Big Brother, take the wheel

If you had any doubts that government was out of control before, this should clear any of them up. Joe Biden’s “infrastructure” bill, which was passed thanks to spineless Republicans led by Mitch McConnell, has some stuff in it that has absolutely nothing to do with fixing roads or refurbishing bridges. Indeed, one ugly provision has come to attention, and it has privacy hawks up in arms.

When I was in high school, my sophomore-year English teacher assigned the class a “project paper,” where we were to create a survey, get some responses, interview people who were “experts” in the topic, and write up what we found. We were free to choose the topic. I chose alcoholism. One of the questions in my survey had to do with any effect drunk driving had had on the people taking the survey. This was quite a while ago, so I do not remember the results, but I do remember quite a few had been impacted by it.

Part of the project was to come up with solutions to any problems we had identified. For the prevention of drunk driving, I had suggested that a device be installed in people’s vehicles that would check their blood-alcohol levels before the engine could start. My teacher commented on the margin of my paper that this idea was “far fetched.” Little did I know that something like it was in the works, and, in fact, it is available today; it is called an ignition interlock device (IID), Ms. King. Of course, being a teenager at the time, I had not stopped to consider the legal/constitutional implications of such a device. I just wanted drunk drivers off the streets.

It seems, though, that we either have a bunch of teenagers running Congress, or these people really do not care about the Constitution they swore to uphold. The Daily Caller reports that buried in this horrible money-wasting bill is a provision that would add a kill switch to any new vehicles manufactured after 2026. The purpose of the kill switch is to monitor your driving and stop the vehicle if it somehow detects impairment. Unlike an IID, you will have little to no choice of having a kill switch in your post-2026 vehicle.

Once again, our fearless leaders demonstrate they would prefer to take everyone’s freedom away, rather than address the problem. No doubt drunk driving is a problem. The IID can be a part of DUI sentencing, meaning you have to have been arrested, charged, and convicted of a crime in order to be compelled, by court order, to use an IID. The mandatory kill switch, however, implies that you are a criminal before you have committed a crime, and that you cannot be trusted to drink responsibly, even though you may not have ever had a drink in your life.

Of course you will have the “if you don’t drink and drive you don’t need to worry” crowd supporting this. Just like with gun control, however, the solution is not to infringe on everyone else’s rights. This kill switch is a mechanism ripe with potential to be abused. If you are a dissenter of whatever the current regime is, your kill switch could “accidentally” be tripped while you are on a road trip with your family. If your name happens to match that of a known criminal, and something goes goofy with the request, your car could be disabled. If you have driven over your maximum allowed “carbon footprint,” then your vehicle could be disabled. This kill switch also provides an entry way for malicious actors to hold you hostage in your own car. These examples are not outside the realm of possibility.

Preventing people from driving while drunk is a lofty goal. Ensuring that “celebrities” and family members of connected people, like Paul Pelosi, are not just slapped on the wrist when they are caught driving under the influence, but instead are given harsh penalties (including jail time), would go a long way to drill the message into people: DO NOT DRIVE WHILE IMPAIRED! The IID should be something that is enforced every time someone is convicted of DUI. Punishing those that have done nothing wrong is never a good idea.

At the next Constitutional Convention (which we are way overdue for one), we need to have an amendment prohibiting Congress from passing these types of “omnibus” bills. When legislators get a 4000 page (or more) document in the middle of the night and are told they have only 10 hours (or less) to read through it before voting on it, We The People cannot be confident that everything in such a monstrosity is appropriate. Case in point: adding a kill switch to deny you permission to use your property.