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Your car will be able to decide when you can drive.
Section 24220 of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directs the Department of Transportation to develop a safety standard for technology in future passenger vehicles that can passively detect impairment and restrict operation of the vehicle.
People call it the kill switch provision. It isn’t a remote government button; it’s technology built into the car that monitors the driver and makes a determination about whether you’re allowed to drive. That distinction matters, and so does the broader question of how much decision-making authority we’re comfortable building into the machines we own.
This is why I’ve been looking at older vehicles differently. A new truck can reach a price that would have sounded absurd not that long ago, and that’s before a single sensor fails and a repair balloons into programming, calibration, and dealer-specific equipment.
An old truck has an ignition, an engine, a transmission, and a driver. Nothing analyzing your face, no over-the-air updates, no internet connection needed to do its basic job.
The privacy side, the repair side, the ownership side, physical buttons, and a real key still win for me. If you’ve been eyeing an old truck lately, you’re not the only one. And yes, I have thoughts on Cash for Clunkers.
You’ll Learn:
[0:00] Introduction
[2:13] Modern vehicles became computers with an engine attached
[4:06] Your new car is collecting data and watching you
[6:26] The impairment-detection kill switch provision and what it actually says
[8:56] The “for our safety” rollout pattern I keep seeing
[10:53] When repair was a normal part of owning a vehicle
[13:03] The satisfaction of turning an actual key
[15:19] Cash for Clunkers and the cars that lacked tracking
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