A bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress that would allow domestic violence survivors to request stoppage of connected-vehicle service as a protection from abusers.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and co-sponsored by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, along with others of Dingell’s party, was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last week. 

If it becomes law, it would establish a process for vehicle survivors to ask that connected-vehicle service be either ended or disabled so that their abusers couldn’t “misuse” them.

Last fall, the automaker trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation called on Congress to take action on the issue of connected-vehicle services being used for harassment. The effort followed reports of abusers using the technology to torment survivors.

The group asked Congress during the October observance of National Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month to take action to prevent the technology’s use for harassment or stalking by adding “vehicle-specific” protections not included in a 2022 law regulating cellphone service.

Speaking for the alliance in a press release, its senior vice president of policy, Hillary Cain, called the Safe Vehicle Access for Survivors Act introduced last week “a commonsense plan to give domestic violence survivors the ability to terminate or disable their abuser’s access to shared connected vehicle services.”

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