California could limit how fast vehicles sold in the state can go by requiring the installation of speed governors if a bill authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, becomes law.
Wiener introduced a pair of bills Wednesday that would spur roadway improvements and require automakers to install intelligent speed assistance, or ISA technology, that limits a vehicle to going no more than 10 mph over the posted speed limit. The technology can adjust to different speed limits on different roads.
The ISA bill was introduced as Senate Bill 961. It would also require big-rigs over 5 tons to install safety devices called underride guards. The guards block the space under a trailer that cars can get trapped under.
A companion bill, SB 960, calls on Caltrans to make physical safety changes like installing curb extensions and more crosswalks on state-owned streets. Together, the bills were dubbed the Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets, or SAFER California Streets package.
Wiener said the bills were spurred by an increase in traffic fatalities in recent years.
“The alarming surge in road deaths is unbearable and demands an urgent response,” Wiener said in a statement. “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.”
Wiener pointed to a study from the nonprofit organization TRIP, which conducts transportation research, that said that traffic deaths increased in the U.S. by 19 percent in 2022 compared to 2019, and by 22 percent over that time in California.
Industry response to SB 961
The trucking industry has opposed past efforts to require the guardrails at the national level, arguing they would be too costly to install on every truck and were unnecessary.
A spokesperson for the California Trucking Association said the organization is reviewing SB 961 and has not yet taken a position on it.
The bill would require larger trucks manufactured, sold or registered in the state to include guards on both lateral sides of a trailer that are able to withstand a collision at 40 mph.
Speed governors, also known as speed limiters or intelligent speed assistance, limit how fast a vehicle can drive by using GPS or onboard cameras to determine the area speed limit. The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended requiring speed governors in all new vehicles and has recommended the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration create requirements that vehicles have devices that can, at a minimum, alert a driver when they are speeding.
ISA systems use a combination of sounds or performance methods to alert a driver, such as beeping and creating slight resistance on the accelerator. The bill would allow a driver to override the system.