Virginia may become the first state to require some drivers to drive cars incapable of speeding. The measure would apply only to drivers convicted of reckless driving.
Today, Virginia law allows judges only to suspend or revoke the licenses of reckless drivers and sometimes jail them. But Delegate Patrick A. Hope (D-Arlington) believes that’s an ineffective approach. The Washington Post calls it “a punishment that people frequently ignore because they have no other way of getting to work or the store or taking their children to school.”
So, Hope introduced a bill allowing judges to, instead, require speed limiters on the cars of habitual speeders and issue limited driver’s licenses preventing the convicted from driving any other vehicle. Drivers would pay for the devices themselves.
The bill has passed both houses of Virginia’s legislature. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has asked for a minor edit and indicated he will likely sign the legislation once that edit is made. The Post reports, “Hope expressed concern about the governor’s amendment but will urge the General Assembly to accept it, as the legislature typically does when the bill’s sponsor signals support.”
If the legislature approves, the measure will take effect in 2026.
Related: Study Finds More Than Half of All Drivers Knowingly Unsafe
How Speed Limiters Work
Automotive engineers have designed many systems over the decades capable of limiting speeding.
They can be simple, such as a physical block on the throttle body that prevents a car from exceeding a certain speed. That approach has limitations. If you set a car’s maximum speed to 55 mph for highway use, reckless drivers can still speed on 30 mph roads.
Related: Dead Pedal – Regulators Want Cars That Can’t Speed
Or they can be complex. A system introduced to New York City government vehicles in 2022 uses GPS technology and a database of speed limits. It limits the car’s speed to the posted limit on every road.
The Virginia bill doesn’t specify what system the state’s courts should use. However, it refers to the proposal as an “Intelligent Speed Assistance Program,” which suggests something like New York City’s GPS-enabled tech.
Other States Have Considered This
Virginia may be the first state to enact a limiter law. It’s not the first to try.
A similar bill is currently tied up in the legislative process in Washington state. An effort to pass something similar in California failed last year. A speed limiter bill passed in Washington, D.C., last year but doesn’t take effect until September.
The European Union, meanwhile, mandates that cars warn drivers when they exceed the speed limit. Most automakers now sell virtually identical cars on multiple continents. So, many vehicles sold in the U.S. have speed warning capabilities already installed, though they may not be activated.