There’s a new bill to keep an eye on. The National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) urged seventeen automakers to install intelligent speed-assistance technology in all new vehicles that, at a minimum, warns a driver when the vehicle is speeding. 

The NTSB stated that the bureau needs intelligent speed assistance technology and countermeasures including interlock program for repeat speeding offenders. What is intelligent speed assistance technology? Here’s the definition, direct from the NTSB press release:

“Intelligent speed assistance technology, or ISA, uses a car’s GPS location compared with a database of posted speed limits and its onboard cameras to help ensure safe and legal speeds. Passive ISA systems warn a driver when the vehicle exceeds the speed limit through visual, sound, or haptic alerts, and the driver is responsible for slowing the car. Active systems include mechanisms that make it more difficult, but not impossible, to increase the speed of a vehicle above the posted speed limit and those that electronically limit the speed of the vehicle to fully prevent drivers from exceeding the speed limit.”

California State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, introduced the Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets Package this week that includes a provision that would require “new vehicles sold in California” to “install speed governors, smart devices that automatically limit the vehicle’s speed to 10 miles above the legal limit.”

“These changes are a head-on attempt to tackle vehicle fatalities, which are surging across the U.S.—and especially in California—amid a rise in reckless driving since the onset of the pandemic,” a press release from Wiener’s office explained.

“A recent report from TRIP, a national transportation research group, found that traffic fatalities in California have increased by 22% from 2019 to 2022, compared to 19% for the U.S. overall. In 2022, 4,400 Californians died in car crashes.”

The bill package also “requires side under ride guards on trucks, to reduce the risk of cars and bikes being pulled underneath the truck during a crash” and “physical improvements like new crosswalks and curb extensions on state-owned surface streets to better accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, the disability community, and transit users.”

The press release argues that these changes are meant to “slash” the “California road deaths epidemic.” “The alarming surge in road deaths is unbearable and demands an urgent response,” Wiener said.

“There is no reason for anyone to be going over 100 miles per hour on a public road, yet in 2020, California Highway Patrol issued over 3,000 tickets for just that offense. Preventing reckless speeding is a commonsense approach to prevent these utterly needless and heartbreaking crashes.”

Not everyone is on board with the legislation, including social media users who expressed frustration with the plan. “Imagine an empty highway in the middle of the night and you can only go 65,” author Richard Hanania posted on X.

“Just when you thought California couldn’t possibly get any crazier,” former San Diego County Board of Supervisors candidate Amy Reichert posted on X.

A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Fox News Digital the agency “does not comment on pending legislation.”

This is the first step in monitoring driving habits and taxing motorists by the miles driven and time on the road. Don’t forget the kill switches from the 2021 infrastructure rule which is in all 2026 and later cars. We have one last chance to remove these stupid regulations. 

If this law is enacted it’s almost guaranteed that a speed governor test will be added to the biennial smog inspection. The device will be required to be installed before allowing license registration of out of state vehicles. Do you want the government to control every aspect of your life?

NHTSA (National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration) wants your feedback on its mandated ‘kill switches’ coming to all vehicles in 2026. We covered a story regarding the Biden-approved 2021 infrastructure bill that holds Section 24220 regarding a requirement for automakers to begin including a “vehicle kill switch” within the operating software of new cars that’s capable of disabling a vehicle from operating if it detects driver impairment. 

Link to comment: www.regulations.gov/search?filter=NHTSA-2022-0079

Source: www.federalregister.gov/index/2023/national-highway-traffic-safety-administration

DOT Customer Service Center: 202-366-4000*

Monday through Friday between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm Eastern Time excluding Federal Holidays.

Mail:
U.S. Department of Transportation / NHTSA
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20590

Please note: Correspondence must be addressed to a specific administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation

Agency Contact

David V. Freeman
Chief, Vehicle Controls & Adapted Vehicle Division
david.v.freeman@dot.gov
202 366-0168
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590

You can support me by buying me a cup of coffee. Thanks for subscribing and your support! www.buymeacoffee.com/laurenfix

We will be reviewing all of the newest cars on our YouTube channel Car Coach Reports.

Looking for more automotive news? Go to our second channel! youtube.com/@car-smarts

Additional articles on our website www.CarCoachReports.com

“LAUREN FIX’S GUIDE TO LOVING YOUR CAR” Book – amzn.to/3ifDi3j

Total Car Score Podcast ? Hosts: Lauren Fix, Karl Brauer and Javier Mota.   www.revolverpodcasts.com/shows/total-car-score/