Russia Wants a Remote 'Kill Switch' to Block Tired Taxi Drivers by 2029
Because nothing says high-tech innovation like building a digital whip for overworked drivers. Russia's latest grand plan involves remotely kicking cabbies off their apps, proving once again that their tech sector's priority is surveillance, not solutions.
The Russian government has officially tasked the Ministry of Transport, the MVD, and regional authorities to collaborate with local taxi aggregators. They have given themselves an ambitious, lightspeed deadline of 2029 to figure out how to remotely block taxi drivers who refuse to sleep.
Under the current regulations, these drivers are supposed to log no more than 40 hours a week, with daily shifts capped at eight hours. They are also legally required to take a 45-minute break every four and a half hours, a concept that apparently requires a multi-agency task force and a five-year development cycle to enforce digitally.
The proposed system will not just monitor sleep, but also instantly ban drivers from all digital platforms for safety violations or general non-compliance with local laws. This means a single algorithm will decide if a driver gets to earn a living that day, adding a lovely layer of dystopian anxiety to an already stressful gig.
Developing a basic digital timer and a block button over a span of five years perfectly summarizes the state of technological progress in a country cut off from global tech. It seems the dream of autonomous driving has been replaced by the reality of an automated pink slip.
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