Lloyd Alter Advocates For Intelligent Speed Assistance

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We live in a digitally connected world. Many new cars today are equipped with systems that show the posted speed limit on a display in the driver’s line of sight. How difficult would it be to merge that information with the system that controls the speed of a vehicle to conform to those posted limits?

The answer is, not very difficult. Elon Musk could do it between hits of ketamine. Whether speed limits are appropriate or just part of a giant fund raising scheme by cities, towns, and states is a question that is outside the scope of this article. Many traffic safety experts suggest that drivers are actually better at determining what a safe speed is than a legislature or city council.

Authorities often distort the system by setting the speed limit unreasonably low, hoping drivers actually go slower as a result. A recent example is Indian River Drive, a scenic road between Fort Pierce and Jensen Beach in Florida that follows the western shore of the Indian River Lagoon. Along the way are road signs designating the communities that once sprang up on the shores of the IRL back in the days when goods and supplies were delivered by steamboats, not trucks or railroads.

It used to have a speed limit of 35 mph, but many drivers went 45 or 50 mph, so local authorities reduced it to 25 mph, hoping speeders would only go 35 after the change. The old speed limit seemed about right — a little slow perhaps, but a good compromise for the safety of the people in the homes along the road who had to get in and out of their driveways. Now it feels entirely too slow. In the absence of the speed limit signs, it is not a speed drivers would normally choose on that road.

New York Embraces Intelligent Speed Assistance

Recently, New York Governor Kathy Hochul made this announcement: “Keeping New Yorkers safe on our streets is my highest priority — be it those in cars, parents walking their kids to school, or cyclists commuting to work. We know that a disproportionate number of dangerous incidents on our roads are caused by a small group of bad actors who speed recklessly and endanger everyone’s safety. Now, we are taking these super speeders on and working with the City of New York to end their fast and furious driving on our roads once and for all.”

In her annual State Of The State address, the governor said she “will introduce legislation to authorize New York City to pilot a program to require the installation of Intelligent Speed Assistance systems for drivers with a documented pattern of flouting speeding laws and putting New Yorkers at risk. Under this initiative, New York City can require that vehicles driven by persistent speeders be equipped with technology that prevents travel more than a few miles per hour above the posted speed limit.”

Requiring those who are repeat speeding offenders to install Intelligent Speed Assistance devices in their vehicles seems like an easy way to address the issue of people who drive too fast every tine they get behind the wheel. Those ISAs would be integrated into the Internet of Things and would be aware of the posted speed limit and prevent those drivers from exceeding it by more than a few miles an hour.

Which begs the question, if the device knows the posted speed limit, why permit any variation? The answer may be that all the other cars on the road are probably not abiding by the speed limit and so someone doddering along at 25 mph when the flow of traffic is 40 mph or more would disrupt other drivers the way school buses and trash trucks do.

There are other considerations. What if the driver is in the middle of a medical emergency and needs to get to a hospital quickly? Are there no situations in which the ISA could be overridden? Would the driver need to get special permission from a magistrate to speed?

Speeding & Drunk Driving

In some places, people have been trying to address the issue of impaired drivers — usually drunks — who get caught, go through mandatory re-education programs, and then get drunk and get behind the wheel again — and again, and again. There are systems available that can be installed that require something like a breathalyzer check before the car will start. And yet, such systems have never gained wide acceptance.

Another common problem is people who drive even after their license has been suspended or revoked. There is a simple solution. Each car would be fitted with an optical license scanner. Get in, insert your license, and the car starts. No license, no driving.

I would add an enhancement in which every car would have a bright orange rectangle where the front license plate normally goes. When the license is inserted, it would display in that space. If an unlicensed driver is behind the wheel, other motorists would see that splash of bright orange approaching and know to stay out of the way. In addition, I propose a red flashing light on the roof and speaker under the hood blaring, “Caution — Unlicensed driver approaching!” I think that would be very effective and I don’t understand why companies are not banging on my door, demanding to license the idea.

Speed Limiters Are Not Popular

Alter writes that in 1923, the city of Cincinnati proposed speed governors on all cars that would limit them to 25 mph. The idea was rejected overwhelmingly by the voters.

In a book entitled Fighting Traffic by Peter Norton, the author said,

“No longer would there be any thought about limiting speed. Indeed, one industry executive explained that ‘the motor car was invented so that man could go faster’ and that ‘the major inherent quality of the automobile is speed.’ Instead, the approach to safety would be to control the pedestrians and get them out of the way, to separate them with jaywalking laws and strict controls. Over time, safety would be redefined to make roads safer for cars, not people.”

That may seem absurd, but there is some wisdom to be found in those words. I myself have opined there ought to be separate transportation systems for cars, buses, bicyclists, and pedestrians to limit, if not eliminate, contact between the various groups.

I have recently updated my idea to include separate travel lanes for autonomous vehicles. Why invest billions in self-driving systems that can deal with every conceivable edge case? Why not just eliminate the edge cases instead? I realize my ideas are impractical, but then so is annexing Greenland. Why should one doddering old fool have all the fun when other doddering old fools have ridiculous ideas of their own? It’s not fair!

ISA In The USA

New York is not alone in its interest in Intelligent Speed Assistance systems. On his Carbon Upfront blog, Lloyd Alter has helpfully included this map of US states that have already passed similar laws or are considering them. One of them is California, as we reported last year.

According to Kea Wilson of Streetsblog, “Legislators in 18 states and counting have either passed, introduced, or signaled their commitment to pursue a ‘Stop Super Speeders’ bill, which would mandate the installation of active Intelligent Speed Assist technology on any vehicles registered to a driver with a track record of specific deadly driving offenses.”

Families for Safe Streets notes, “The push for ISA — especially active ISA, a system that automatically prevents a vehicle from exceeding the speed limit — builds on a long history of global traffic safety measures. Unlike traditional enforcement, such as a police officer stopping a speeding driver or an automated ticket arriving in the mail, ISA is a proactive technology that prevents speeding before it occurs.”

Expect Pushback

The pushback from drivers and automakers will be ferocious. Can you imagine movies like Smokey And The Bandit or TV shows like The Dukes Of Hazzard in a world where ISA systems are common? In Thelma And Louise, the protagonists wouldn’t have gone over the cliff in a blaze of glory and Rebel Without A Cause would have ended with only minor injuries. Not only that, James Dean would be still with us at age 95.

The need for speed has been part of the mystique of the automobile since the beginning, memorialized in songs like Beep! Beep! Manufacturers bombard us with 0-60 times and horsepower claims. Cars are freedom machines — rolling cocoons where we are masters of all we survey.

In our ever more connected world, we have the ability to exert control over these chromium, steel, and aluminum paeans to personal freedom. We could eliminate drunk driving and speeding tomorrow if we chose to. Do we dare to make that choice?