California takes the lead in imposing sensible speed limits
Scott Wiener, a California Democratic senator, has introduced a bill, the Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets (SAFER California Streets), which will force all manufacturers of vehicles sold as of 2027 to incorporate governors that will prevent them from exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 mph. Since the maximum speed limit in California is 70mph, the limit will be set de facto at 80mph, about 129km/h.
The idea is to overcome the huge increase in accidents on the state’s roads, which increased by 23% between 2019 and 2022.
Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) use GPS technology and sometimes on-board cameras to determine the speed limit on a specific road, issuing warnings to the driver through audio, visual or vibration signals and/or limiting the vehicle’s speed accordingly. Language in the bill says the device would have the ability to be temporarily disabled by the driver, but it’s unclear in what situations it could apply. In addition, it states that automakers could completely disable the speed limiter, but presumably only for authorized emergency vehicles.
Thus, with the exception of some exceptions for emergency vehicles, vehicles would be limited to a maximum speed regardless of what their speedometer theoretically offers, which would presumably help avoid…
