Advocates has called on the leadership of the California Assembly Public Safety Committee to enact Assembly Bill (AB) 981 to establish an intelligent speed assistance (ISA) program for people convicted of excessive speeding, reckless driving or racing offenses.
Traffic fatalities have risen over the past decade in California, and speeding is a major contributor. In 2023, 4,061 people lost their lives on California roads, a 31 percent increase since 2014. Nearly a third (32 percent) of those fatalities involved speeding, and speeding related fatalities have increased 31 percent from 2014-2023.
ISA is technology that can identify the speed limit in real time and limit the speed of vehicles exceeding the specified threshold. Given the efficacy of ISA and the high level of traffic fatalities in the United States, ISA consideration has increased. Last year, the District of Columbia enacted ISA legislation, and Virginia just became the first state to do so. Legislatures in Georgia and Washington state have passed ISA legislation in recent months as well. We urge California to become a leader in this safety trend and advance this bill.
Read the full letter to the committee here.