Virginia deploys GPS speed limiters as eight states and D.C. authorize them

Early program reports include a 35 mph highway cap and a cross-street limit

Virginia began installing GPS-based Intelligent Speed Assistance devices in July, making the state the first to use the technology as an enforcement tool for reckless drivers. About 100 speed-limiters had been installed in cars by Nov. 2. Most participants were charged with or convicted of reckless driving, often for topping 100 mph, and installed a limiter as an alternative to license suspension. The government says speeding contributes to more than 10,000 deaths a year nationwide. State officials call drivers who disregard speed limits “super speeders.”

Virginia’s approach is the speeding counterpart to ignition-interlock devices, which force people convicted of DUI to pass a breathalyzer test to start the engine. One system addresses egregious speeding; the other is intended to stop drunken driving before the vehicle is driven.

Virginia’s devices use GPS and a map database to determine speed limits, then prevent drivers from surpassing those limits even if they hit the gas. Limited overrides are permitted for merging or emergency maneuvers. “We are talking about a small subset of drivers who are disproportionately causing harm on our roadways, and we finally have a tool that works,” said Amy Cohen, president of advocacy group Families for Safe Streets. “The big game-changer is that now all the roads are mapped for what their speed limits are.”

On a recent morning in Fredericksburg, a Wall Street Journal reporter test drove Travars’s Lexus sedan equipped with a LifeSafer device. A small screen next to the dashboard showed the applicable speed limit and the car’s speed. Just before the car reached the limit, the engine’s power noticeably waned. Tapping the red “override” button let the Lexus accelerate. Drivers in Virginia’s program are allowed to exceed the speed limit twice between turning the car on and off, for 30 seconds each time and by 5 mph. On the drive, the device closely tracked roadside speed-limit signs, though in one case it took a few seconds to switch from a 65 mph zone to a 45 mph zone. It does not apply brakes, and downhill momentum sometimes took the car over the limit.

Some early program glitches were attributed by state officials and a device supplier to “GPS drift,” which can make a system select a lower speed limit from a nearby road. One driver said the device inexplicably cut his car’s top speed to 35 mph on a highway, forcing him to pull over, according to the person’s lawyer. Another driver reported that the device wrongly applied a cross street’s speed limit while the car passed through an intersection. Officials and the supplier said a fix would be in place soon.

One participant tried tampering with the device, a potential crime. The person later complied and is no longer in the program, officials said.

“It is rare to find a policy approach like this,” said Patrick Hope, a Democratic state delegate who spearheaded Virginia’s law. Hope initially sought to require speed-limiters for all reckless-driving convictions in lieu of suspension. At Republican lawmakers’ request, then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin narrowed the measure to 100-plus-mph convictions. Drivers clocked going slower can still wind up with a speed-limiting device, as can motorists convicted of racing and drivers who accumulate too many demerit points. Hope said, “Sometimes the problems are complex, sometimes the solutions are complex. This is very easy. This solves a problem.”

Washington, D.C., launched a similar program and had enrolled five drivers as of Oct. 21. Washington, D.C., and eight states have passed laws allowing the devices for problem speeders, with additional rollouts planned from Hawaii to Georgia over the next couple of years. “Folks on both sides of the aisle are rallying behind this,” said Lexi Elio, a transportation-policy specialist with the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. Elio said privacy guardrails control access to individuals’ driving data.

Virginia participants pay for the program unless they are indigent. Installation costs up to $100, and monthly fees total $180. Any car a participant owns or drives must have a device. Enrollment periods so far have ranged from 60 days to six months, according to state officials. Public defender Brianna Cox said the speed-limiter program can bring financial hardship and remove her ability to argue against a suspension so that a client can drive. “Now the default argument is going to be ‘he can drive, he just has to do this program,’” she said.

Defense lawyer Garrett Green said he uses the device to give a judge a way to consider not jailing a client or fully suspending the client’s driving rights. Several drivers represented by lawyer Andrew Flusche chose a device over a commuting-only license suspension. “You can go to the grocery store,” he said. “You can go to visit your friends.”

One practical benefit cited by supporters is that motorists with speed-limiters can keep driving wherever they want, whereas some license suspensions allow only a work commute, if at all. Researchers have found that up to 75% of people with suspended licenses get behind the wheel anyway.

Even ardent advocates of the devices, called Intelligent Speed Assistance, say they know capping a car’s speed can raise concerns. Michael Travars, president of LifeSafer and one of two device makers used by Virginia, said the devices raise concerns about limiting access to the open road. “At the end of the day, we’re American, right?” he said. “The open road is a very, very important part of our culture, which means we do not want to take away any of that experience.” Travars said the program aims to help drivers whom state officials call “super speeders” break the habit so they do not revert to it after the device’s removal. “If we can slow cars down a little bit on those dangerous drivers,” he said, “we can save lives.”

Speed-limiters are also increasingly common in commercial and government fleets. New York City is expanding their use in city-owned vehicles. Under a newly passed state law, the city can require speed-limiters for motorists who accumulate 16 or more speed-camera tickets in a year, but the program still needs City Council approval.

Virginia’s early record shows the practical limits of the approach alongside its intended reach. The devices can enforce a mapped limit without applying brakes, while drivers have reported a 35 mph cap on a highway and a cross-street limit at an intersection. State officials and a device supplier acknowledged that some program glitches were caused by “GPS drift.” The broader rollout also puts program costs, privacy controls and rules covering every car a participant owns or drives at the center of state decisions.