A group of New York lawmakers want to mandate speed limiters for the cars of serial speeders, The New York Daily News recently reported.
Drivers with multiple speed-camera violations would be ordered to install aftermarket speed limiters in their vehicles, under a bill proposed in the New York State legislature Tuesday by two legislators representing New York City’s Brooklyn borough.
New York City skyline (by Flickr user AngMoKio)
Senator Andrew Gounardes, who is sponsoring the bill in the New York Senate, said in an interview with the Daily News that fines don’t serve as a significant consequence for speeding, adding that a “cohort of drivers” continue to rack up multiple speeding violations.
The proposed alternative is a speed limiter that would prevent cars from traveling no more than 5 mph above the posted speed limit. The bill calls for installing these devices in cars that have been flagged with six or more speed-camera violations.
New York City skyline
In New York State, speed-camera violations do not come with driver’s license points, as the automated system can’t prove who is driving. Drivers who are stopped by police can receive points on their licenses for speeding in addition to fines. State law allows for licenses to be suspended if a driver accumulates 11 points in 18 months, but that’s not mandatory. Under the proposed bill, speed limiters would also be installed in the cars of drivers who accumulate 11 points but don’t have their licenses suspended.
This isn’t the only proposal to limit speed in New York. In 2022, legislators proposed fitting every car manufactured or registered in the state with a system called Active Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) that would use GPS and traffic sign recognition to determine the speed limit—and prevent drivers from exceeding it. That bill failed to advance beyond the New York Senate Rules Committee.
