Do you sometimes suffer from a sneaking suspicion that you’re going too fast?
Don’t worry, the government is here to save you from yourself again. Introducing the greatest innovation in driver safety since that annoying beep reminder to fasten your seatbelt: the passive speed limiter.
The computer may reduce engine power if it thinks you’re going too fast, but it can override that at any time. Yes. Our public safety commissioners
I never have This technology is exploited to implement a kill switch.
Like all of the best guardian nation’s innovations, this new product comes from Europe: a system that issues an audible and visual warning if the driver’s speed exceeds the speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour. Starting in July, the technology will be mandatory for all new vehicles (including trucks, buses and cars) made or sold in the European Union.
Thanks to the passage of California Senate Bill 961 by a vote of 22 to 13 last week, we can hope to start feeling as “protected” as everyone in the EU.
California’s requirements will apply to 50% of all vehicles by 2029, rising to 100% by 2032.
The move is expected to spread across the country — it’s unlikely automakers would build separate models just for California — and Gavin Newsom’s fiefdom has a long track record of using its influence to influence domestic and international policy.
For decades, California has set its own auto-emissions standards — rules that have been adopted by a dozen other states — and when California announced it would eventually ban new gasoline-powered vehicles, major automakers quickly followed suit, announcing they would phase out fossil-fuel vehicles as well.
“California, like the rest of the country, is experiencing a horrifying surge in traffic fatalities, with thousands of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians dying on our roads every year,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, who introduced SB 961. According to the California Department of Traffic Safety’s 2023 Traffic Safety Report, one-third of traffic fatalities in the state from 2017 to 2021 were speeding-related.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Automobile Association also expressed support.
The NTSB, along with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is also pushing for a federal mandate for passive speed limiters.
The bill will next go to the state Assembly, which is expected to pass it by August 31.
SB 961 describes a passive speed limiter (officially designated a “passive intelligent speed assistance system”) as: “An integrated vehicle system that determines the speed limit by comparing, at a minimum, the vehicle’s GPS location to a database of posted speed limits and that warns the driver with brief, one-time visual and audio signals whenever the speed limit is exceeded by 10 miles per hour or more.”
If the system creates conflicting speed limits in the same area, the faster speed limit will be applied, so let’s hope the system is sophisticated enough to distinguish between a commute on the 101 and a track day at Laguna Seca.
The usual big government apologists will explain why these passive speed limiters
It’s no big deal Of course the computer can reduce engine power if it thinks you’re going too fast, but you can override that at any time.
Yes. Our public safety commissioners
I never have This technology is exploited to implement a kill switch.
Emergency vehicles are the exception, by the way: they already have bells and whistles, and the rest of us can just pretend we’re an ambulance or police car in a pursuit.
Here’s an idea: instead of introducing more intrusive technology, what if we taught people better driving techniques? With comprehensive, hands-on driving training, like that offered by professional truck driving schools, we could make our roads safer without treating our citizens like kids in bumper cars.
Or maybe control is the point.
