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Comment by jackorange | Hacker News Reader

Majority of comments here are on the headline and clearly did not read the article:

- It doesnt use breathalyzers, it uses safety systems similar as those for cruise control.

- It would be installed at the factory by manufacturers.

- It would be mandated by 2026, no different than how other basic vehicle safety equipment has been mandated for vehicles over time: seatbelts, airbags, reverse cams, third brake light, and so on.

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My current driver monitoring system (Subaru Outback 2020 with whatever bells/whistles were available) was distracting and wrong so often that I had to disable it. With it on it would try distracting me with flashing messages and beeps while I was navigating 6 way intersections where I live. It was constantly unhappy that I wasn't looking exactly straight forward out the main window. The worst was probably highways where there was nothing in front of my vehicle for a quarter mile or more but I needed to look over my shoulder extensively to be able to safely change lanes out of the right-hand lane into the busier left hand lane.

Your 2020 Subaru Outback will be at least 6 years old in 2026 when this proposed system comes out.

That's barely broken in: I expect cars to be perfectly usable for many decades, if properly maintained. I do NOT want techo-obsolescence in a few years!

My personal goal is to never again own a car with a screen (especially a touchscreen), or with any kind of radio transmitter/transceiver to track and report anything back to the mfr. (And I'm an IoT guy!)

My point isn't his car is obsolete, its that the technology he's complaining about is not the same that will be installed 5 or 6 years from now.

Sure, but my car doesn't offer any way of feedback so I can tell them it's broken now. Are they testing the weird intersection layouts found in my suburb of Chicago? Further, why doesn't the alert threshold vary based on whether there is an obstacle or vehicle in front of me (they already detect this for other functions)? It's possible that these problems are going to be solved, but the software that will be released on MY2026 will be largely finalized by 2023 (2024 at the latest) which is coming up fast. While I'd love to believe that all of the safety systems are built on the same modular software architecture and I'm going to get upgrades on my MY2026 (which basically only happen in govt-forced scenarios right now), I don't have a lot of faith in this. It would be really nice to see safety systems evolve over time to get better, but this hasn't been common in any ECU to date and I don't see it becoming common unless the government also mandates it along with their fancy surveillance.

I've been wondering what the newest and safest car I could own that doesn't report back or at least could have its reporting removed without bricking the vehicle. Do you have any specific vehicles in mind?

It provides central surveillance, monitoring, and control with a legal mandate to interface with domestic law enforcement. It is the government version of Apples photo surveillance system except controlloing peoples mobility, which is far more dangerous.

I'm sorry but none of what you are suggesting is mentioned in the article, and this system is not out yet for anyone to have evaluated it and come to your conclusion. Did you have a source for your statement?

It's not the article but the bill itself: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684...

Combined with an understanding of the technology involved, executive rule making, and the most probable implementation for liability and profit on the part of the car companies. And this federal mandate will deny citizens abilities to disbale telemetry or the network functions of the car. That is how it will play out.

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