Kill-switch Mandate for New Vehicles in 2027

Yvonne Smith

Yvonne Smith

Greeter
Staff member
I am reading that Congress has a mandate that new cars coming out after this year would have a kill switch for the vehicle. The car camera “looks” at the person, and if they look too agitated to drive, then the car won’t shift out of park.
I can see where this might be okay for drunk drivers, but what if there is a family emergency and you are desperately trying to get some one to the hospital and are unable to drive becasue you are too concerned about the emergency, so the vehicle won’t let you drive ?

And what if it just malfunctions somehow, and then your car won’t drive, even if you are fine to be driving ? People are saying that basically you won’t own your car, it will own you, and I think that the car manufacturers are going to have a really hard time selling those vehicles if the mandate does go through.
 
Yvonne Smith said:
I can see where this might be okay for drunk drivers, but what if there is a family emergency and you are desperately trying to get some one to the hospital and are unable to drive becasue you are too concerned about the emergency, so the vehicle won’t let you drive ?
Click to expand...
In those cases, I would anticipate some lawsuits. There has been talk about a kill switch that the police would have control over, allowing them to shut you car car off rather than chasing you. I would be opposed to that, although I can appreciate the attraction.
 
Marie Mallory said:
No way would I own one of those.Our old 1995 van and truck minds its own business.
Of course, yesterday we did have a short blackout in van riding around doc's offices. First AC went off, then speed ometor, but we hit a bump and they all came back on, so Jake will be checking that this morning.
Click to expand...
There is no way we would ever have one either, even without the concern of the kill-switch possibility. The GMC we have been driving belongs to my daughter and we just use it since she is gone overseas for her job. My little Ford Ranger was a gift from her also, and that is what we are driving right now while Bobby is working on getting the GMC Sonoma running again. Both of them are 25 years old, and we probably will never own another vehicle.
 
Last edited:
Most new cars already have "nanny" software onboard, such as GM's OnStar. If your vehicle has features like remote start or other controls by an app, it can likely be controlled by a 3rd party.

"OnStar can turn off or disable a vehicle in specific scenarios involving stolen vehicle assistance and coordination with law enforcement. Through features like Stolen Vehicle Slowdown® and Remote Ignition Block™, OnStar can gradually slow a moving car to an idle or prevent a parked car from starting."

Last Christmas we were driving to my son's 5 hours away and the car kept nagging my husband to "take a break" due to driver fatigue. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top