Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

jstsch

The regulations are great, in theory. In practice, I've noticed that implementation of the technologies are lacking. So on paper, lane keeping will keep you on the road when distracted. In practice, it does not. You'll be beeped at a million times, though.

ryandrake

So, 1. yet another beep/boop in the car contributing to alert-fatigue, and 2. another stream of data inevitably sent off-device and monetized in god knows what ways by god knows which third party "partners".

nickslaughter02

The EU is quickly becoming the surveillance capital of the world.

A_D_E_P_T

All new cars. At this point I don't know if I'd buy anything made after 2008. Whenever I rent a new car around here (in the EU) I find them very annoying. The worst is the cruise control that tries to stick to the speed limit -- but its sensors don't always read the signs very well, so you'll often slow to 50 km/h (about 30 mph) for no reason. Then there's the incessant beeping at you, "lane assist" that you can't turn off (looking at you, Volkswagen,) and many more small annoyances. A camera pointed at your face just adds insult to injury.

Bender

Gadget Idea: Small display with a lens that can be mounted over the camera that hooks into the material around it, plays an AI generated video of $RANDOM_CELEBRITY singing karaoke off-key and driving very carefully. I am unsure what would be the most annoying song for the remote viewers to listen to when off-key.

SoftTalker

Black vinyl tape over the camera?

awakeasleep

Ford has had that since Blue Cruise 2.0, or thereabouts. It really shocked me how often it catches my attention being diverted. Things like talking to my passengers, adjusting the climate controls, or eating- I'm not even talking about 'advanced distractions' like my phone. It also seemed really accurate. I never remember it beeping at me when I was actually paying attention. It's totally plausible to me that this kind of nudge will save a lot of lives.

xvxvx

I was recently in the Uk and one of the cars I was in would alert the driver if he was over the speed limit. Fair enough. But the alert itself is distracting. Are we to review every single alert from these cameras? Is that not just another distraction?

dmitrygr

This sort of nonsense is well studied in aeronautical world, and will lead to too many alerts, which, in turn, lead to predictable outcomes: https://flightsafety.org/asw-article/normalization-of-devian...

janpmz

I wonder if they also have a seeker pointed at my face then, because I don't want that shining into my eyes.

frollogaston

Does it at least have more cupholders for your verification cans?

mr_toad

To start your car please look into camera and repeat: "Doritos™ Dew™ it right!"

drdebug

Any one knows what happens when duck tape is being used to cover the camera?

55873445216111

"self-driving safeguards fooled by $30 doll heads" https://electrek.co/2026/06/15/chinese-drivers-plastic-heads...

drnick1

1) Unplug the cellular modem. 2) Unplug the camera or put a piece of blackout tape over the lens. 3) Enjoy!

wnevets

Good thing we have those cookie banners warning us about websites tracking us.

m1coti

proud to drive 2002 volkswagen golf in these creepy times

greatgib

Maybe would be the good time to create a company to sell webcam covers for cars...

lifestyleguru

Ok I'm a citizen of EU country. I don't consent, I don't agree. I want a car without inside cameras, without systems beeping, blinking, nor vibrating at me. Don't you ever move the steering wheel under my hands. Why I'm screaming into the void?

throw0101d

I have a manual 2003 Golf TDI (purchased in 2003; has a tape deck!) that's slowly rusting, and I'm not looking forward to when I have to replace it. I don't have a garage/drive way, and so have to park on the street, which makes me leans towards another short [1] vehicle: currently thinking about VW Golf, Mazda 3, Mazda CX-30, Kia Niro. From what I've seen from almost all cars, lots more screens and lots fewer buttons. [1] https://www.carsized.com/en/