cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1247209/all-cars-sold-in-the-eu-now-require-a-camera-aimed-at-your-face-its-still-not-clear-wher
Starting July 7, 2026, every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera aimed at your face. Glance at your phone, your kids in the back seat, or the radio for too long, and the car will flash a warning light and sound an alert.
Automakers have known this was coming for years. What they, and EU regulators, have never spelled out is what happens to that footage after the alert goes off.
While the intention behind the new system is difficult to dispute, its implementation has raised several concerns. Early real-world testing suggests the distraction warnings can be overly sensitive and potentially distracting.
They can easily set it up to prevent operation if they don’t see your face.
But they probably can’t prevent you from wearing sun glasses, a beard, a covid mask, and ear muffs.
Yeah IKR.
Just run a constant Garry’s Mod stream blocking the camera
I have glasses and sometimes wear a facemask, and my driver awareness system does NOT like it at all. You can cancel the alert/notification, but for safety reasons, the car will not operate in hands-free mode unless it can clearly identify that there is a driver in the car watching the road.
I’d never buy a car without first having a test drive.