Buried in Infrastructure Bill Is a Mandatory Backdoor Kill Switch for Your Car
Soooo, let&#x27;s see, try to see what is going on.  I want to start with two standard pieces of advice, (1) always look for the hidden agenda and (2) follow the money.  Now let&#x27;s see:<p>First, as in this thread already, we know who put this &quot;kill switch&quot; stuff in the bill.  In particular it is the MADD group maybe plus maybe some more <i>activists</i>.<p>Second, now that the &quot;kill switch&quot; is in the bill, the MADD group is pleased.  Soooo, some Members of Congress can expect some campaign contributions from MADD and their supporters.  Since it will be some years before the bill works its way through the DoT, engineering, law suits, lobbying by car manufacturers, screaming from drivers who don&#x27;t want the <i>complexity</i>, etc., the campaign contributions may continue for several years.<p>Uh, each new feature on a car raises the purchase price and the cost of maintenance.  Some of the features added to cars can break, fail, whatever and be left broken, but not this &quot;kill switch&quot;!!!  If that darned thing gets sick, the car may become a 4500 pound boat anchor until the owner coughs up, maybe, $2500 for repairs!!!  Car owners won&#x27;t like that.<p>Third, there can be a lot of pitfalls for that provision to pass before ALL new cars have that &quot;kill switch&quot;.  E.g., the provision was put into the bill quietly.  Some years from now a provision to repeal or delay for 10 more years can be put into some bill just as quietly.<p>If the kill switch starts to become real and angers a lot of voters and companies, then Congress can receive a lot of pressure, more than MADD can manage, to repeal the provision.<p>Fourth, even if all new cars have the switch, some car manufacturer can, quietly, hint, hint, let out how to disconnect the switch and all its sensors.  And there is a really big, responsive industry of small companies ready to help car owners who would want to disconnect the switch.<p>Fifth, what the insurance companies care about is not what some sensor or computer in a car says but what insurance claims the driver has.  E.g., the car insurance industry knows well that I&#x27;ve been driving for a log time and have never had an insurance claim of any kind.<p>Sixth, if a car insurance company wants data from some log file accumulated by some computers in a car, then send them a log file -- &quot;Get your clean log file right here, cheap, guaranteed, clean log files!!!&quot;<p>Net, it could be 10+ years before anyone who hates the idea of having the kill switch actually has to put up with the darned thing.<p>Then 10+ years from now, MADD will have to dry their tears, have a group hug, and console themselves with the fact that they tried.  Meanwhile, some Members of Congress will have gotten some campaign contributions, 10+ years worth!<p>All this is a special case of what I&#x27;ve detected is a pattern in how Congress works:  In one word, there&#x27;s a lot of showmanship going on.  There&#x27;s a lot less real than meets the eye.