What’s coming to your car
Tucked into the 2,702-page Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Biden signed in November 2021 was a provision that few Americans noticed. Section 24220 requires NHTSA to issue safety standards mandating “advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology” in all new passenger vehicles.
The law gave NHTSA until November 15, 2024 to finalize rules. Enforcement begins no later than September 2027. That deadline is now 18 months away.
The technology involves two main approaches being developed through DADSS (the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety program), a 16-year public-private partnership between NHTSA and automakers:
– Breath-based systems: Sensors in the steering column passively measure alcohol in your breath as you breathe normally. The system is designed to distinguish between driver and passenger breath.
– Touch-based systems: Infrared sensors in the start button or steering wheel measure blood alcohol through your skin.
But the law doesn’t stop at alcohol. It also mandates systems to detect “driver impairment,” which means infrared cameras mounted on steering columns or A-pillars tracking your eye movement, pupil dilation, and drowsiness patterns.
If the AI decides you’re impaired (whether from alcohol, fatigue, or distraction), your car can:
– Prevent ignition entirely
– Limit vehicle speed
– Alert you and pull over safely
The safety case
MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has pushed for this mandate for years. Their argument is straightforward: drunk driving kills over 10,000 Americans annually. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates these systems could eliminate those deaths.
That’s not nothing. 10,000 lives is a lot of lives.
But the surveillance apparatus being built goes far beyond detecting 0.08% blood alcohol.
The surveillance you’re actually getting
The law itself doesn’t mandate data sharing. But nothing prevents it either.
Car manufacturers already collect enormous amounts of data.
According to a February 2026 CNN investigation, 90% of new cars track your driving every 3 seconds, monitoring speed, braking, phone use, and exact location. That comes on top of the external tracking from license plate reader networks like Flock. Automakers pocket up to $100 per vehicle annually selling this data to companies like LexisNexis, who package it for insurance companies.
Here’s what happens next:
– Insurance consequences: Only 31% of drivers in telematics programs actually save money. Meanwhile, 24% face higher premiums. Coverage denials stick around for 3-5 years.
Data broker sales: Your biometric data (eye movements, pupil dilation, breath patterns) becomes another product to sell through the same data broker loophole that lets the government buy what it can’t legally demand. Anonymization doesn’t mean much when the data is tied to your VIN.
Over-the-air updates: These systems are software-defined. Manufacturers can expand monitoring capabilities after you’ve purchased the vehicle.
Law enforcement access: Without explicit legal protections, subpoenas and warrants can compel manufacturers to hand over your impairment data, including false positives.
The FTC took action in January 2025, prohibiting General Motors and OnStar from selling driving data for five years without explicit consumer consent. But that ruling only covers GM. Every other manufacturer operates under no such restriction.
The false positive problem
Automakers themselves oppose the mandate, not on privacy grounds, but because the technology isn’t ready.
Imagine: you’re driving your kids to school at 7am. You slept badly. The AI decides your drowsiness pattern matches impairment. Your car limits speed to 25mph on the highway.
Or worse: you’re leaving work after a long shift. The breath sensor malfunctions. Your car won’t start. You’re stranded in a parking lot at 11pm.
False positives aren’t theoretical. Every AI-based detection system produces them. And when the consequence is losing control of your own vehicle, the stakes of “95% accuracy” become viscerally clear.
Automakers also cite cost increases of $100-500 per vehicle, passed directly to consumers.
https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/federal-car-surveillance-mandate-2027-nhtsa-dadss-privacy-2026/