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.
Once again: I’m just going to have to take extremely good care of my 2006 clunker.
Seriously, the way things are going I’d be happy pouring more cash into a bucket of bolts than it’s worth just to keep it running. Mine is only a 2015 but I’m gonna keep up the maintenance because it was one of the last model years not to have an upgraded radio with the newer round of anti-features and spyware. I drive all of 20-40 miles a week. Not really worth buying a $50k car, is it?
Some states are trying to ban older cars right now. I know it is all over, but this is one place Blue states are torquing me off, because they seem to be the ones pushing some of this crap.
My clunkers blue book value is $2,500. I just put $3,000 into it last month to keep it going.
I am in the privileged position of being able to afford the financial costs of a new car, but I can’t abide the privacy costs.
I have an almost dead 02 corolla in my driveway that needs a ton of work. But, I will learn just for this reason.
IMHO it’s enough to buy a used car, have some rudimentary knowledge of maintenance, and find a good traditional mechanic that doesn’t cost too much.
The mechanics where I live are horribly expensive. Buying something else might be the right way to go, but, I’m also hoping to use it as a teaching tool. Maybe I can learn something without risking by daily driver which is about 10 years newer. Also corolla parts are cheap.
Mechanics are expensive, but buying enough equipment to do any kind of major job is even moreso. Not to mention the cost of trying to do complicated jobs without technical expertise, which could cost you a lot if you make a mistake.
Im all for doing work myself when its within reason and doesnt require much in the way of specialized tools. But theres more than a few reasons that mechanics cost a lot of money. Expertise is expensive, labor is expensive, equipment is expensive, etc. Some things are best left to professionals. Unfortunately we are long past the time of cars that are truly simple for the average person to maintain or learn to do work on
Yeah this. I’m able to localise & usually also identify problems, then I make an informed assessment whether I can do it myself or not.
Sometimes a special tool is required that would be just as expensive as letting my mechanic do it.