US state could become first to install technology in cars alerting drivers when they’re speeding over the limit

BREAKTHROUGH technology alerting drivers when they are speeding over the limit is set to be installed in cars in one US state under a bold new law.

Drivers in California will have their vehicles equipped with speed warning systems as part of a new bill.

Getty

Getty

Reuters

Senate Bill 961, currently heading for the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom, will see all new vehicles in the Golden State mandated to include speed warning technology.

Under the scheme, drivers speeding will be hit with constant beeping noises until they get back under the limit.

Senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco , who authored the bill, explained why he believes the new tech is essential.

“When we have the level of death on our roads – more than 4,000 people in California and escalating, it’s gone up in the last five years, that’s a policy choice,” he told ABC affiliate KGO .

He went on: “It requires that for new cars starting in 2030 to have to be equipped with existing technology that exists now, that alerts people just one alert if they are going more than 10 miles an hour over the speed limit.”

If brought in, California would be the first US state to require such anti-speeding technology in all new vehicles.

There would be exemptions for emergency vehicles, motorcycles, motorized scooters, and other specialized vehicles.

However, the bill is not without its critics.

California Republicans such as Assemblyman Tom Lackey have opposed the change in law.

Lackey, a former California Highway Patrol officer, warned of unintended consequences from the bill.

“All you’re going to hear now is a beep and a flash, and it’s going to be a distraction,” he said on the California Assembly floor recently. “It’s not going to change behavior.”

Drivers’ groups such as the Alliance for Automotive Innovation also accused California of overstepping the line and called for such moves to be left to the federal government.

“We can’t have 50 states setting 50 competing sets of vehicle technology and safety rules,” it said in a statement.

“Automakers agree more can and must be done to reduce excessive speeding on roadways. This should include more enforcement of speeding laws and driver education.”

California's new anti-speeding law explained

California could be the first state to introduce a drastic new anti-speeding measure to all new vehicles.

• Bill SB 961 would require every model of passenger vehicle, motortruck, and bus sold or leased as new in the state from 2030 onwards to be equipped a passive intelligent speed assistance system.
• This technology would use brief, one-time, visual, and audio signal to alert the driver each time the speed of the vehicle is more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.
• The bill would exempt emergency vehicles, certain motortrucks, motorcycles, motorized bicycles, mopeds, and certain passenger vehicles from this requirement.]
• The bill would require the system to be capable of being fully disabled, by the manufacturer or a franchisee, for emergency vehicles.
• The bill would require the system, if the system receives conflicting speed limits for the same area, to apply the higher speed limit. Violating this would be punishable as a crime.

However, Californian Joe Martinez, whose son was killed by a speeding driver, has spoken out in support of the bill.

Joe, whose 21-year-old son Paul was struck by a driver going 54 mph in a 40 mph zone, described his situation as every father’s worst nightmare.

“Paul was thrown literally hundreds of feet is what I was told by law enforcement, Joe told ABC affiliate KXTV . Paul was struck so hard that it knocked him out of his shoes.”

Joe, who joined the advocacy group Families for Safe Streets in the wake of his son’s death in 2013, recalled the moment his life changed forever.

He called the measure common sense because “no family should experience my pain in order to have safe streets.”