A recently passed law in Maryland will require repeat traffic offenders to install speed-limiting devices on their vehicles. The legislation sparked doubts among Maryland residents, as many remain unconvinced that the new rule will actually improve driving on the state’s roads.
The SB0366/HB0107 bill was recently approved in Maryland. According to reports, the legislation requires certain “high-risk drivers” with a history of speeding to install an Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) device in their cars. ISA essentially uses the vehicle’s GPS to prevent it from exceeding the speed limit on certain roads, effectively forcing drivers to slow down even if they do not want to.
The SB0366/HB0107 bill was recently approved in Maryland. The legislation requires certain high-risk drivers with a history of speeding to install an Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) device in their cars. ISA essentially uses the vehicle’s GPS to prevent it from exceeding the speed limit on certain roads, effectively forcing drivers to slow down even if they do not want to.
Reports indicate that similar laws have been passed in Virginia and Washington and have at least been introduced by lawmakers in over a dozen other states.
Residents Are Not Sure That Maryland’s New Law Will Be Effective
While some welcomed the change as a way to keep roads safer, many Maryland residents were skeptical of the new law on social media. For some, it does not address the core problem: most speeders are simply never caught at all. “Now, to get the police to actually pull over the people who need this,” one user wrote.
Another seemingly puzzled person asked, “Why not suspend their licenses?” People who agreed with the law argued that penalties such as license suspensions do not work in many cases, as many drivers simply continue driving without a license. Even then, some people still expressed skepticism: “Doubt this does anything to deter those people.”
Others felt it was unfair to impose such a rule when, in their view, even police officers do not seem to follow the law: “Ironic, because I see cops doing 90 mph in the fast lane with no lights on all the time.”
At least some people welcomed the change, though. One Maryland resident tried to explain why they believe these measures work: “Nearly everyone is going to put this in their cars if so ordered. The state already has the process set up for devices like interlock devices for drunk drivers. (…) When a court orders a driver to install an interlock, they have a set time to install it. (…) Failure to do any of this results in immediate license revocation, extended suspension times, and potential jail time.”
In any case, only time and solid data will tell whether this was a mistake or a good choice by Maryland lawmakers, and whether it reduced traffic accidents.
