Representative Chip Roy of the House Freedom Caucus introduced an amendment to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that would repeal a regulation passed during President Joe Biden’s term in office that mandates automobile manufacturers to install technology in cars made after 2026 that detects alcohol or the driver is otherwise impaired through the use of sensors and turns the vehicle off to prevent impaired driving.
“There’s an Appropriations Amendment to DEFUND Vehicle Kill Switches (Dems snuck into legislation years ago) that needs unanimous conservative support! The federal government should get the heck out of our cars and trucks, and no company or third party should invasively track our movements. KILL the Kill Switch,” Roy posted on X about his amendment.
Roy is hoping to attach his amendment to the reauthorization of Section 702 of the FISA Act that the House of Representatives is currently debating.
House Freedom Caucus such as Roy deemed this regulation the “kill switch” mandate and argued it extended government control over American’s driving privileges.
Roy called the regulation a “troubling example of government overreach. Americans don’t need Big Brother monitoring them behind the wheel. That’s why I filed an amendment today to kill the kill switch once and for all.”
Opponents of the regulation included Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who argued the technology is unreliable would produce false positives.
“You have a mother who swerves to miss wildlife and then goes around a pothole, then pulls over for an ambulance, and the dashboard is the juror and the executioner, and it says get over to the side of the road with your kids and wait there,:” Massie said during a 2023 Congressional hearing with President Biden’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Acting Administrator Ann Carlson.
Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania introduced legislation last year to repeal the driver impairment technology regulation.
Perry stated that the regulation violated American’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the guaranteed right to freedom of movement.
“Kill Switches can be used to restrict your travel or to track you without a warrant,” Perry said of his bill. “The No Kill Switches in Cars Act removes this threat to our constitutional rights and ensures our ability to travel freely.”
Roy and other dissenting voices contend this reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA presents them the opportunity to repeal an regulation that have been pushing to overturn ever since its implementation.
