Senate Passes Landmark Senator Wiener Bill to Reduce Speeding Deaths

SACRAMENTO – The Senate passed Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) Senate Bill 961. The bill will help reduce traffic deaths by requiring speed warnings — called passive speed limiters — in all new cars manufactured or sold in California beginning in 2032, with a 50% phase-in by 2029. California will be the first state in the nation to enact this safety requirement.

SB 961 builds on similar requirements that go into effect in the European Union beginning in July, and it implements the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation to require speed limiters in all new vehicles. The bill is supported by the National Transportation Safety Board, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Automobile Association (AAA). It passed the Senate 22-13 and heads next to the Assembly, where it must pass by August 31.

“California, like the nation as a whole, is seeing a horrifying spike in traffic deaths, with thousands of drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians dying each year on our roads,” said Senator Wiener. “These deaths are preventable, and they’re occurring because of policy choices to tolerate dangerous roads. The evidence is clear: Rising levels of dangerous speeding are placing all Californians in danger, and by taking prudent steps to improve safety, we can save lives. I thank my colleagues for their support.”

The chance of a fatal crash drastically increases when a driver is speeding. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s (OTS) 2023 Traffic Safety Report, 1/3rd of all traffic fatalities in the state between 2017 and 2021 were speeding-related. The National Association of City  Transportation Officials (NACTO) notes that “a person hit by a car traveling at 35 miles per hour is five times more likely to die than a person hit by a car traveling at 20 miles per hour.”

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers have engaged in increasingly reckless behavior, putting themselves and others at risk. TRIP found a 23% increase in speeding-related crashes in California from 2019-2022.

Passive speed governors (also referred to as passive Intelligent Speed Assistance, or ISA)  will be required in all vehicles sold in the EU beginning July of this year. SB 961 requires the devices to warn drivers with audible and visual signals when they exceed the speed limit by greater than 10 miles per hour.

In line with NTSB recommendations, SB 961 requires every passenger vehicle, truck, and bus manufactured or sold in the state to be equipped with speed governors that warn speeding drivers to slow down by 2032 with audio and visual signals. SB 961’s speed governor requirement does not apply to emergency vehicles.

Senate Bill 961 is sponsored by CalBike, Streets For All, Streets are for Everyone, KidSafe SF, and Walk SF. SB 961 is also supported by the National Transportation Safety Board, American Academy of Pediatrics, and AAA.
 

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