The problem with a vehicle kill switch is the same problem as an encryption backdoor for law enforcement. It will leak, quickly (inside a year) and so not only will law enforcement misuse this power (history shows they've misused all powers they've been given) but nefarious interests will use it to cause havoc.
one problem...
First part to get ripped out of new cars
Might be more difficult than that. I'm in the hunt for a new work truck, a ram 2500. I'm specifically targeting a 2019-2020, because the 4G cellular module is easily removed, whereas in newer models it is soldered directly to a main telematics board and is pretty tricky to remove.
These companies don't want you removing these systems in their current state, as they're harvesting your data and selling it off as another revenue stream. I suspect these future monitoring systems, if removed, will brick the vehicle in one way or another.
Just disconnect the antenna and/or cover the module with something that will block any wireless signals. It's easier upfront and simple to undo when you want to sell the vehicle.
It was my go-to solution whenever I bought a vehicle with OnStar.
I suspect that like John Deere there will be a Ukrainian style hack that undermines this bullshit.
Someone linked a nice explainer on the topic in this thread, but my takeaway was that this is unlikely to ever exist
TLDR of the TLDR (which I recommend reading)
the regulatory body is super slow, and won't approve a change unless all the ducks are in a row
there's no safe way to stop or disable a car while it's moving, so the regulatory body won't approve it anytime soon
It will go in the scrap bin right next to the OnStar module.
...but wait you don't love accidently talking to someone in Texas every time you go to turn your dome light off/on ?
Always check your sources…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Economic_Education
They literally gave an award to Charles Koch.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
They can be a source of egregious right wing propaganda undermining our democracy at every turn (which they are), and also occasionally still have legitimate grievances with our legislators sneaking bullshit like this into otherwise critical legislation.
I sure hope I never get injured using my chainsaw out in the forest with no cell service. It's going to be so awesome bleeding out in a truck that cuts to 5mph max because I'm too busy holding the tourniquet on my leg while I drive. That's certainly NEVER happened. NEVER happens, to nobody, including my mother.
So this isn't an external kill switch. It's far more likely to be a lane and driver monitoring system integral to the car itself.
The big problem is what do you do with a car that's stopped itself? Obviously you need emergency services, and obviously you can't depend on the passengers to call them. So the real effect here is to mandate the integration of vehicles into the emergency service networks so the car can call up dispatch.
I would say this is another brick in the argument for an open source car operating system that keeps the car offline and gives you the tools you want.
I would say this is another brick in the argument for an open source car operating system
...Go analog with a carb, maybe? Only thing that can stop a carb from working is it being out of gas. Or changing altitude. Or bad fuel. Or it's too cold and/or hot. ... OK lots of things can stop carbs, but the government sure can't, at least.
I see where they're coming from, but like every good idea the government has had its going to be abused and mutated into Satan's Christmas tree of a bill, and either be draconian or useless.
Also, this idea is shit for brains stupid lol
I'm just waiting for the moment that this kill switch is hacked, and whole cities come to a complete standstill.
There's no possible way this ever makes it to regulation. And most of you haven't read the law, so don't understand you're being lied to. Read analysis here:
Looking at the other articles on the site, I count one antivaxx and another that claims the newly elected fascist in Argentina is a "Libertarian".
Thanks for linking to a sane review.
I think the analysis is correct in that the implementation will die in committee before ever making it to effect, not to mention the practical considerations of implementing this in the lighting-fast timeframe of 3 years. However, I cannot help but point out this part:
So far, not a kill switch, but some kind of technology to detect if you’re driving like a drunk person and disable the vehicle.
"Disable the vehicle" is literally what people mean when they talk about a "kill switch". At best that's an argument over semantics. The law mandates a thing that deliberately stop your car from functioning. That's a kill switch.
It's not a lie. There's no malicious intent. It's just not even wrong. It so fundamentally lacks understanding of the underlying bureaucracy, technology, product lifecycle, and surrounding politics politics that it amounts to nothing.
And the overall point still stands. We should be skeptical of these kinds of intrusions into our devices from the state. We should resist them as a default posture.
American solution to a problem of deadly car chases.
I guess „don’t chase cars” would be too simple.
I'm sure we'll never find out that the kill switch was disproportionately used on people of color.
This is already a concerning power to hand to a government, which could cause issues regarding the right of freedom of movement. But even if we assume an ideal and responsible government that never misuses their powers, can we be sure such a backdoor would be secure enough not to be exploited by other parties?
Can’t wait to patch that out, should be as fun as that dumbshit auto-shutoff they have now.
I don't see any problem with a system to detect drunk driving and bring the car to a stop. There is no right to drive a car while drunk or otherwise impaired. Inventing one by calling upon privacy also ignores that the cops can pull you over and give you a sobriety test if they have reason to anyway. In 2021, over 13,000 people in the US died from drunk drivers. They deserve protection.
While no one should be allowed to drunk-drive, I find it fundamentally fucked up for the government to have a device have to greenlight the use of your own vehicle. Even if they initially word it to be reactive, it would immediately implement the possibility. While it makes some sense for drunk driving, if it were available by default, it'd only be a matter of semmantics and suddenly your car is a large paper weight simply because you didn't renew the registration before-hand.
Doesn't the government already greenlight vehicle usage with the drivers license?
You can drive without one. If there is an emergency you can escape a fucking forest fire for example.
“Man dies after forest fire engulfs home; couldn’t outrun flames and car was remotely disabled due to overdue registration; ‘Hand were tied’ says DMV”
Or simply just driving on private property... You can drive all you want on private property with the owners permission.
"State disables car that was never driven on public road" is pretty bad from a personal freedom perspective.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
