Imagine that you’re driving to work when your vehicle suddenly stops working, and police officers show up. The United States House wants the ability to disable cars in traffic and alert officers to your location. This is an effort to crack down on drunk drivers. 

The House votes to shut off cars in traffic 

The United States House voted 268 to 164 to reject an effort to block funding for a provision in federal law requiring automakers to install anti-drunken driving technology in new vehicles. 

Basically, the Massie Part B amendment would have anti-drunk driving technology installed in cars to detect impaired drivers. If the system thinks drivers are operating under the influence, then their cars will be shut off, and an alert will be sent to police officers. 

Some representatives have privacy concerns. However, Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey insists that the technology that’s being developed will not track a vehicle’s location. Plus, it won’t collect, use, or store data to compromise the privacy of occupants. 

Pallone shares, “It’s not right to prevent impaired drivers from illegally operating vehicles and causing fatalities.” Others claim that delaying or impeding the technology to prevent drug driving is inappropriate and reckless. 

According to Macomb Daily, 30 people in America die each day in drunk driving crashes. Over 12,000 people are killed per year. But 31 states already use ignition interlock technology to deter drunken drivers on roadways. 

But if a car monitors your behavior, could it detect false positives? Representatives mentioned scenarios in which a driver swerves during a snowstorm, and their car disables itself. The driver could be stranded for hours.