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The Painter’s Tape Solution

By
eric
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You have probably heard about the creepy “drowsy/distracted driver” detection systems that will be a required standard feature in new vehicles beginning with the 2027 models, which will be appearing very soon. Many current and recent-year models already have this “technology” – in the form of eye-movement monitors you can’t see but which see you.

The 2026 Subaru Outback, for instance.

It is “all new” – and one of the new things about it is mounted atop the big LCD touchscreen. It doesn’t look like much because you can’t see much – with your eyes. But there are infrared eyes built into there that are looking at you, constantly. If these cameras see you’re not looking straight ahead like a blinkered Clydesdale – this is apparently the definition of undistracted driving, never mind not seeing what’s around you rather than just straight ahead – or it appears to the cameras you are “drowsy” then cue the annoying, mother-in-law prompts via dings and chimes and pestering displays in the main gauge cluster.

These are not considered distracting, for some reason.

The good news is you can make it so the electronic eyes can’t see you – and this prevents the “technology” from pestering you with mother-in-law-like injunctions to keep your eyes on the road and sit up straight (yes, really; the cameras need to be able to see you from a certain angle and if they can’t, you get pestered to sit up straight). It is deeply satisfying to thwart this “technology – not just because it is annoying but because it is being pushed on us with a subtle relentlessness.

There are certainly people who can benefit from “assistance.” Some people aren’t especially good drivers. It is the presumption – putatively – that every driver needs “assistance” that grates because it is insulting. It is something like being pestered to buy a cane when you buy a pair of sneakers on the assumption that you need assistance walking. Why not make this “assistance” tech available – optionally – so that those who do need it can buy it, just the same as hand controls and wheelchair lifts are available for handicapped people who need those things? 

Well, because it is not really about “assistance” – though that this is the gaslighting etymology used to shut up those who want to know why everyone must be treated as presumptively in need of assistance (of a piece with the way “health” was used to shut up people who questioned why everyone was being pushed to “mask up” and then to get shot-up). This – like that – is all about control. It is always about control.

The way they’ll control us is by assisting us.

If you have any questions about this, you might be interested to know about another “technology” that comes along for the ride in the new Outback. It is styled Emergency Stop Assist. It “safely” stops the Outback (and other Subarus so equipped) if the system concludes the driver is “unresponsive.” Now, how would that be determined, exactly? Well, the eyes are on you! If the system thinks you’re falling asleep-at-the-wheel, the car will come to a stop – which it can do because the car controls the throttle and the brakes and the steering. Not just Subaru’s cars, either.

This is a system that has been leeching into all new cars for several years now, well in anticipation of the 2027 mandate. In anticipation of something else. A Brave New World of sorts in which the car controls you.

Consider: If the “technology” can stop the car when it thinks you’re “unresponsive,” it can bring the car to a stop anytime the car – and those who control it – wish to. When you’re not sitting up straight, say. Or you don’t sit there like a blinkered Clydesdale staring straight ahead; if you have the temerity to pay attention to what’s going on around you – which when you think about it is a working definition of alertness as opposed to passivity.

The latter is what people are being trained up to be – via all of this “assistance” stuff.

For now, the painter’s tape works like putting tape over the yapping mouth of an annoying mother-in-law. But what’s next? What happens when this “tech” isn’t just something pushed on us by the vehicle manufacturers but required by the federal government? It is illegal to remove or defeat an air bag (even if the thing is admitted to be dangerously defective by the government).

Something tell me it’ll be more than just annoying mother-in-law pestering – and that painter’s tape will become an actionable offense. One that may trigger Emergency Stop Assistance.

. . .

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Related posts:
  1. A Piece of Tape Works . . . For Now
  2. A Solution for a Created Problem
  3. Most Annoying New Car Feature?
  4. Sit Up Straight!
  5. The Eyes Are on You

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42 COMMENTS

  1. When the laws become evil, it is our right and even duty to disobey them.

    Remember 2020 and the muzzling mandates, the stay at home orders, the distancing BS, etc…

    Either you became a zombie, an automaton, cattle or kept being Homo Sapiens, therefore you had to disobey.

    It will be the same for all the totalitarian abuses that are coming.

