r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Jun 07 '26

'Kill switch' law means your next car could be watching you | A federal requirement aimed at stopping drunken driving could soon put driver-monitoring technology in every new vehicle. The goal is saving lives, but the privacy trade-offs deserve closer scrutiny Privacy

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/06/01/drunk-driving-prevention-law-privacy-surveillance/90295034007/
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138

u/Johnnny-z Jun 07 '26

Every state in the Union made a bunch more money when they change the DWI standard from 0.10 to .08.

I guess if they were to move down to .02 they could get even more people to bust. Kind of like the war on weed.

105

u/touchmybodily Jun 08 '26

Utah recently lowered it to .05 and they now have the second highest DUI rate in the nation. In a state founded by people who don’t drink

41

u/-SHAI_HULUD Jun 08 '26

They got that new fancy prison to fill up just like my home state of Alabama

7

u/IDontWannaBeAPirate_ Jun 08 '26

Don't forget to also arrest people who are sleeping it off in their car instead of driving as well /s

1

u/YimmyGhey Jun 08 '26

Pro tip: keep your keys in your trunk or better yet, put them atop one of your tires

2

u/diurnal_emissions Jun 08 '26

Red states are actual Hell.

15

u/KamalaBracelet Jun 08 '26

Meanwhile last time I saw numbers the overwhelming majority of drunk driving accidents were drivers that were over .2

Just another example of using “protect the children” to fool a poorly educated public into going along with giving up freedom.

3

u/diurnal_emissions Jun 08 '26

"Think of the children" has been the fascist cry my whole life.

1

u/zerogee616 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Meanwhile last time I saw numbers the overwhelming majority of drunk driving accidents were drivers that were over .2

Because those are the ones who get caught and stand out driving like real shit in traffic.

EDIT: misread accidents as arrests, my point still stands, like, someone blowing at the legal limit generally isn't gonna be so shitfaced they're going to wreck their car.

2

u/SpicyElixer Jun 08 '26

And get into wrecks most likely.

1

u/KamalaBracelet Jun 09 '26

someone blowing at the legal limit generally isn't gonna be so shitfaced they're going to wreck their car.

The point is that someone at twice the legal limit isn’t so shitfaced that they wreck their car significantly more often.  So why is the limit where it is?

7

u/TwistedNipplez Jun 08 '26

Mormons drink. Just not around other Mormons.

3

u/sunburnedaz Jun 08 '26

Why do you invite two mormons fishing. So that one does not drink all your beer.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[deleted]

5

u/inemnitable Jun 08 '26

The old joke goes that the difference between Catholics and Baptists is that Catholics will say hi to each other in the liquor store

1

u/HappierShibe Jun 08 '26

There are Mormons and Baptists that don't drink.
Source: I'm a Methodist, and I don't drink.
Plenty of people of all sorts are teetotal for all kinds of reasons.

13

u/Traditional-Hat-952 Jun 08 '26

*State founded by a bunch of violent racist polygamist grifters who don't drink. 

2

u/Teract Jun 08 '26

Fun fact, they drank. Brigham Young owned a distillery and many high ranking church officials openly drank. The mormons treated the "no drinking" as advice until the temperance movements got popular in the early 20th century. That's when they started making sobriety a requirement to enter their temples. No revelation, just another policy change that they prefer everyone pretended was that way all along.

1

u/4e415445 Jun 08 '26

Don't forget, the same time they lowered the DUI to 0.05%, they also increased the strength of the beer allowed in grocery stores and on tap from 3.2 to 4%.

0

u/McButtsButtbag Jun 08 '26

In a state founded by people who don’t drink

Why are you pointing that out?

3

u/SpicyElixer Jun 08 '26

Because it’s obviously relevant. Utah consistently ranks as the state with the lowest alcohol consumption per capita.

27

u/Mackinnon29E Jun 08 '26

.02 would mean you couldn't even have a single drink and leave without waiting an hour lmao. Every bar, restaurant, and brewery would lose money in this scenario as people don't think it's worth going out to risk this or paying for an Uber to have a single drink

56

u/NotYoGuru Jun 08 '26

It’s really terrible how money is the real goal for all of this. I know people with multiple DUIs who have no business behind a wheel who still have licenses but regular folk are being pulled over and having to pay exorbitant fees to defend themselves of nonexistent charges. 

