Vehicle Safety and Surveillance

The House on Thursday voted 268–164 against an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie, R‑Ky., that would have stripped a Biden‑era requirement for automakers to develop in‑vehicle systems capable of passively detecting driver impairment and preventing or limiting vehicle operation. The mandate, embedded in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, directs NHTSA to set a standard for technology that can 'passively monitor the performance of a driver' and intervene if impairment is detected; the agency told Congress it is still studying how to distinguish drunk driving from drowsy or distracted behavior and has not yet proposed a rule. Fifty‑seven Republicans joined most Democrats to defeat Massie’s amendment, drawing sharp criticism from conservative figures including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who likened a government‑controllable 'kill switch' to something out of Orwell’s 1984 and warned it could enable remote shutdowns of privately owned cars. Supporters of the underlying infrastructure language frame it as a future safety tool to cut impaired‑driving deaths, while opponents across the right are using the vote to accuse GOP defectors of enabling potential surveillance and overreach, a debate already spilling across social media. The amendment’s failure means the statutory directive to NHTSA remains in force as the agency works toward an eventual impaired‑driving technology rule that could impact every new U.S. vehicle.