Survey shows passenger vehicle drivers support speed-limiting devices

Arlington, VA — Most drivers would approve the use of vehicle technology designed to prevent or limit speeding, results of a recent survey from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show.

Of the more than 1,800 U.S. adult drivers surveyed, 63.8% said intelligent speed assistance technology would be acceptable to them. Around half backed the idea of an intelligent speed limiter (51.5%) or a supportive accelerator pedal (50%).

Additionally, around 75% of the drivers said such technology would reduce crashes related to speeding. More than 80% support a feature that would display the current speed limit.

“These findings are exciting because they suggest American drivers are willing to change how they drive to make our roads safer,” IIHS President David Harkey said in a press release. “The conventional wisdom has always been that speed-restricting technology would never fly in our car-centric culture.”

Within the trucking industry, debate over speed limiters continues. In May 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration introduced a hotly contested proposed rule that would require the installation of speed limiters on trucks, buses and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

An expansion of a 2016 joint proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and FMCSA, the proposed rulemaking now includes only FMCSA and doesn’t specify a top speed. The 2016 proposal suggested capping speeds at 60, 65 or 68 mph.

FMCSA initially listed June 2023 as a target date for publication of a second proposed rule. The forecast later was pushed to December. In February, the Department of Transportation’s Significant Rulemaking Report listed May as the next target date, but the agency has yet to publish another proposal.

Legislation currently in the House (H.R. 3039) and Senate (S. 2671) would prohibit FMCSA from requiring speed-limiting devices on large trucks and buses.