Scott Wiener
A California bill introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would require all new cars sold in the state to have speed governors, technological devices that limit a vehicle’s speed to 10 miles above the legal limit.
Senate Bill 961 — part of a traffic safety package Wiener introduced Jan. 24 — is an attempt to combat reckless driving and car-related deaths, which has risen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a press release from his office said.
“The alarming surge in road deaths is unbearable and demands an urgent response,” Wiener said in the press release. “There is no reason for anyone to be going over 100 mph 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.”
If passed, California would be the first state in the nation to require speed governors on cars. The European Union mandated anti-speeding technology in new cars in 2022, but drivers have the capacity to override them. In the EU, the devices must warn drivers when they have surpassed the legal speed limit of a specific road through alarms or accelerator resistance.
SB 961 also permits the vehicle operator to temporarily override the speed governor function and does not apply to emergency vehicles.
The bill would also require side underride guards on trucks, to prevent bikes and cars being pulled underneath them in a crash, the press release said.
Wiener is introducing a second bill, SB 960, as a part of the traffic package. The bill would require Caltrans to make physical improvements, like new crosswalks and curb extensions, for the benefit of transit users, pedestrians, cyclists and the disability community.
Wiener’s press release emphasized the 22% rise in traffic fatality in California from 2019 to 2022.
The bill allows the California Highway Patrol to use its discretion to authorize the disabling of speed governors on vehicles based on the specialized use of the vehicle, provided that the vehicle’s use is reasonable and would not pose a public safety risk.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 105
Daily Journal staff
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Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
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(3) comments
So the 22% rise in traffic fatalities in CA from 2019 to 2022 was all caused by drivers going 10 mph over the speed limit? I highly doubt it. Regardless, why 10 and not 1 mph over the limit? Perhaps we could do a test run with Tesla sending an update to limit their maximum speed. Meanwhile, the used car business may become the next investment opportunity.
I wonder how these cars will know what's the speed limit. Would they need to be perpetually online? So many privacy concerns. There's literally no end to the safety lobby. I would not buy a car with this kind of limitation and if you ninja update it on me I will sell it.
Please Daddy Gubment, protect me from myself. I can't be trusted to make my own decisions. OI VEY. This Wiener should hit the gym and eat a cheeseburger - he looks like he would blow over in the wind.
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