Guest Post by Eric Peters
You may have heard that, beginning with the 2026 model year, all new vehicles must be equipped with a system capable of detecting a putatively “impaired” driver – and disabling the vehicle, so that the “impaired” (putatively) driver cannot drive – or continue driving.
The vehicle either will not start – or it will stop.
Many people think it is a fine idea to stop “impaired” drivers. They are the same people who think it’s a fine idea to randomly stop drivers who’ve given no one any reason to suspect they might be “drunk” – and then make them prove they’re not.
Such people might want to give some thought to what will constitute the definition of “impairment.” Hence the putative qualifier in italics above.
Most people automatically think “drunk” when they hear “impaired” – which is reasonable because it’s the common interpretation. Just the same as most people thought they would be immunized when they heard “vaccine.” But there is a reason why impairment rather than drunk is being used to describe the system that will be embedded in all new vehicles, beginning with the 2026 models. It is essentially the same reason why drugs was not used to describe the substances millions allowed themselves to be injected with, believing they were getting vaccinated.
The reason is this:
“Impairment” will encompass any driving behavior that falls outside the parameters of acceptability, as determined by the programming that will be used to identify putatively “impaired” driving. Which will be equated with sober driving but faster than whatever the posted speed limit is and especially with accelerating up to speed “aggressively.” Similarly if you don’t brake “gently.” Basically, any “sudden” or “abrupt” or illegal movement by the vehicle will be taken as evidence of driver impairment.
Even if you’re not doing any of the above but merely not looking where the car’s cameras – which are looking at you – think you ought to be looking.
Eyes forward, kinder!
If you doubt this is what’s planned you might want to check into what’s already in place. Commercial trucks already have such “impaired” driver detection technology built into them. It is why the semi truck in the left lane isn’t “passing” the semi truck in the right lane. He’s trying to. The problem is it’s hard to pass a truck doing 53 in a 55 when you can’t drive faster than 55 to get past him. If you do go faster than 55 – assuming the truck allows it – the trucking company will know about and the driver will hear about it.
Most non-commercial vehicles made since about five years ago have everything already built-in to curb “impaired” driving. The list includes Lane Keep Assist – which tries to keep you from changing lanes, if you’ve not signaled first. And Emergency Brake Assist – which brakes when there is no emergency but rather because the system thinks you’re too close to the car ahead of you. Which it consider to be an “emergency.”
This makes taking advantage of gaps in traffic – to Frogger your way around the slow-pokes – not just difficult but dangerous. Because having the brakes suddenly and unexpectedly slam on when you’re trying to accelerate – and weave through traffic – is a great way to get rear-ended.
Of course, the foregoing exercise of initiative is said to be “unsafe” – as is any driver action that is “illegal,” a such as not coming to a dead stop at every stop sign, even when it’s clear there is no need to come to a dead stop because there is no traffic coming. Or – similarly – making a right turn (or a U Turn) when a sign says you’re not allowed to do. Because whoever put up the sign considers it “unsafe,” always – even when it might be perfectly safe for a competent driver to perform the maneuver.
Every driver is presumed incompetent.
Just as every driver who happens to be on the road is presumed “drunk” at what are styled “sobriety checkpoints.” (Is it surprising that they are now to be presumed “drunk” by their vehicle?)
And they are checkpoints.
That much is etymologically honest, at least. On the pretense of identifying “drunk” drivers, every driver is identified – he must produce his papers – and if they are not in order, he will be dealt with no matter how not-“drunk” he is. The same as regards his vehicle. A brake light out or an inspection sticker missing have nothing to do with sobriety. But “sobriety is the perfect excuse to “check” for them.
Just the same, a technology that is being sold to the rubes as a way to prevent “drunks” from driving will be used to prevent them from driving – by equating how they drive with “impairment.”
And few will object – because those who do will be smeared as supporters of “drunk” driving. Just the same as those who opposed being forced to take drugs were smeared as “anti-vaxxers.”
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More bull shit leftist control . I’m surprised the mother of the unfortunate death of her daughter doesn’t want to outlaw bicycles on roadways not having designated bike lanes !
As for DUI checkpoints I notice plenty of them in vacation destinations and areas frequented by majority poor and middle class people but none around the exit of Country Club wealth pockets !
Rich people get shit faced and kill too !
In Maryland last month a (DUI)connected family member rear ended a family and was released after some string pulling , 2 weeks later the same person rear ended another Family injuring them , again this person was DRUNK & smoking marijuana plus heroin and cocaine in body after tests !
The person passed out foot to the floor and hit the car in excess of 100 mph .
Judge said NO BAIL your ass sits in jail till trial in November !
Maybe a spot check system of people leaving a restaurant , bar or night club
Rather than stopping everyone on the road
My buddy’s son graduated from high school and went drinking/partying with his friend from the previous year … who, in DWI-mode, got into an accident that severely injured my buddy’s son.
