Lawmakers across the country are responding to the recent spike in traffic fatalities by weighing whether to require habitual scofflaws to install speed limiters on their cars.
Speed limiter bills have been introduced this year in Arizona, Maryland, New York, Virginia and Washington State, according to a list provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures. A law is already in effect in Washington, D.C.
The aftermarket product prevents a car from exceeding the posted speed limit. The concept borrows from the requirement in more than 30 states that drunk driving offenders use an ignition interlock device to ensure they cannot start their car if intoxicated.
Rep. Mari Leavitt (D), who sponsored the Washington bill, said she recently tested the speed limiter technology during a demonstration at the state capitol. In one scenario, she attempted to exceed the speed limit by 10 mph only to have the device slow the car back down.
“It does work,” Leavitt said. “It’s not an ask or a wish or a hope. It’s a reality that they cannot speed.”
U.S. roadway fatalities spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic with a 7% rise in 2020 and a nearly 11% increase in 2021. Speeding was a factor in nearly 30% of the 2021 deaths, the highest percentage in nearly a decade. The numbers have since begun to drop but remain above pre-pandemic levels.
Following a Las Vegas-area high-speed crash that killed nine, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all states implement programs to address habitual speeders.
The NTSB has also called for intelligent speed assistance technology to be standard in all new cars, as is required in Europe. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a bill last year that would have required new cars to have passive speed limiters that warn drivers when they go more than 10 mph over the posted limit.
“State legislatures are increasingly eyeing technology as an option to help with traffic enforcement as crash fatalities remain at stubbornly high levels,” said Douglas Shinkle, who oversees NCSL’s transportation program.
A horrific crash in Renton, Wash., last March that killed a mother and three children prompted Leavitt to introduce her bill. The accused driver was allegedly going 112 mph when he ran a red light and slammed into a minivan carrying five children returning from a class. He had previously been involved in at least one other high-speed crash, according to news reports.
Under Leavitt’s bill, drivers who lost their driving privilege due to multiple moving violations that include speeding would be able to apply for a restricted driver’s license on the condition that they install an intelligent speed assistance device on the vehicle.
“It will save lives,” Leavitt said. “It will mean people that have a penchant for speeding, physically won’t be able to speed.”
To get the license, the suspended driver would pay $100 and provide proof that the speed limiter had been installed on all vehicles that they have access to, except for employer-owned vehicles. The device would be GPS connected and programmed to keep the vehicle at the posted speed limit with three allowances a month to exceed the limit to pass a slower-moving vehicle.
The suspended driver would be responsible for the cost of the device and pay a $21 monthly fee to fund an account to pay for devices for indigent drivers — a provision praised by the Policing Project at New York University’s School of Law. The restricted license and speed limiter would remain in place until the driver’s suspension was lifted.
Leavitt said her bill aims to address two issues: the high percentage of people with suspended licenses who are still driving, and a speeding epidemic that has contributed to an increase in traffic deaths beginning in 2019.
“It’s allowing people to go to work, pick up their kids, get to the medical appointments, and to do it lawfully and safely,” Leavitt said.
At a public hearing for Leavitt’s bill last month, the father of the woman killed in the March crash testified in support of the legislation. “We need stiff consequences for these thrill seekers, and we must use any tools available to detect and stop this from happening again,” Ted Smith said.
In its support for the bill, NTSB called repeat speeding a “nationwide problem” and said countermeasures to address the problem “are lacking.”
Intelligent speed assistance “is a proven countermeasure that, if widely deployed, especially among the most dangerous drivers, will save lives on Washington’s roads, and we applaud you for pursuing this policy,” NTSB said in testimony submitted to Washington’s House Transportation Committee.
The Arizona and Virginia bills largely mirror Washington’s. The Virginia measure was advanced by a Senate committee last week after being passed by the House. Families for Safe Streets praised the bill, saying on X that it will “#StopSuperSpeeders and save lives.”
New York Assemblymember Emily Gallagher’s (D) bill takes a different approach. It would require drivers who rack up 11 or more points on their license in an 18-month period or receive six or more speed camera tickets in a year to install a speed limiter as a condition of their punishment.
Gallagher and Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D) introduced speed limiter legislation last year as part of a package of bills designed to improve traffic safety. That followed a pilot project in New York City that equipped 50 city-owned vehicles with speed limiters resulting in 99% compliance.
“If you won’t stop speeding, New York will make you,” Gounardes said at the time. “We’ve had enough.”
This story was updated to add a speed limiter bill in Maryland.