11,904 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes in 2024, per Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The federal mandate meant to cut that number has no compliant hardware to enforce it. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn., now wants to repeal the mandate before a rule even takes effect.
The bill and its backing
The No Kill Switches In Cars Act, two paragraphs long, would strike a provision in former President Joe Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requiring all new vehicles to include technology that "monitors a driver's performance to identify driver impairment" and can "prevent or limit vehicle operation" if the system determines the driver may be intoxicated. Perry introduced the bill with 14 co-sponsors; 21 additional lawmakers have since joined, bringing the total to 35.
Perry's core argument is Fourth Amendment: monitoring a driver without a warrant and restricting vehicle operation based on that data amounts to unlawful search and seizure. He also raised cost. Every mandated safety system adds to the purchase price and eliminates consumer choice, he said. Perry noted he does not drink, making the compliance cost a pure externality from his perspective.
The technology gap NHTSA cannot close
NHTSA missed its 2024 deadline to codify the mandate into vehicle manufacturing regulations. The agency's own 2024 report to Congress explains why: most technologies reviewed were in early research stages or were not designed for in-vehicle use. The report's conclusion is unambiguous. "Currently, detection technology around the legal limit continues to have an error rate that would be unacceptably high," it stated. No commercially available technology exists that detects driver alcohol impairment accurately and passively. NHTSA confirmed to Fox News Digital it is still evaluating public comments on its research.
MADD's counter
Mothers Against Drunk Driving rejects Perry's framing entirely. The organization stated it does not support government surveillance, remote vehicle control, GPS tracking, or the collection of personal driving data. Its position: the law directs NHTSA to develop a standard through a transparent rulemaking with public input, rigorous testing, and privacy safeguards. MADD projects the fully implemented law would save more than 10,000 lives per year. The group warned that delays built on what it called inaccurate descriptions of the law's requirements only extend the toll drunk driving takes on families.
The 2024 death count, 11,904, is the figure both sides are fighting over.