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This is quite interesting and more specific than I’ve read before.
And fundamentally disturbing. I guess we know why the new 2026 Defenders have that little camera on top of the steering column.
I turn off every nanny stuff that can be turned off. What happened to good old fashion driving?! I wonder if this camera can be switched off in the 2026 models.
Very true - I see it every day walking my dog in our small town/village. People blowing through stop signs because they are texting, people driving with their knees with a phone in one hand and cup in the other. People missing green lights or clear intersections because they are absorbed in their phones, etc etc etc. And these are upper middle class people in their 30s 40s and 50s, not kids. Unfortunately, the average person's inability to actually focus on driving is what has led to these nanny state requirements.
Related to that, I have noticed that people are very careless around me when driving the Defender. Walking behind the car as I am backing out of a space at the grocery store, pulling out in front of me from side streets, etc. A friend who drives an Escalade and is in touch with some of the shadier sides of the internet tells me there's an explosion in YouTube and TikTok accounts instructing people on how to get insurance settlements. They choose cars that appear new and expensive and where drivers would be expected to have good insurance coverage, and she tells me Land Rover, Lexus, and Cadillac are top of the lists of targets for such opportunists.
Very true - I see it every day walking my dog in our small town/village. People blowing through stop signs because they are texting, people driving with their knees with a phone in one hand and cup in the other. People missing green lights or clear intersections because they are absorbed in their phones, etc etc etc. And these are upper middle class people in their 30s 40s and 50s, not kids. Unfortunately, the average person's inability to actually focus on driving is what has led to these nanny state requirements.
These cell phones are a blessing and a curse. It can be looked at as a fantastic device, allowing one to conduct business remotely, stay in touch when away from home, research anything, check your portfolio, etc. Albeit, these functions should not be done while attempting to drive. Another opinion is that they are the worst invention of all time. Melting young minds, becoming total distractions from life around you, disconnecting people from the reality and world passing them by. I look around when in a restaurant and see a lack of real conversation because everyone at the table has their face glued to a phone. And for the life of me I cannot understand why, when nearly every car on the road, unless it is near vintage, has hands free capability, and even if not every device can be set in the console and operated with your voice. There is literally no need to take your eyes off the road or hands off the wheel. When I see someone driving a 50, 80, $100k vehicle with a phone pressed to their face, I want to inform them that if they are incapable of pairing their phone to their vehicle, they can ask any 3rd grader on their block to do it for them. And that doesn’t even account for the mental midgets driving recklessly while filming themselves for ‘content’ for their goofy Tik-Tok followers.
Yup! I'm hyper aware of those idiots. The great thing about having clearsight rear view mirror I can see them looking down at their cell phone, putting make-up, etc and I immediately change lanes and let them pass me. Not to mention the city where I live is like Mad Max Thunderdome with cars having no license plates, smashed to hell cars darting through traffic. My girlfriend hates it when we go the grocery store because I park the farthest away from the loony fest.
Life was so much simpler and less stressful before cell phones. I travelled the whole world in the 70's, 80's and early nineties without a cell phone and did just fine. But they sure are convenient and helpful in lots of ways.
Driver Monitoring Systems in 2026 LR
