No matter how much of a "clean" driver one claims to be, chances are that at least once in their life of possessing a driver's license, they will hear the words: "Do you know why I pulled you over today?"
Whether it's five over, ten over, or much faster above the posted speed limit, speeding is a very common traffic infraction in the United States. According to data from the New York Police Department, the police in the largest city in the U.S. issued 91,215 speeding violations to drivers on its roads in 2024, accounting for about 13% of all moving violations in the city.
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Though it may seem like everyone knows someone who habitually speeds or has gotten a ticket for speeding, speed is often a major factor in crashes. According to the latest data available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), speeding was a direct factor in 28% of fatal crashes in 2022, which killed 12,151 people that year.
Those figures are scary; however, lawmakers in this U.S. state have a creative solution to curb the issue locally.
Washington state lawmakers want to use tech to slow these drivers down
Washington State is an interesting state on the West Coast. It is home to evergreen trees, Mt. Rainier, and Puget Sound, and it is the birthplace of influential companies like Boeing, Starbucks, and Amazon.
Unfortunately, there is something else Washington state is home to: problem speeders.
According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, fatal crashes in Washington State involving speeding have been on an upward tick since 2019. The agency's 2023 data shows that one in three fatal crashes in the state involved a speeding driver. Additionally, as per WTSC staffer Shelly Baldwin, speeding tickets for drivers who exceeded the speed limit by more than 50 miles per hour increased by 200% between 2019 and 2024.
In an effort to slow things down, state lawmakers introduced HB 1596. This bill would allow drivers with suspended licenses to continue driving on a special "intelligent speed-restricted" license, which would use technology to restrict their speed on the roads. According to the bill, drivers will be eligible for the special license if their license has been suspended due to accumulating excessive moving violations (including excessive speeding) or a "conviction of reckless driving."
This bill will require 'speed-restricted' drivers to install an electronic speed governor, or what the lawmakers call an "intelligent speed assistance device," (ISA) in their cars. These devices use GPS technology to limit the speed of the driver's vehicle to whatever the posted speed limit is on a specific road that they are traveling.
In a statement to TheStreet, Washington State Rep. Mari Leavitt, this bill's prime sponsor, noted that manufacturers of ISAs include Bosch, Continental, and Valeo, and that the state "has not entered into agreements with any specific manufacturers" nor have any reached out with any details about buying such devices.
Additionally, these devices will allow drivers to override the limiter three times each month if they have the urge to speed. However, they may receive additional punishment for overdoing it. Further, anyone who tampers with the speed limiter will be penalized with a misdemeanor, and installers of these devices would be required to pass a criminal background check.
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Installing a government-mandated device that uses GPS to ensure that a car travels within the legal speed limit poses data privacy concerns, as the implications of today's "connected car technology" has been a massive concern for many law-abiding car owners. Recently, white-hat hackers have exposed security vulnerabilities in Subaru cars, allowing them to remotely start or disable millions of Subarus across the U.S., Canada, and Japan.
With these concerns in mind, Rep. Leavitt assured that data collected by these devices will not be sold or viewed by anyone other than those authorized to do so and that "the ISA technology proposed in this bill does not have remote access capabilities."
"Washington State will ensure that all approved ISA devices comply with national data security and privacy standards," Leavitt said. "This includes working with cybersecurity experts to evaluate any potential vulnerabilities before implementation. The Department of Licensing will work closely to ensure the integrity of that data. It's all part of the consideration."
Within the bill, it explains that traffic laws are tough to enforce, and finding drivers who are currently driving on suspended licenses is hard in a sea of "well-behaved drivers;" and that number is scarily common.
"According to the American Motor Vehicle Administration, more than 70 percent of people with suspended licenses continue to drive during the suspension period," the bill says. "By leveraging technology to enable individuals to continue driving and prevent speeding, the legislature intends to enhance road safety to promote safer driving habits and keep the public safe."
The bill will also legally define "excessive speeding" as speeding violations that exceed at least 20 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.
Additionally, it adds that drivers found guilty of "excessive speeding" alongside other moving violations will automatically be required to obtain a speed-restricted license and install the "Intelligent speed assistance device" if they want to continue to operate a motor vehicle.
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The bill is one of several measures that Washington state lawmakers are pushing to reverse a disturbing rise of deaths on the roads of the state. In 2023, traffic fatalities reached a 33-year high, with 809 people losing their lives on the roads of Washington state.
HB 1596 is also called the Andrea Smith Hudson Act; the namesake being the unfortunate victim of a speeding-related crash that took her life, as well as her three children. Leavitt maintains that her story, as well as "countless other families who have endured unimaginable loss due to speeding-related crashes" have made the case for "a data-driven, proactive solution."
"We believe that this measure will make a real difference in driver behavior across the state. Research and real-world applications have shown that Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology significantly reduces speeding incidents. When speed is controlled, crashes are less likely to occur, and when they do, they are far less deadly," Leavitt said.
"[HB 1596] has the support of the National Transportation Safety Board, and it has been one of the recommendations that came to the WA Traffic Safety Commission."
At the time of writing, the bill is in its early stages, as it is currently being discussed in the House Transportation Committee in the Washington State Legislature. However, if passed, the State of Washington will be the second state after the Commonwealth of Virginia to offer an alternative to chronic speeding violators who face getting their license suspended.
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