In Brief:
- Reckless drivers could be required to use speed-limiting technology in their vehicles under a new law in Virginia.
- Similar bills have been filed in half a dozen other states.
- Supporters say the technology can prevent deaths and injuries by forcing speeding drivers to slow down.
Last month, a driver who’d collected nearly 100 traffic violations in the previous two years killed a mother and two of her children while they were taking a walk in their Brooklyn neighborhood. Among the driver’s violations were 18 infractions for speeding in a school zone. The driver’s license being suspended didn’t stop her from reportedly driving more than double the posted speed limit on the section of Ocean Parkway where the crash occurred.
Incidents like those, which result in thousands of deaths a year in the United States, demand new ways of reining in the most reckless drivers, some lawmakers say.
Virginia recently became the first state to formally endorse the use of speed-limiting technology as a way to limit the damage done by the most reckless drivers. The law, sponsored by Democratic state Del. Patrick Hope and signed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, gives judges the option to require devices that limit vehicle speeds when doling out punishments for reckless drivers. Hope says he sees the devices, also called speed governors or intelligent speed assistance systems, as an alternative to jail time or license suspension for repeat offenders. People in most places in the U.S. need to drive to get to work, take their kids to school, buy groceries or otherwise participate in society, Hope says. Some research suggests that 75 percent of people whose licenses get suspended continue to drive anyway.
Virginia was preceded by Washington, D.C., which adopted a law last year creating an Intelligent Speed Assistance Program for drivers facing license suspension. Offenders are required to pay for the devices to be installed, but under D.C.’s law, impoverished drivers can have the system paid for by the District. Virginia’s law includes a similar provision. The Georgia legislature also passed a bill creating a similar program a few days after Virginia’s law was enacted; it’s now waiting for the governor’s approval. Other bills have been filed in Washington, Maryland, Arizona, California and New York. The bills have been sponsored by Republicans as well as Democrats.
“This is about getting drivers to change their behavior. It’s not really focused on punishing people,” says Emily Gallagher, a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly representing parts of Brooklyn, who has sponsored a version of the bill. “We’re not used to that. We’re much more used to a carceral system, but this is a behavioral change.”
There are different types of intelligent speed assistance systems. Some set a maximum speed for vehicles, and are already in wide use in commercial and trucking fleets. Others automatically send drivers a warning when they’re exceeding the speed limit posted in a given area, using GPS technology; the European Union implemented a rule last summer mandating that all new cars include such systems. A third type of system prevents drivers from exceeding the speed limit by a set amount.
Hope, the Virginia delegate, test-drove a car outfitted with the latter system, which prevented him from exceeding the posted speed limits by more than 9 mph. He said it was accurately calibrated to changing speed limits and didn’t interfere with his ability to move freely through the roadways. Drivers can also temporarily override the system if they need to speed up to merge onto a freeway. If anything, Hope says, being able to exceed the speed limit by 9 mph was “probably too fast.” Youngkin made some changes before signing the bill: stripping out a provision requiring drivers to use the devices if they’ve been ticketed exceeding 100 mph. But overall the bill was well-received in the legislature and passed with bipartisan support, Hope says.
“I’m excited that Virginia is going to be the first state to implement this. It’s been nice to see this concept start to snowball and catch on,” he says.
The bill allows courts to require people convicted of reckless driving to enroll in an intelligent speed assistance program, to be created by the state, for a period of two to six months. The requirement will be at the courts’ discretion. The bill becomes effective on July 1, 2026.
Traffic deaths spiked during the pandemic, after several decades of decline. Pedestrian fatalities hit a 40-year high in 2022. Part of the reason for the spike, researchers say, was that fewer people were on the roads, making it easier for drivers to speed. Some researchers have started framing traffic deaths in public-health terms, describing the kinetic energy of speeding vehicles as a pathogen that’s released with deadly results when they collide with other vehicles or people. While most traffic deaths occur even without drivers exceeding the speed limit, laws that target the worst speeding offenders reflect a growing recognition that speed itself is dangerous, says Seth LaJeunesse, a researcher at the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center.
“From a philosophical perspective it’s a pretty big deal,” LaJeunesse says. “It strikes me as a first step, and that this is going to progress. The Virginia model seems to be something that most people in the public would get behind.”
Virginia’s bill, along with those introduced in other states, was backed by Families for Safe Streets, a national network of advocates that pushes for lower speed limits, safer roadway design, and speed-limiting technology. Amy Cohen, the group’s president, founded the network after her 12-year-old son, Sammy, was struck by a van and killed in front of their New York City apartment building in 2013. The movement for safer streets and intelligent speed assistance systems is modeled after the Mothers Against Drunk Driving movement, which began by targeting the worst offenders. Ignition interlocks, which use breathalyzers to prevent people from starting a car when their blood alcohol level hits a certain threshold, are now widely mandated for drivers who receive multiple DUIs. Cohen and Families for Safe Streets have been pushing for New York to adopt the speed-governors bill since it was first introduced in the Legislature in 2023, and hope the Virginia law will build momentum for similar policies in other states.
“We know that if a driver is going slower, they’re more likely to have a better field of vision and more time to stop, and if they hit someone, it’s less likely to be deadly,” Cohen says. “A year after my son was hit in front of my home, there was a 5-year-old boy hit in the exact same location. That driver was going just a few miles per hour slower and that boy lived and mine did not. It literally is the difference between life and death.”
