Ford is working on in-car cameras that would judge whether a driver is impaired and alert police, a move that is bad news for truck owners who want to stay in charge of their own vehicle.

• Ford's CEO has floated cameras that watch the driver and contact authorities on their own.
• Newer trucks already override the driver: a dirty sensor stopped a Ford Raptor dead in the road while backing out of a driveway, with traffic coming.
• The same complaint hits GM — a 2023 Silverado was sold within a month over automatic controls taking decisions away from the driver.
• Used trucks from before this tech went in, roughly 2018 and earlier, are becoming the way to avoid it.

Outlook: Expect more pushback from buyers as carmakers add driver-monitoring systems, and more demand for older trucks that still let the person behind the wheel decide.