    Better to die free on his feet than live on its knees like a slave.

    • Our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson, had a wise saying in his day that definitely applies to what we’ve been living under for the past several years: “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.”

  2. “BMW Driver Attention Camera may not be fully functional when:
    Driver is wearing infrared impermeable sunglasses
    Camera is covered by steering wheel rim

    Oh no! And I just realized my new sunglasses are infrared impermeable. Darno!

  3. The worst person I know
    (Mother in law, mother in law)
    (Mother in law, mother in law)

    A she worries me, so
    If she’d leave us alone
    A we would have a happy home
    Sent from down below

    Mother in law, mother in law

    Satan should be her name
    To me they’re bout the same
    Every time I open my mouth
    She steps in, tries to put me out
    How could she stoop so low

    I come home with my pay
    She asks me what I made
    She thinks her advice is the constitution
    But if she would leave that would be the solution
    And don’t come back no more

    Mother in law
    My mother in law, ah
    Oh, yeah

    Ernie K-Doe, 1961

  4. We need “emergency stop assistance” installed on all the dictators that don’t let we people vote on any of this ridiculous dangerous stupid stuff.

  5. So, just looked up “can infrared light harm vision?” It says generally no.
    Except when looking directly at it. Kind of like if you drive for a long time staring at the unseen light.
    So can you imagine the problems that develop after years of driving?
    Hard pass. Surely the government wouldn’t require anything that harms us. /sarcasm

    • I believe these systems use near IR in the wavelength of 850 nm to 940 nm. Whether this is damaging is a matter of debate, although the intensity would be critical, just like visible light). I don’t know much about use in automobiles but the basic technology is being adopted in a few places. The one I work is remote sensing in geology, where I help build sensors using ToF-SIMS (Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy) for imaging. It’s a fancy way of saying we’re using these new techniques to characterize rock layers and identify minerals, such as hydrocarbon-bearing shale. It’s not all bad.

    • Hi Jay,

      Thanks for bringing this up – about the potential danger of the infra-red light. Once again, we’re the guinea pigs for this crap. I’d never buy a car so equipped, but my job puts me behind the wheel of these things. Luckily, there is painter’s tape!

  6. Since the time Al Gore invented the internet and laptops, every machine I have owned got the black electrical tape solution on the spy camera on top of the screen. I knew that little pervert Bill Gates built a backdoor to that camera so he could peer into your private domain.

    Did you know “Gates of Hell” was also best buds with Jeffrey Epstein and a fellow little girl (maybe boy too) rapist?

    Bill Gates Linked to Epstein Files: 2,638 Mentions | TikTok
    https://www.tiktok.com/@thetimes/video/7605259303397756182

    (note – Melinda Gates is a male)

    It’s not like they haven’t been spying on us all along, now it’s hitting the car models like Tesla. They want to know everything about you – they are obsessed with control – they are not like us, they are not even the same specie IMO.

  7. Eric: “The Painter’s Tape Solution”

    I prefer using mat black electrical tape as it matches well with the low gloss plastic dashes and it peels off years later with hardly any residue. 🙂

    Of course that we are having this discussion shows how far we’ve fallen.

  8. Could this just be a ploy to sell off all the 2024-26 model cars sitting unwanted in dealerships across the country?

  9. Extraterritorial application of US law reaches the apotheosis of absurdity:

    ‘The United States plans to indict Cuba’s Raul Castro, a U.S. Department of Justice official said late on Thursday.

    ‘The potential indictment of the 94-year-old former ​president of Cuba and brother of Fidel is expected to focus on the downing of aircraft, the official said on condition of anonymity. CBS previously reported that the case relates to Cuba’s deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.’

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-plans-indict-cubas-raul-005107018.html

    Even a captive grand jury of clueless Americlowns might balk at indicting a 94-year-old man for an incident that happened thirty freaking years ago in a foreign country, where the witnesses can’t be summoned to a US court.

