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The United States has a road fatality problem. Heightened safety regulations, anti-impaired driving laws, and road design improvements have forced traffic-related deaths to decline, cutting deaths per capita in half since 1972. However, vehicular deaths have also increased by over 10% between 2019 and 2023. 12,000 of these deaths, almost 30%, were related to excessive speeds. And while some lawmakers are adding automated cameras to address speeding, others have opted for a more direct approach.
One increasingly popular fix is mandating speed limiters for drivers convicted of reckless driving. Speed assistant devices limit a car’s maximum speed to prevent it from reaching dangerous levels. A new strain of smart speed limiters, dubbed intelligent speed assistance (ISA) devices, utilizes GPS tracking to adjust caps based on posted speed limits. The technology has proven to be a powerful tool in Europe, where the European Commission’s Vehicle General Safety Regulations mandate ISAs be installed in all new European vehicles since 2024.
American lawmakers are pushing to utilize these technologies to halt reckless drivers in their tracks. To date, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C. have begun rolling out ISA pilot programs, while at least 10 other states are considering speed limiter legislation. For the most part, American regulators favor targeted enforcement, focusing on drivers with dangerous histories. Federal lawmakers continue to grapple over whether to deploy speed limiters in the commercial trucking sector.
Speed limiters: an overview
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Intelligent speed assistance devices prevent drivers from reaching dangerously excessive speeds. They also collate data from a variety of sources to accurately determine the speed limit. Typically, ISAs utilize GPS, camera-based traffic sign recognition software, and digitally mapped speed limits to determine the appropriate driving speed. Speed limiters filter said information through the engine’s computer system, which regulates the fuel and air used to accelerate. Some systems allow drivers to toggle these functions.
ISA devices take several approaches to preventing reckless driving. The least invasive are dubbed ‘open systems,’ in which ISAs provide visual or auditory signals to alert drivers when they exceed the speed limit. Such a warning can take place via dashboard lights, loud beeps, or even pedal vibrations. A second approach, similar to cruise control, is a ‘half open system,’ in which an ISA adds physical resistance to the accelerator to prevent excessive speeding. Mandatory speed compliance systems prevent drivers from exceeding driving limits by physically curtailing the car’s maximum speed. Critically, ISAs do not engage a vehicle’s brake system. These systems provide significant advantages to speed governors, as they allow speed restrictions to adjust depending on a driver’s location.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, studies have shown ISAs to be an effective means of reducing speeding, and “suggest widespread or universal deployment of ISA could lead to significant crash, fatality, and injury reductions.” Meanwhile, the European Transport Safety Council expects the EU’s ISA regulations to reduce road deaths by 20%.
The U.S. speed limiter landscape
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Washington, D.C., implemented the country’s first ISA law in October 2025. Following DC’s successful Ignition Interlock Device Program, which mandates that drivers with DUI convictions install an ignition interlock device, the pilot program requires drivers convicted of aggravated reckless driving to install an ISA. Both Washington and Virginia enacted similar ISA regulations. In both cases, ISA enrollment serves as an alternative to suspending a driver’s license following severe driving convictions. Maryland, meanwhile, passed its Stop Super Speeders bill in April 2026. The law now awaits Governor Wes Moore’s signature.
As it stands, several states are considering ISA programs to slow down super speeders, including Arizona, New York, Vermont, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Illinois. California, meanwhile, attempted to follow Europe’s lead and mandate that ISAs be installed in every new vehicle, but Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the law in 2024. Now, the state’s assembly will consider the Stop Super Speeders Act, a more targeted ISA program similar to those implemented in Virginia and Washington. Meanwhile, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp vetoed his state’s speed limiter law in 2025.
Not every lawmaker is enthusiastic about speed limiters. The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation, for instance, nixed potential mandates requiring trucks with a gross weight over 26,001 pounds to install speed limiters. The controversial proposal, an Obama-era suggestion reupped by the Biden administration, saw safety and trucking advocates tussle over the merits of mandating speed limiters in the commercial sector. Republican lawmakers doubled down on this decision by proposing the DRIVE Act to bar federal agencies from imposing speed-limiter regulations. Interestingly, the DOT included intelligent speed assist strategies in its April 2026 Pathways to Safer Streets” initiative announcement. In either sense, if state-level regulations are any indicator, the technology is likely here to stay.