The friend of my buddy’s son was 19 at the time … of wealthy family status … and this was his 5th DUI in California … and he’d never spent even one moment in custody, let alone standing any sort of trial and going to jail.
Money doesn’t talk … it screams.
Two things, as follow:
1. In NC the RINO legislature passed a law on this “impaired” concept, which was aimed at pot smokers. But you can blow 0.2 and be considered impaired, should the cop decide. I drive up there every week.
2. My 2022 Tundra has lane assist, and it drives me nuts. It also will brake me when a car slightly veers into the left lane even when 90-100′ away.
Oh, did my 25K service today. Told them for the 4th time that the auto wiper function does not work. Some 25ish idiot told me that I didn’t know how to set it on auto. It would work but not until the windshield was covered in rain.
Sooooo….”Son, I have an MBA, have run businesses since I was 24 (I’m 70) and used to have a 139 IQ. Thanks for your help anyway.” That’s Gen Z.
Sooooo….”Son, I have an MBA, have run businesses since I was 24 (I’m 70) and used to have a 139 IQ. Thanks for your help anyway.” That’s Gen Z.
After a long pause, the technician looks you up and down, looks at the car, then back at you and said “And this qualifies you to troubleshoot cars how sir?”
As a 40 year mechanic, your MBA wouldn’t impress me in the least.
My ’02 ain’t got that! I really don’t think I want anything newer.
iron-clad logic from Lew Rockwell:
I drive a 1997 Oldsmobile, not affected…
TacoTaco. This is an Impala. Any interior resemblance?
The chi-chi balls ice the cake on this Lowrider classic.
Having lived in the barrios of LA for more than a decade, I concluded that ‘lowrider’ and ‘classic’ were mutually exclusive terms …
You do NOT have to be drunk, tipsy, intoxicated, high or stoned to be charged with impaired driving. It’s whatever these assholes want to charge you with. A former co-worker was stopped by the Ohio State Highway Patrol several years ago for a moving violation and charged with impaired driving even though he doesn’t drink nor take any kind of illicit or legal drugs/narcotics. He beat the rap but only after spending $1000’s on lawyer fees which is what it’s all about.
Don’t drive after dark but if you do think about checking all the lights work before heading out. Takes about 15-30 seconds. A headlight out is pretty common someone is pulled over and then I suppose considered impaired.
Brakelights are kinda tough if you’re alone. The older 6v models were slow enough that you could run around back to check them after pushing the brake pedal, but 12v is just too fast.
Backup to a building at night, look for brake lights in rear view mirror. At least that’s what I do.
Cue the crime stories about a lady who’d had a few, found herself in a bad situation, and got safely to her car only to be unable to escape an abusive mate, or someone who’d been drugged managed to get to their car and tried to drive away, or the child who tried to help an elderly relative by driving to the neighbours for help only to find the car wouldn’t start or stay running.
There’s also the problem that the electronics have all had issues in cars I’ve owned over the past 20 years. If you’ve own German cars, you know what I mean. MIL is a way of life for a VW owner. I’ve no confidence impairment detection systems will be any more reliable than adaptive cruise, active collision avoidance or any number of computer control systems that have failed or malfunctioned on my cars in the past couple decades. My car’s active collision avoidance system is known to shutdown the vehicle for people who have steep driveways and often applies the brakes simply because the road inclines in front of you.
I’ll be disabling or overriding these ‘features’ on any car I own, just as I’ve done on my last few cars. I didn’t ask for or want these features I was forced to accept. If override is not possible, I’ll be sticking with the old and busted cars, but these new models suck.
Disabling would be great … but, with my 2022 VW GTI, I’ve been told by mechanics I trust that you cannot disable VW’s IQ.drive system without bricking the car …
I drove a tractor-trailer with all this auto stuff on it and it would hit the brakes when vehicles passed you. I thought I was going to get whiplash. It’s tough when you are not ready for hard braking. I don’t plan on buying any new vehicles, maybe an even older one. I want something pre-1970 that’s easy to fix. Maybe better brakes or a custom 4×4 truck that someone put a lot of work into.
Thankfully, I didn’t have this stuff on my trucks when I drove … but SNA did have a 62-mph governor on them that was pretty scary. One of the companies I drove for a couple years later bought new Freightliner trucks, which also had a 62-mph governor setting … the company owner had them taken to our local mechanic who used a PalmPilot to change all of the settings … remove the cruise control, up the horsepower by about 200 hp … get rid of the governor … It took about 5 minutes …
I wonder how many of these rules are not for me people will find a way to get rid of this “nonsense”.
I haven’t seen any DUI checkpoints in about 5 years. The smaller towns in rural Texas don’t need them and Dallas is short about 1000 cops, Not enough cops to run a checkpoint. Of course, I never go out on the nights all the stupids are gonna be roaming( StPatty’s, Texas-OU weekend) so maybe I just don’t see them. And the county sheriffs are cool around here. Don’t fuck around, you won’t find out.
