A viral video showing an Asian driver being wrongly flagged as drowsy by a Lexus safety camera has fuelled accusations that in-car driver-monitoring systems discriminate against Asian drivers, even as US regulators push to make such technology mandatory. The footage showed a man driving safely at 63mph who received an alert claiming his eyes were closed, despite being visibly wide awake, and similar complaints have surfaced on Lexus owner forums and with other manufacturers, notably China's XPeng.

The systems use infrared cameras to monitor eye openness and facial position to detect drowsy or impaired driving, and are being rolled out partly because of the 2021 HALT Drunk Driving Act, which requires new US vehicles to include passive impairment-detection technology, though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has yet to finalise a technical standard or rollout deadline. Beyond the false alerts, campaigners are also concerned about privacy, as manufacturers such as Lexus collect driving, vehicle-health and voice data that can be shared with insurers to justify higher premiums, with opting out reportedly limiting access to other connected car features.