The technology aims to prevent vehicles from going over the speed limit. New laws lay out how the devices can be used to punish reckless driving.
San Francisco speed cameras busy snapping photos
Speed cameras in San Francisco are busy at work taking pictures of drivers breaking traffic laws.
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Beware, bad drivers: Some states are passing laws that punish reckless driving with devices that control vehicles’ top speeds.
Washington State recently became the second state in the U.S., joining Virginia, to enact a law placing speed-limiting technology in the cars of drivers with reckless driving records. Washington, D.C., also has a similar law.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a law in May requiring drivers whose licenses are suspended for reckless driving to have intelligent speed assistance (ISA) devices installed on their cars if they want to drive again immediately.
The anti-speeding technology would monitor the driver’s speed and prevent their vehicle from going over local speed limits. The law comes as Washington’s state traffic safety commission reported that fatal crashes involving speeding drivers increased nearly 40% between 2019 and 2023.
“This legislation was inspired by a crash when four individuals, including three children, were killed when their car was struck by a driver going 112 miles per hour,” said Ferguson when signing Washington’s new law. It will take effect in January 2029.
The anti-speeding technology laws nationwide come as similar bills have been filed in at least five other states seeking to crack down on repeat reckless drivers, said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
“Sometimes it just takes one state to get the momentum going,” Chase told USA TODAY, noting traffic safety legislation is typically arduous. “This is a new type of measure with a newer technology in the U.S. that’s really making good progress at the state level across the country.”
Virginia was the first US state to adopt an anti-speeding tech law
In April, Virginia became the first state in the nation to enact anti-speeding tech legislation, requiring intelligent speed assistance devices for those convicted of driving more than 100 mph.
The Intelligent Speed Assistance Program in Virginia is considered an alternative. The law allows judges to require intelligent speed assistance devices for drivers with repeat reckless driving offenses who don’t want their license suspended. The devices are small enough to fit on an air vent and would stop drivers from exceeding the speed limit.
Virginia’s law has rules that are similar to the state’s law on Breathalyzer ignition interlocks, said Tara Gill, a senior director of advocacy and state legislation for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. The Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program will oversee Virginia’s ISA program, Gill added.
Chase was encouraged to see the bipartisan support for Virginia’s law that takes effect in July 2026. It was sponsored by Democratic state Del. Patrick Hope and signed into law by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“It’s nice to see some common ground when our country can seem so divisive politically,” Chase said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in other states have also considered some form of the anti-speeding technology requirement, including California and Connecticut, Gill said. And there are three states, Arizona, Georgia, and Maryland, where proposed ISA legislation is dead for the current session, Gill added.
“We hope those states will reconsider those measures,” Gill said.
Washington D.C. was first US municipality to pass reckless driving bill
In 2024, Washington, D.C., passed the nation’s first-ever legislation to enact Intelligent Speed Assistance for repeat speeding drivers. The reckless driving legislation in the Nation’s Capital is called the ACT for ‘Strengthening Traffic Enforcement, Education, and Responsibility ‘(STEER). The D.C. Council unanimously passed the measure.
D.C. officials would be able to install “speed governors” on the cars of drivers convicted in court for aggravated driving or reckless aggravated driving.
Meanwhile, New York City is expanding its ISA pilot program. A recent study involving 500 city fleet vehicles and over 2.9 million miles of driving showed ISA produced an 82% decrease on high-speed roads and a 64% decline in overall speeding.
City officials say due to the pilot program’s success, ISA is now being expanded to 2,100 vehicles.
California has debated speed warnings in every car
Meanwhile, California has mulled taking similar technology a step further, including a failed bill targeting every vehicle in the state.
California’s current ISA bill is stalled in the state assembly. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a measure last year that would’ve made it the first such law in the U.S.
The bill required that every new vehicle sold or leased in California in 2030 be equipped with a passive intelligent speed assistance system to alert drivers when they exceeded the speed limit by more than l0 mph.
In his veto, Newsom said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “already regulates vehicle safety standards, and adding California-specific requirements would create a patchwork of regulations that undermines this longstanding federal framework.”
Amid debate about the bill, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an auto industry lobbying association, questioned California’s motives. The group referred to a 2022 law that requires new European vehicles have at least one of four speed limit recognition warning systems installed.
“What they have in Europe is mandatory intelligent speed assist,” the lobbyist group said. “It includes technology meant to be a reminder to the driver… not a restrictor… and uses cameras and GPS to recognize clear/visible speed limit signs on the roads.”
