From today, every new car in Europe watches you: the anti-distraction camera becomes mandatory

Since 7 July 2026, every newly type-approved car and van sold in the European Union must fit an Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) system. In practice: a small camera, often infrared, points at the driver's face and tracks their gaze and head position. If attention drifts away from the road for too long, the system alerts with visual, audible or haptic signals. The measure is part of the General Safety Regulation, the EU's vehicle-safety package, and the Commission frames it within the "Vision Zero" goal: eliminating road deaths by 2050.

The novelty isn't the camera itself, but the fact that the electronic eye is now inside the cabin, turned toward us. Until yesterday, driver-assistance systems looked outward — the lane, pedestrians, the gap to the car ahead. Now computer-vision software judges in real time whether we're glancing at a smartphone or simply distracted. It's artificial intelligence applied to the driver's own body, made mandatory by law across one of the world's largest car markets.

On privacy, carmakers and technical sources insist these systems "work in the moment" and neither record nor transmit the images: processing happens on board, the video never leaves the car. It's the same logic as much "on-device" AI. Yet a question of principle remains: normalizing a camera aimed at the driver opens the door to future uses — from insurers rewarding attentiveness to rental firms checking a driver's state. Today's rule concerns only the warning; what the ecosystem may do with it tomorrow is another chapter.

I find it telling that the first AI truly mandatory for millions of Europeans isn't a chatbot or a billion-parameter model, but a discreet eye on the dashboard reminding us to watch the road. It saves lives, almost certainly. And at the same time it accustoms us, one trip at a time, to the idea of a machine observing us for our own good.

— Olya