The NTSB Wants More Speed-Limiting Tech in New Vehicles
New cars have all sorts of driver monitoring tech on board that can tell when a person is paying attention or has their hands on the wheel, but the National Transportation Safety Board feels there’s a need for more. The NTSB asked 17 automakers to add anti-speeding tech to new vehicles going forward, following an extremely deadly crash in Las Vegas last year that left nine people dead.
The crash was caused by a driver traveling 103 mph in a 2018 Dodge Challenger. Five other vehicles were involved, including a minivan with seven people inside. Besides the drugs in the driver’s system, the car’s extreme speed turned it into a deadly battering ram.
Following its investigation into the crash, the NTSB asked 17 automakers, including BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, and VW, to equip new vehicles with speed-assistance features. The NTSB recommended that the vehicles have a speed warning system at a minimum, but some automakers offer more aggressive systems that make it harder and more annoying to speed.
The NTSB also asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require speed-limiting tech in new vehicles and recommended the group add testing criteria for the functions in its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The NHTSA is reviewing public comments on the topic of speed-assist tech, but the NTSB has continued pushing forward with its efforts, asking the IIHS to assess the impact of risky behaviors portrayed in vehicle marketing campaigns.
While many of us would probably rather not have more monitoring equipment in our cars, there’s no doubt that driver aids save lives. On top of that, the number of advanced safety features is set to increase as vehicles become more connected, not the other way around.
[Image: Railway FX via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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- SPPPP I am not thrilled for the inevitable false positives. Though that's certainly better than false negatives in the abstract - but people are supposed to be paying attention anyway. Seems like one more step toward a robotic, commoditized future. Bleh.
- SPPPP I like it, though price seems a bit high, especially for an automatic. But it's in CA, so it's probably par for the course.
- Arthur Dailey Incredibly we have 2 employees who own Fiats. A 500 and a 500L and they both have had positive ownership experiences. However they are also both skilled maintenance mechanics, trained in Europe, and perform much of the maintenance on their vehicles themselves.Perhaps that is the key?
- 28-Cars-Later I'll bid $600 but that's my final offer.
- 28-Cars-Later "Consumer Reports participated in the research process for the ruling, saying it had submitted a petition with 24,000 consumer signatures to push the NHTSA to act." The same NHSTA who allows multiple spot lights on every new car to blind everyone at night?
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I would happily program my vehicle to never go above 80mph, and same for the car my teenage daughter drives. Doesn't need to be some high-tech solution.
And my employer would gladly do the same on all our fleet vehicles.
You want unlimited speed? Take it the track.
LIke it or not driving a vehicle of any kind is inherently dangerous, add drugs, road rage, distracted driving and you have the makings of of a potentially dangerous happening. And you don't have to be driving at 103 mph to have a tragedy, that can occur at 35, 40 mph. If someone gets repeatedly pulled over for impaired driving, take their license away take away their license until they complete some type of treatment program and can demonstrate they can properly operate a vehicle.