Virginia might turn out to be the primary state to require some drivers to drive automobiles incapable of rushing. The measure would apply solely to drivers convicted of reckless driving.
Right now, Virginia regulation permits judges solely to droop or revoke the licenses of reckless drivers and typically jail them. However Delegate Patrick A. Hope (D-Arlington) believes that’s an ineffective strategy. The Washington Put up calls it “a punishment that individuals often ignore as a result of they haven’t any different approach of attending to work or the shop or taking their kids to high school.”
So, Hope launched a invoice permitting judges to, as a substitute, require velocity limiters on the automobiles of routine speeders and subject restricted driver’s licenses stopping the convicted from driving every other automobile. Drivers would pay for the gadgets themselves.
The invoice has handed each homes of Virginia’s legislature. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has requested for a minor edit and indicated he’ll seemingly signal the laws as soon as that edit is made. The Put up experiences, “Hope expressed concern concerning the governor’s modification however will urge the Common Meeting to simply accept it, because the legislature usually does when the invoice’s sponsor alerts assist.”
If the legislature approves, the measure will take impact in 2026.
Associated: Examine Finds Extra Than Half of All Drivers Knowingly Unsafe
How Velocity Limiters Work
Automotive engineers have designed many methods over the a long time able to limiting rushing.
They are often easy, comparable to a bodily block on the throttle physique that forestalls a automobile from exceeding a sure velocity. That strategy has limitations. When you set a automobile’s most velocity to 55 mph for freeway use, reckless drivers can nonetheless velocity on 30 mph roads.
Associated: Lifeless Pedal – Regulators Need Automobiles That Can’t Velocity
Or they are often complicated. A system launched to New York Metropolis authorities automobiles in 2022 makes use of GPS expertise and a database of velocity limits. It limits the automobile’s velocity to the posted restrict on each highway.
The Virginia invoice doesn’t specify what system the state’s courts ought to use. Nevertheless, it refers back to the proposal as an “Clever Velocity Help Program,” which suggests one thing like New York Metropolis’s GPS-enabled tech.
Different States Have Thought of This
Virginia could be the first state to enact a limiter regulation. It’s not the primary to strive.
An identical invoice is at the moment tied up within the legislative course of in Washington state. An effort to cross one thing related in California failed final 12 months. A velocity limiter invoice handed in Washington, D.C., final 12 months however doesn’t take impact till September.
The European Union, in the meantime, mandates that automobiles warn drivers once they exceed the velocity restrict. Most automakers now promote nearly equivalent automobiles on a number of continents. So, many automobiles offered within the U.S. have velocity warning capabilities already put in, although they is probably not activated.
