Virginia lawmakers are working on new laws that target those who drive recklessly and speed in the state. Over the last few years, this has been a major area of focus for the state. Previously, they made radar detectors and other devices that interfere with law enforcement speed catching practices illegal. They also set a hard limit, declaring any driving that is 20 miles per hour or more about the posted speed limit is considered reckless driving in addition to speeding. This increases the punishment for the driver, with high fines and possible jail time. In the state’s latest action against speeding, reckless drivers and drivers with many driving marks on their record may have to put speed limiters in their vehicle.

Reckless driving is classified as a class 1 misdemeanor.

If Virginia is successful in passing the bill that would enforce speed limiters for certain drivers, they would be the first state to do so. Similar laws are in place in other states, such as Washington declaring speeds above 20 miles per hour as excessive speeding. However, no other state thus far has implemented a rule in which they require frequently reckless drivers to have speed limiters.

However, the idea behind the speed limiters law is not completely original.

In Europe, all new vehicles are required to have some form of a speed limiter on the vehicle. This requirement started for the European Union in 2022, when they began to require all brand new models to have a program called Intelligent Speed Assist (or ISA) installed. Now all new vehicles as a whole require the program.

According to the current draft of the Virginia bill, there is no specification regarding what type of speed limiter would be added to those deemed habitually reckless. The bill does lay out that anyone who messed with the device in any way would face additional penalties. Essentially, the device would operate under similar rules as a breathalyzer device that is added to a vehicle after someone drove under the influence of alcohol.

The state will likely use some sort of intelligent speed detection device.

Most Intelligent Speed Limiters, such as those required in the EU, have a GPS tracking base. This is how they are able to track the speed of the vehicle. When drivers go over a posted speed limit, the limiter either sounds an alarm or intercepts the speed of the car to slow it down, depending on the type of device it is.

Research has shown that warning systems that just issue a notification to a driver, usually in the form of a light turning on in the dashboard console, are not very effective, as they can easily be ignored. That is why the devices will likely have at least some sort of audible feature. The noise effectively works to slow drivers down.