EU makes infrared cameras mandatory for drivers

New regulations in the European Union will require all newly sold cars and vans to be equipped with infrared cameras that monitor the driver.

The requirement affects tens of millions of vehicles annually and is framed in terms of safety. Known as Advanced Driver Distraction Warning or ADDW, the regulation [1] is part of the European Union's General Safety Regulation, officially designated as 2019/2144. Automakers have been obligated to install this feature in new vehicle models since July 2024. This new policy started in July 7 and is now mandatory for all new cars and vans launched in the market. The camera monitors the direction of a driver's gaze and head position, assessing whether the driver has diverted their attention from the road for an excessive duration.

If a driver looks away for more than 6 seconds at speeds ranging from 20 to 50 km/h, the system is programmed to provide a warning. At speeds exceeding 50 km/h, this attention threshold is reduced to three and a half seconds. Each alert is designed to be noticeable and is accompanied by an auditory signal or a tactile vibration, which intensifies the longer the system detects that the driver's focus has shifted.

The European Commission [2] promotes this initiative as a means of saving lives, anticipating that the broader safety measures will prevent over 25,000 fatalities and 140,000 serious injuries by the year 2038. This effort is part of a longstanding initiative known as Vision Zero, which seeks to eliminate road fatalities by 2050. “European roads are among the safest in the world, but the number of deaths and injuries from road accidents is still too high. Thanks to the EU’s General Safety Regulation, many safety systems have already been mandatory for all newly registered cars and vans since 2024,” said the European Commission.

Tamás Orbán, who [3] is a political journalist for the European Conservative believes the ongoing monitoring of a vehicle's interior [4] presents significant opportunities for automotive companies, as the extensive data collected could prove to be extremely valuable. “Put simply, driver behaviour can be turned into precious consumer data to be used internally or sold to the highest bidder,” said Orbán. “Now imagine what could go wrong when suddenly millions of European cars all have cameras facing inside. Even if GDPR should protect consumers on paper, it’s only a matter of time until someone gains access to all the sensitive data and footage these cameras capture along the way.”

Leon Poultney, [5] a writer for Tech Radar believes the new policy from the European Commission [6] is the latest privacy nightmare. “Among the new requirements are advanced emergency braking systems that detect pedestrians and cyclists, as well as ‘better forward vision’ and camera-based driver distraction technology that audibly warns drivers to pay attention to the road. Many new cars already feature this technology, which uses a small camera mounted behind the steering wheel or somewhere above the infotainment system in the centre of the dashboard. Constantly active, the system monitors the driver's eyes and facial expressions, intervening if it detects that the driver is looking away from the road for too long,” said Poultney.

The mandated cameras are designed to refrain from storing or sharing information regarding interactions. However, public sentiment is largely characterized by distrust following years of increasing surveillance. Michael Harley, [7] an automotive journalist warns in [8] an article for Forbes, “If all new automobiles are equipped with the physical hardware to monitor drivers via IR cameras, it’s only a matter of changing some software and adding a storage device to record driver behaviour.” Data can potentially be stored on the servers of car manufacturers or government agencies, as [9] many contemporary vehicles function as tracking devices.

In 2024, Kashmir Hill reported for The New York Times [10] on the unexpected rise in insurance premiums for drivers, attributed to data transmitted from their vehicles regarding driving habits. The report indicated that car manufacturers are gathering information from internet-connected vehicles for the insurance industry. "Car companies are collecting information directly from internet-connected vehicles for use by the insurance industry," said Hill. In 2021, the US Congress enacted legislation mandating [11] the installation of technology including in-car cameras in new vehicles, this legislation is called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. After an extension, this technology is now required to be integrated into cars.

The issue with the ultimatum is that the technology required to passively detect signs of intoxication is not sufficiently developed at this time. In April, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that [12] none of the existing technologies are close to being ready for commercialisation. As a result, Americans are currently not facing mandated cabin surveillance; however, given the current trends, it may only be a matter of time before this situation changes and aligns with developments seen in other regions.

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