California bill would mandate all new cars have device to 'automatically limit' speed to 10 mph over limit

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A California Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill he calls "groundbreaking" that would require all new cars sold in the Golden State to be equipped with a device preventing them from traveling more than 10 mph over the speed limit.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, introduced the Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets Package this week that includes a provision that would require "new vehicles sold in California" to "install speed governors, smart devices that automatically limit the vehicle’s speed to 10 miles above the legal limit."

"These changes are a head-on attempt to tackle vehicle fatalities, which are surging across the U.S. — and especially in California — amid a rise in reckless driving since the onset of the pandemic," a press release from Wiener’s office explained. "A recent report from TRIP, a national transportation research group, found that traffic fatalities in California have increased by 22% from 2019 to 2022, compared to 19% for the U.S. overall. In 2022, 4,400 Californians died in car crashes."

The bill package also "requires side underride guards on trucks, to reduce the risk of cars and bikes being pulled underneath the truck during a crash" and "physical improvements like new crosswalks and curb extensions on state-owned surface streets to better accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, the disability community, and transit users."

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California State Sen. Scott Wiener. (Getty Images)

The press release argues that these changes are meant to "slash" the "California road deaths epidemic."

"The alarming surge in road deaths is unbearable and demands an urgent response," Wiener said. "There is no reason for anyone to be going over 100 miles per hour on a public road, yet in 2020, California Highway Patrol issued over 3,000 tickets for just that offense. Preventing reckless speeding is a commonsense approach to prevent these utterly needless and heartbreaking crashes."

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A view of the California State Capitol in Sacramento on Feb. 1, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Justin Sullivan)

Not everyone is on board with the legislation, including social media users who expressed frustration with the plan.

"Imagine an empty highway in the middle of the night and you can only go 65," author Richard Hanania posted on X.

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"Just when you thought California couldn't possibly get any crazier," former San Diego County Board of Supervisors candidate Amy Reichert posted on X.

A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Fox News Digital the agency "does not comment on pending legislation."