Consider a common scenario: You’re driving on the highway, thinking about something that happened at work or what you’re going to eat for dinner, and your car starts beeping.
But this time it’s not because you’re low on gas or your seatbelt isn’t fastened. It’s because you’re speeding.
This could become a reality for all California drivers if the State Legislature passes a bill requiring new vehicles to come with a system that emits visual and audio signals notifying drivers when they exceed the posted speed limit by 10 miles per hour or more.
The requirement would be phased in. Half of all new passenger vehicles, trucks and buses sold in California in the 2029 model year would have to have these intelligent speed assistance systems; in the 2032 model year, they all would. (Emergency vehicles would be exempt.)
The legislation aims to curb rising roadway deaths in the United States. In California in 2022, more than 4,400 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, or about 12 people every day, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Speeding is a factor in one-third of traffic fatalities across the country, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency, which investigates transportation accidents but has no regulatory authority, has urged the federal government to require these systems nationwide, and supports California’s efforts to become the first state to mandate them.