A bill awaiting approval from Gov. Gavin Newsom would require vehicles to include a warning system to alert drivers anytime they went more than 10 miles over the speed limit.
If passed, the requirement would go into effect in the 2030 model year for all new vehicles, with exceptions for emergency vehicles, motorcycles, motorized bicycles, mopeds and passenger vehicles already equipped with a GPS or a front-facing camera.
This would mark the first law of its kind in the U.S. and would rely on existing “intelligent speed adaptation” technology to try to curtail traffic fatalities and injuries.
“We are in a traffic safety crisis,” Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) said on behalf of Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who wrote the bill, at a recent hearing. “Over 4,000 Californians die every year in traffic collisions on our roadways — a dramatic increase from pre-pandemic levels — and speeding is a major factor in one-third of these fatalities.”
The system would alert drivers with a visual and audio signal each time they went over the speed limit by 10 mph. The European Union already requires the technology on new vehicles and Toyota uses such a system in the U.S.
The technology would not physically limit the speed of a car, Lowenthal said.
Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a requirement for a speed limit alert technology in all new cars after an investigation into a collision in North Las Vegas that left nine dead. Speeding was a major cause.
“In a state where over 1,000 people are killed by speeding drivers every year, this technology will absolutely help to reduce traffic violence caused by speeding drivers in the same way that seat belts have helped to save the lives of drivers and passengers,” said Damian Kevitt, the executive director of Streets Are For Everyone. The nonprofit is one of the co-sponsors of the bill.
The legislation recently passed the state Senate 26 to 9 and the Assembly 47 to 17 without support from Republican lawmakers, who voiced concerns that the technology could distract drivers and create more problems.
“I already have things screaming at me in my car at every given moment when I have my children in there and the last thing I need is my car beeping at me,” Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin) said at a hearing.
Others argued that the legislation was a restriction on people’s freedom.
“This is just another step towards making California a nanny state,” Assemblymember James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) said. “This bill is about control. It’s not about safety.”
The technology will not record data or share it with law enforcement, Kevitt said.
“This technology and alert is similar to when a car alerts you that you are quickly approaching a pedestrian and you should slow down or another car is in your blind spot,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers Sen. Dave Min of Irvine and Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains of Bakersfield also voted against it.