Anyone who buys a vehicle after July 7 in Europe will have an excess of safety features to contend with, including a camera focused on their faces, tracking their eye movements. Experts praise the technology, claiming it will help save lives, but critics warn that this is another invasion of privacy, and the information could be sold to third parties.

Europe Tracking Drivers
Remember the good ‘ole days when driving a car was simple? You had gas and brake pedals, perhaps a clutch, turn signals, and a steering wheel. A stereo kept you entertained and awake while you drove. Today, new cars are equipped with so many gadgets that you almost need to be an air traffic controller just to drive down the street to the local grocery store.

Now, though, Europeans have even more distractions – things that are supposed to make driving safer and easier are disruptions. As Tech Radar explained, “I’ve lost count of how many times a system has warned me to pay attention when all I’m doing is trying to find a simple function in a baffling series of touchscreen menus.”

The European Commission’s latest regulations require all new vehicles to be fitted with Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) systems. These include several features, but the primary one is a camera that “monitors the driver’s eyes and facial expressions, intervening if it detects that the driver is looking away from the road too long,” Tech Radar reported.

Apparently, different focus points can be looked at for varying amounts of time, as well. Whatever the system allowances are, though, when a driver keeps their eyes on something longer than the AI deems safe, they get a warning. If the offense becomes too serious, there’s a kill switch that can shut off the vehicle’s engine. Other safety features include a way to monitor the driver’s lack of attention or drowsiness, a black box that records behaviors such as speed and the use of seatbelts, as well as an automatic emergency braking system.

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