California wants to cap vehicle speed to 10 mph over limit

California will become the first state in the USA to mandate a speed-limiting device for vehicles.

According to media reports, California state senator Scott Wiener has proposed a new bill that will mandate a new tech in vehicles, which can prevent them from going more than 10 mph over the speed limit. With California's speed limit being 70 mph, it means, if the new tech is implemented, drivers will not be able to drive faster than 80 mph in the state.

This proposition is part of the Speeding & Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets (SAFER California Streets) - a package of bills essentially calling for speed governors to be installed on all new cars & trucks built or sold in California starting from 2027. As per reports, the vehicles will be mandated to have an "Intelligent Speed Limiter System" that electronically prevents the car from going over the 80 mph threshold.

The bill though does state that the speed limiter will not apply for emergency vehicles. Also, the tech can be disabled temporarily by the driver, although there isn't any information for what situations this applies. Automakers also will be able to fully disable the speed limiter, although only for authorised emergency vehicles. In addition, the bill states that the commissioner of the California Highway Patrol will be allowed to disable the limiter at their discretion.

Speaking about the new speed limiter tech, Wiener stated, "I don't think it's at all an overreach, and I don't think most people would view it as an overreach, we have speed limits, I think most people support speed limits because people know that speed kills." He further added, "I think if you ask anyone, do people need to be driving more than 10 miles an hour over the speed limit, assuming you're not an emergency vehicle which is exempt from the bill, I think most people would say no, I don't want people driving more than 10 miles an hour in my neighbourhood."

If signed into law, California will become the first state in the USA to mandate a speed-limiting device for vehicles.

Source: abc7news