Speeding continues to be the leading cause of deaths and injuries in vehicle accidents, so is it any wonder that some states, most notably California, are trying to pass bills that would require speed regulators be built into new cars?
It’s time Minnesota demands the same thing.
The bill would require vehicle manufacturers to install electronic regulators in all new cars that would make it impossible for a driver to go any more than 10 miles over the maximum speed limit in a state.
California’s proposed bill calls for that action starting with cars and other vehicles made in 2027 and beyond. The mechanical regulator is called an “intelligent speed-limiter system.” Emergency vehicles would be exempt from the law.
In 2021, there were 63,751 vehicle crashes in Minnesota, and Stearns County was fifth from the top with 2,716 crashes. Hennepin County was the worst for total crashes, with 17,098 of them.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, speeding is still the number-one cause of fatalities and injuries in the state. And the speeding danger is exacerbated by drivers who are drunk or high on drugs, those who are distracted, those driving while angry (the road ragesters), so-called “joy riders” or those fleeing from law-enforcement officers.
Many speeding deaths are caused by thugs who steal or car-jack vehicles and then speed off at a very high rate of speed to get far away from the scenes of their crimes. Those misguided fools often run into pedestrians, pets, bicyclists, causing horrific deaths and/or hideous injuries. Day after day we hear or read about such speed-caused killings. Yes, that’s what they are – murder.
This is what California State Sen. Scott Wiener had to say about the ever-growing problem of speeding cars: “The alarming surge in road deaths is unbearable and demands an urgent response. There is no reason for anyone to be going over 100 miles per hour on a public road. Many believe people have a right to certain freedoms, but those freedoms should end when it puts others at risk.”
Exactly! No human being has the “freedom” or the “right” to drive at such high rates of speed unless perhaps they are professional race-car drivers on a certified race track.
Opponents claim “speed regulators” in vehicles would be yet another example of governmental interference with our lives. Nonsense! That’s the same thing some people whined and shouted about when seatbelts and/or bike helmets were made mandatory, that people had to buckle up or wear helmets in accordance with the law. Rights and freedoms were not violated. In fact, many thousands and thousands of lives were saved because of those simple but effective remedies.
Limiting car speeds with built-in regulators would also save lives and make freedoms and rights enjoyable for living people who aren’t dead because they weren’t killed by a reckless, distracted, angry speeding driver.
We urge people to write or call their Minnesota legislators to start drafting a “speed-regulator” bill as other states are wisely doing right now.