    In the larger picture, this is the desperate and feckless action of a dying US empire, futilely lashing out at a communist bogeyman from a country that’s currently prostrate. Since ‘we’ can’t beat Iran, maybe we’ll steal Cuba’s lunch money instead. USA strong! /sarc

  10. Hi Eric,
    I would think the software will be set up so that if you cover up the eyes of Sauron the car will just refuse to move, and probably rat you out to the Hive. Can’t wait to see what happens when the car decides to stop in the middle of the road and you get rear-ended by a semi. Bring on the class-action lawsuit.

    • Same here, Mike!

      I’ll know soon enough as we’re getting close to the 2027 model year introductions. I won’t abide this “technology” anymore than I abided “mask” mandates. If that means I can’t review new cars anymore, so be it.

      • Wellllll, you can review new vehicles and still not purchase them. Who said anything about your buying one? Unless those handing vehicles over for review to you demand that you buy/agree/ think it is great to have such “safety technology”. In which case, yes, better to go bag groceries somewhere, and still have a vehicle that is actually yours.

  11. “These are not considered distracting, for some reason”

    You dont understand the Subaru driver. You dont want to. Trust me.

  12. Legislate a safe world for all!

    Well, it’s having the opposite intended effect on me. Any time I hear the word “safety” I fume. A progressively more pussified world is what these cretins are creating.

    Listen… severe punishment for those who harm others with their bad driving eliminates all of this legislated safety and nannyism.

    The other day I saw a couple of elderly women comparing new tats.

    Grandmas with tats.

    I was born in the wrong time….

    • At least the tats are new. Could you imagine how much more hideous they would be with 50 years worth of saggy skin?

        • Hi Philo,

          I just don’t get (and never will get) the appeal of tats. I knew no one who had one when I was a high school and college kid. You saw tats on sailors, bikers and criminals. Then – sometime in the ’90s – all of a sudden women began to get “tramp stamps” just above their ass cracks. It’s a big turn-off for me. Now you see women with tats up and down their legs and arms as well as their necks. I wish I didn’t have to see it. And then there are the guys with their barbed wire tats. Oy Vey. It’s a fad that can’t die soon enough, except it’s permanent.

          • It is all about attention seeking…look at me. The face ones are my favorite, job stoppers is what I think they are called. Please wear a face diaper and do us all favor.

          • Goodness gracious. If you want to be nauseous, visit Spain. The young females start with their tats at about 13 years of age. Visit the Canary Islands, males, females, children with 65% of their visible bodies tattooed. abhorrent.

          • Hey hey ! That so called tramp stamp on the base of the back, is actually an intellectual curiosity! Why, I’ve discovered those are ancient Polynesian symbols & the modern translation: “WELCOME ABOARD”

            That script on the back of the neck?
            “Don’t pull my hair I know what I’m doing!”

  13. I wouldn’t support this, but if they really wanted good drivers only, they would mandate manual transmissions. Automatics keep all the bad drivers on the road.

    • I agree, Anchar –

      I loathe any licensing requirements in principle, but If such a thing has to be, then how about a requirement that the applicant successfully pass a driving test (a real one, involving curbside parking, driving in traffic and – the big one – starting from a dead stop on an incline) in a car with a manual transmission. This would eliminate most of the people who probably ought not to be driving.

      • >a real one, involving curbside parking, driving in traffic and – the big one – starting from a dead stop on an incline) in a car with a manual transmission.

        When I got my driving license (New Mexico, 1966) those were the requirements.
        Replace “curbside” with parallel park.

        • Here, you need to parallel park to get your license.

          My daughters got to parallel park my 98 Ranger. Easiest vehicle ever. I had to parallel park a 74 Ford LTD.

      • I remember the “come to a complete stop at the top of a steep hill” exercise with the manual trans vehicle I had. It was scary as hell, but learned quick. And on a rear-wheel drive vehicle, which was always fun once Winter (and snow/icy roads) appeared. Up here, I would also mandate one know how to drive on snowy, icy roads before obtaining a license. I swear people have the memory of a gold fish. How one can forget how to drive on snowy roads in a span of three months is astonishing. If they ever knew before. Cannot navigate such road conditions? Sorry about that but you can only drive during the Summer. And hey, now that we have all this safety crap, their vehicle can brick itself when you try to drive in the Winter when you are not supposed to. As for the painters tape, I can see where it will work for a time. Until the vehicle bricks itself simply because you DID tape over the sensor.