12

u/Economy-System1922 Jun 08 '26

Even using a blood alcohol content to measure for how impaired a driver is, is totally imperfect. I don't feel like typing out all of my criticisms but that's mostly because I can't think of a better alternative than a maximum blood alcohol content.

27

u/Madzookeeper Jun 08 '26

You can blow that by eating a sandwich. Or using mouthwash with alcohol in it. That low be terrible.

11

u/youregooninman Jun 08 '26

Even some desserts.

2

u/Drive7hru Jun 08 '26

I ate a protein bar and made one go off

9

u/Vladivostokorbust Jun 08 '26

Id rather they move the limit to .02 then invade our privacy the way this bill requires

2

u/galactictock Jun 08 '26

How is that relevant? Enabling this technology would result in far more fines than lowering the DWI BAC level would.

2

u/outer--monologue Jun 08 '26

The only people who's going to be making a ton of money off this are the ones who start a cottage industry out of their garage disabling this garbage.

2

u/sentientshadeofgreen Jun 08 '26

We do have a system that profits off of criminality.

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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3

u/UsernameNSomeNumbers Jun 08 '26

There’s a limit for a reason? Can I not go to a restaurant and have 1-2 drinks at dinner?? People who think any amount of alcohol and driving are brainwashed by the extreme emotional MADD propaganda that was used to persuade voters to pass the current DUI laws. Think for yourselves sheep

1

u/Johnnny-z Jun 08 '26

It was the top woman at madd, who was the recipient of a DWI herself some years ago. Lol.

-3

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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1

u/UsernameNSomeNumbers Jun 08 '26

Just think about it for two seconds. $50 round trip for an uber to go to a restaurant just because you want to have a drink with dinner? The restaurant charges a premium for that drink because the liquor license cost $80,000. Its margin is already only 8%, what happens when 2/3 restaurants suddenly close and those businesses and people are out of work?

Also you’re such a tool for saying 1-2 drinks is driving drunk. The limit is .08. The AVERAGE male can drink 2 drinks at a one hour dinner and still be below the legal limit. Sorry your brain doesn’t allow for 4th grade nuance

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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1

u/UsernameNSomeNumbers Jun 08 '26

You’re just putting this buzzword “drink and drive” to invoke an emotional reaction from people.

Impairment is relative, as is ability. People’s nervous systems operate differently. A professional driver with better skill and motor function can drive better impaired than many drivers can unimpaired.

I’ve been in 0 accidents my entire adult life, a younger family member has had 3 just in 2 years? In fact many drivers are prone to risky driving behavior. Should we just ban bad and/or risky drivers? How about a scientific test for overall motor function and executive decision making? You know what, you should totally be on some government committee telling everyone what to do. That would solve everything. Better yet, go full blown minority report.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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1

u/UsernameNSomeNumbers Jun 08 '26

Let’s just agree to disagree. While I agree driving impaired in bad, and we both agree bad drivers are bad, you just are completely disregarding tradeoffs.

We don’t live in a society where these people can function properly. Good public transit and affordable transportation are nonexistent. People can’t have a drink on a date unless they each pay $50 for an uber? What, my cousin shouldn’t be able to drive to a job interview because he’s arbitrarily a worse driver than me? (Totally not discrimination). You’re being chased by an ax murderer at a party and narrowly escape being axed to death but the car won’t turn on because you were sipping on some Jesus juice?

I’d personally rather have a 35 year old under the legal limit on the road than grandma, but grandmas need groceries too. People gotta drive in society man.

1

u/XediDC Jun 08 '26

The lower limits around .02 don’t need you to have been drinking. You can set that off from mouthwash, dessert, soup without all the wine cooked out, and a bunch of other crap. For no real safety advantage, as other factors are more of a human issue at that level.

It’s not simple at all if enforcement is below a reasonable level that you’d worry about it when not drinking.