The California senate passed legislation that would require all new cars sold or manufactured in the Golden State to beep at drivers and visually alert them when they exceed the speed limit.
Known as passive Intelligent Speed Assistance, the technology will alert drivers if they exceed the speed limit by greater than 10 miles per hour.
“Research has shown that this does have an impact in getting people to slow down, particularly since some people don’t realize how fast that their car is going,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco and the bill’s author.
In 2021, the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 10% of all car crashes were due to speeding. In California, 35% of traffic fatalities were speeding-related, the second highest in the country.
“These deaths are preventable, and they’re occurring because of policy choices to tolerate dangerous roads,” Wiener said in a statement. “The evidence is clear: Rising levels of dangerous speeding are placing all Californians in danger, and by taking prudent steps to improve safety, we can save lives.”
The change would be a first for the United States, but European countries have been using this technology for years. Beginning later this year, the European Union will mandate all new cars sold to have the technology, but drivers will have the option to turn it off.
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If the bill passes, it is very likely to have ripple effects on car sales across the country, considering that California’s auto market is so large that car makers would make all of their vehicles to be in compliance with the law.
The bill moves to the State Assembly and must pass by Aug. 31.
