Virginia Wants to Install Speed Limiters on Convicted Reckless Drivers’ Cars 

Speeding is a factor in more than 10,000 traffic deaths every year in the U.S., and yet a large number of drivers regularly travel faster than the posted speed limits. Some, however, drive way too fast too often, so one state has proposed installing speed limiters into the vehicles of those convicted of reckless driving.

Newly proposed legislation in Virginia would establish the Intelligent Speed Assistance Program, where repeat offenders of reckless driving and those found traveling more than 100 mph would be court-ordered to install a speed limiter, or “intelligent speed assistance,” on their vehicle that makes it impossible to exceed the speed limit. This would be an alternative punishment to a suspended license or jail time. 

In 2023, Virginia saw 25,274 speed-related crashes, which contributed to 449 deaths and 13,474 injuries, reports Northern Virginia Magazine. If everything goes to plan, next summer, it would become the first state in the U.S. to install such devices in the cars of those convicted of reckless driving.

All associated costs, including the device itself, are the responsibility of the driver. Tampering with the device or driving another vehicle would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable with up to one year in jail.

According to the Washington Post, the proposal currently sits with the General Assembly following an amendment by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Youngkin removed the attached two- to six-month sentence, instead leaving the decision on the length of use to the state courts. 

Arlington Delegate Patrick Hope, who sponsored the bill, said advocacy groups like Families for Safe Streets, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the National Safety Council gave him the idea. After driving a vehicle equipped with a speed limiter, he came away impressed.

“It was easy to use, and once you’re engaged, it’s impossible to go over the speed limit,” said Hope to the WP. “It will make our streets safer.”

Intelligent speed assistance technology isn’t new. Sign recognition software is commonplace in modern vehicles and comes with speed warnings. Some go further and will limit speed overages, like when using adaptive cruise control. But those are adjustable settings in a passenger car. Transit vehicles, like school buses, already have their speeds capped. Fleet vehicles are easier to supervise, however. Keeping track of an individual is a little more problematic. 

How this proposed program will be enforced isn’t detailed in the bill. Just as people flout suspended licenses as a punishment, especially if they have no other options to commute to work or school, for example, simply driving another vehicle seems easy. And would a speed monitor actually teach a driver to be less lead-footed?

The program also only applies to personal vehicles and not commercial ones (think delivery vehicles). So, if a habitually reckless driver also happens to be a commercial driver by profession, who’s to say they won’t speed and endanger others while on the job?

Washington, D.C., passed similar legislation last year, which will go into effect this September. Several states, including Maryland and Washington, are considering corresponding actions. If the Virginia assembly approves the amended bill, the speed limiter program would go into effect in July 2026.

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