, ‘We don’t want you to buy a firearm.’ ... ‘We don’t want you to go to that destination. So we’re not going to let you start your car.’ It’s about control.”
I pushed back.
“They’re not controlling me,” I said.
She replied, “They can. Wait until you get a bill for your carbon footprint. ‘You’re at your maximum for carbon credits. We’re not going to let you drive today! Take the train. Take the electric bus.’”
I suggested, “This is paranoia.”
Ms. Fix said, “Maybe. But so far, everything that I’ve said about these things, each step keeps coming through.”