In case you didn’t get them memo, Texas passed legislation that ended check points
Driving anywhere near or through Dallas-Fort Worth one takes his/her life in his/her own hands regardless drunk drivers , drivers zoned out on any number of psycho drugs or whatever. A vehicle suddenly stopping in a DFW type driving environment? It will be a whole lot more than the old lady crossing the street killed by a drunk driver.
The drivers here in DFW have nothing on Houston. Those are the worst and most asshole drivers in this state. One of the many reasons I left after college and won’t go back.
Nanny state BS is why we have $5000 Ford tail light repairs. Call me old fashioned, but I drew the line at OnStar, and that was in the ’90s. Recording my every move behind the wheel? Able to override vehicle functions? I don’t think so, this is why I drive old cars.
It started with airbags. In my mind seatbelts were the last safety device that made any sense.
Theyre the same people who shiuld forfeit being considered American and hunted down with prejudice. The Unibomber was right! Technology is now used to enslave and destroy not to set free or make better. These new vehickes randomly stopping in traffic will cause injuries and fatalities. Yet they’re being government approved and mandated!? We’re at war with evil traitors in our midst!
I seriously wonder why someone doesn’t manufacture simple, internal combustion, bare-bones vehicles and sell them to those of us who want them. I just need to get from here to there. Give me a standard transmission on a reliable car with a Bluetooth speaker and I am good to go. Not everything they “improve” is actually better.
Can’t get them certified as street legal. Ask Mahindra about their Roxor.
This is merely the next step on the short, steep, and very slippery slope to having no mobility. Many, if not all, of these “safety systems” will “malfunction” and render the vehicle undrivable, regardless of any impairment being detected. Just as with mRNA deaths, the auto technicians will be baffled and declare the problems are simply a coincidence. They will also be unable to fix the problem, but since you will reside in a fifteen minute city, you won’t be inconvenienced at all.
^^^^^This, right here.
The fact that you’re able to just hop in your car and go wherever you want to go, whenever you want to go, really pisses these people off. I mean, who the fuck do you think you are?
Plebian, dirtworld wrongthinkers will told where to go, and when to go there.
I put a 660 Whp Coyote motor with a 10R transmission in a 1970 Cougar. With ABS and traction control it took 5 integrated processors to run it. I and thousands of gearheads welcome the challenge of making the government look like fools.
BTW with todays FI controls the gas showed ZERO Hc and Co at the tailpipes. You can get 22 mpg or a pint per 1/4 mile Customers choice at will.
I’ll never buy another new car….
I’m on my 3d VW Golf … a 2022 Golf GTI … and I’m really a bit distressed about it.
My impression of VW is that the US Government (EPA, etc.) really jammed it to VW good and hard over ‘diesel gate’ … a phony issue if there ever was one (on par with the whole ‘climate change’ or ‘FauciFlu’ pandemic).
True, in most ways it’s a good car — I like the way it handles and the way it accelerates — but VW has gone all globalist with their IQ.drive system and all of the countless computer chips that remove any sort of control from the driver in the name of some nonsense or other.
Take the dash panel, where my 2007 Rabbit had gauges and such — now it’s just a video game sort of screen. Gone are real gauges such as speed, RPM, engine temperature, etc. — in their place are ‘customizable’ displays of questionable accuracy (to me all digital is of questionable accuracy). Gone, too, are actual knobs and switches and sliders for things like temperature control (you now have to hit a touch screen — taking your eyes off the road — to make any adjustments to these settings) …that’s a safety issue to me.
My Rabbit also had some great features that the 2022 GTI totally lacks: it was a 2-door — which doesn’t exist any longer (all are 4-door models now); a 2-door has larger front doors — the ones that matter to me; I could open/close my windows with the key in the driver door; I could keep the fuel door locked as I chose; the battery on the Rabbit lasted more than 12.5 years — the batteries on these new VWs last maybe 3 or 4 — because everything’s on the fob — and, like a cell phone, the car is constantly looking for a signal from the fob much like a cell phone is constantly looking for a signal from the network — and that, of course, kills the battery. VW Techs have confirmed this as 2 close friends who have 2017 Alltrack wagons have seen those batteries replaced in less than 4 years — for the stated reason. I admit — I bought this GTI without even test driving it — relying on the previous Golf models and their high quality to not have suffered. Big Mistake …
Without entering into detail (“administrative”, natch), I can’t renew my driver’s license and have decided to buy a sulky and horse, street legal in our village, no license, no plates (yet), time-honored, traditional and reliable transportation. I plan to make a fuss, for once playing the Karen, and insist that a hitching facility be placed near the plaza. Fertilizer to go for free!
Does this mean we have a way to stop the mobile phone tards from swerving and going too slow?
Bikers want to know.
Yes, Yes, YES!
Please make it an intelligence test!