Californians Could Soon Get Warned Every Time They Speed

It’s now up to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to decide whether to sign a new bill that would require automakers to install a “passive intelligent speed assistance system” into all new vehicles sold in the state starting no later than 2030. Lawmakers sent the governor the measure as part of a crackdown on speeding – which is reportedly involved in a third of the state’s fatal crashes. The measure mandates the use of a warning device but some safety advocates want to go further, installing speed limiters.

More than 44,000 Americans died in highway crashes last year, according to federal data, and “Speeding accounts for nearly one-third of all fatalities on our roads,” according to Ann Carlson, the former acting director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Yet, if anything, state and federal records indicate what some safety advocates call the “epidemic” of speeding only accelerated since COVID struck. That’s leading to calls for a crackdown that would include not only tighter enforcement of speed limits but the use of new technology designed to encourage motorists to slow down.

That’s the goal of a  new measure passed by California state lawmakers. Senate Bill 961 calls for automakers to install a “passive intelligent speed assistance system” in all new vehicles. And if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the measure into law – as he’s expected to this month – it would go into effect no later than 2030.

What is a passive intelligent speed assistance system?

Some California lawmakers supported the idea of requiring technology that would physically limit how fast a motorist could drive.

In the end, they agreed to a more limited approach that would require passive technology. In other words, it will trigger yet another warning, similar to the chimes that are triggered whenever a motorist starts a vehicle without having buckled up.

The system would rely on the same GPS and forward-facing cameras many vehicles already come equipped with. Some already are being used to read traffic signs and flash alerts when vehicles exceed the speed limit. The new measure would require the use of that technology in all new vehicles. If a motorist were to exceed the speed limit by at least 10 mph it would trigger “a brief, one-time” visual alert on the instrument panel, along with an audio beep.

The measure will exempt some vehicles, including those used by police, EMS and fire departments.

Why bother?

There has been an “alarming surge in road deaths,” California state Sen. Scott Wiener, the sponsor of SB 961, said earlier this year, adding that “an urgent response” is needed.

While safety experts have long targeted drunk and drugged driving, as well as distracted driving, they’re putting increasing emphasis on speeding – which is believed to be a factor in at least a third of all U.S. highway fatalities, according to NHTSA.

“There is no reason for anyone to be going over 100 miles per hour on a public road,” Wiener added, noting that, in 2020 alone, the California Highway Patrol issued more than 3,000 tickets to motorists caught driving over 100 mph. That was several times more than pre-COVID. And motorists have barely slowed down since then.

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Applying the brakes

Originally, Wiener and allies had called for more aggressive measures. He wanted automakers to install technology that would have prevented vehicles from exceeding 100 mph. To get some sort of measure passed, however, lawmakers settled on the passive approach included in SB 961.

The European Union has already enacted similar rules that went into place with all new vehicles sold in the EU as of June 2024. And a number of EU member nations, such as the United Kingdom, are putting in place highway systems that can track vehicle speed using cameras and other monitoring devices.

But efforts to rein in speeders likely won’t end there. Proponents still hope to enact stricter measures that would physically limit vehicles speeds. And they say automakers already show that’s possible. Most vehicles sold in Europe, for example, come with electronic limiters that set a top speed of 150 mph.

Pushback

But not everyone is convinced that’s a good idea.

“There are times drivers may want to speed up enough to switch lanes, to move away from certain unsafe situations. Our preference is for drivers to have the maximum ability to do that. We don’t think technology or even most well-intentioned regulations should obstruct that,” Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told the Los Angeles Times.

That contributed to the compromised version of California’s new measure – which now must be signed into law by Gov. Newsom. But advocates are hoping that this will be just the first step in a push to get American motorists to slow down.