The United States is on ‘the slippery slope to the government deciding when and under what conditions you can drive’
SCHAUMBURG, IL (January 30, 2026) – The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in 2021 by Joe Biden, requires the Department of Transportation to create an industry mandate for “impaired-driving prevention systems” that passively monitor driver behavior and attempt to detect and diagnose impairment. Once detected, the technology is supposed to slow down or stop the vehicle. This is known colloquially by critics as a “kill switch.”
Congress recently failed to pass an amendment to a federal spending bill that would cancel the mandating of that technology, even though the technology isn’t yet implemented in new vehicles. The amendment, by Rep. Thomas Massie, sought to “prohibit the use of funds made available by this Act to implement section 24220 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including any requirements enabling or supporting vehicle ‘kill switch’ technology, and to block federal spending for the execution or enforcement of such authorities.”
The following statement may be used for attribution. To schedule an interview, please contact Executive Vice President and Director of Communications Jim Lakely at [email protected] or call/text 312-731-9364.
“This is classic government overreach and puts us on the slippery slope to the government deciding when and under what conditions you can drive.
“While I understand and sympathize with the goal of reducing drunken driving, giving the government this much power is dangerous. What’s to stop an administration from cutting off a driver’s car because it has decided he or she is driving too much and putting out an excess amount of carbon dioxide. Or another administration could cut off the power to cars that it thinks are being driven by illegal aliens or political enemies.
“Driving is a privilege, but that privilege shouldn’t be held hostage to the arbitrary and capricious whims of politicians and the latest political fad or concern.”
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D.
Director
Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
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