    • I would support this.
      If they really wanted good drivers only, they would require you pass the motorcycle tests before allowing you to touch anything bigger.

      Talk about having safer friendlier roads. 🙂

      • Graduated licensing makes sense. You get a basic license for up to 25HP, say like a 400 bike, first and work your way up the chain. Once you show proficiency that you can handle a bike you can try endorsements for a liter bike or a small car, large vehicle, high HP, commercial and on up as you improve.

        • Morning, Mick!

          As a purely practical matter, proficiency on a motorcycle almost automatically create a skill set that results in a more capable driver. Same as regards proficiency with a manual transmission. Automatics are greatly responsible for dumbing down the competence level of the typical “driver.” My view is that if a person cannot drive a stickshift car, then they probably ought to not to be driving at all.

          • I did not realize how lazy a way to drive it was until I bought my newer car a few years ago. Every last vehicle I have owned has-ironically enough-has had a standard transmission. One does not have to think about anything with a manual: Just shift into “Drive” and off you go! Still, I prefer a manual for the Winter, as I think I have far more control over the vehicle, with slowing down on icy roads and such. Old habits die hard: I still fish for the clutch pedal once in a while. And let’s face it, some cars are just more fun to drive with a standard. Those paddle flappers behind the wheel? It just does not cut it….

        • Mick, The dilemma of graduating licensing is you’re asking the (((government))) to evaluate and approve your capabilities. Old timers i knew didnt even have Licenses way back then, the entire creation and growth of DMC/DOT/MOT is another (((government))) interference with our lives. Japan and Other countries already use this atrocious and controlling system, such as England and most of Europe. Dont feed the (((beast))), That is absolutely the wrong answer. Instead, let the Market provide the solution…can you afford whatever you want? Do you have a license? Congratulations Good, go buy and use it as you see fit. The problem is (((government))) requirements, not the market demands.

  14. I can see why the feds want these systems. I can also see why the insurance mafia wants these systems. I can also see why people who might benefit from these systems would be extremely hesitant to buy them of the own accord. Dunning-Kruger effect says that people who aren’t skilled at a task are unable to determine their ability to correctly perform the task, so they naturally rate their ability much higher than it truly is.

    That’s fine, as long as someone, anyone who might actually be an expert sits them down and has a frank discussion. Like a driving instructor. Or the salesman. Or a parent (or adult child). But no one wants to be the bad guy telling people they can’t drive -and that’s often a very subjective evaluation too. So people turn to government and government turns to technology, because it gets them off the hook and makes someone else the heavy. “It’s not my fault, the warning was generated by the algorithm.”

    The US is in a strange position in that there aren’t any good alternatives to automobile travel. It’s possible to take a bus to the airport and taxis in the city, but only if you’re going to a place large enough to warrant that infrastructure. Otherwise you’re gonna need a car. So that means letting a percentage of bad drivers though, pushing the average down. Because otherwise able humans with 95 IQs won’t be able get to work as productive taxpayers if they don’t drive there.

  15. If I were an automotive writer, I would reach out to these folks with a very pointed inquiry about what is driving this obnoxious technology that their customers didn’t ask for — and seek their response to the ‘painter’s tape solution’ … or my more drastic and final ‘sledgehammer solution’:

    AI Overview

    For Subaru of America press inquiries, reach out directly to the corporate communications team Subaru U.S. Media Contacts or visit the Subaru U.S. Media Center for official news releases and media resources.

    Specific media contacts based on your area of interest include:

    Dominick Infante (Director, Corporate Communications): (856) 488-8615, [email protected]

    Diane Anton (Manager, Corporate Communications): (856) 488-5093, [email protected]

    Aaron Cole (Manager, Product Communications): (856) 488-3697, [email protected]

    James Tate (Motorsports Marketing Manager): (856) 488-8622, [email protected]

    Adam Leiter (Corporate Communications Specialist): (856) 488-8668, [email protected]

    Miranda Jimenez (Product Communications Specialist): (856) 438-2820, [email protected]

    (Note: The above contact information is intended solely for verified members of the media.)

    CONFRONT — CONFRONT — CONFRONT

    p.s. I don’t need no stinkin’ verification.

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