California governor vetoes bill that would require speed signs on new cars

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Friday that would have required new cars to beep at drivers if they exceed the speed limit.

California will be the first to require the system for all new cars, trucks and buses sold in the state starting in 2030. The bill, which aims to reduce traffic deaths, will mandate that vehicles beep at drivers when they exceed the speed limit. at least 10 mph (16 kph).

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The European Union has passed similar laws to encourage drivers to slow down. The California proposal would provide exemptions for emergency vehicles, motorcycles and motorized scooters.

In explaining the veto, Newsom said that federal law already dictates vehicle safety standards and that adding California-specific requirements would create regulation.

National Highway Traffic Safety “is also actively evaluating intelligent speed assistance systems, and imposing a state-level mandate at this time could interfere with ongoing federal assessments,” the Democratic governor said.

Opponents, including auto groups and the state Chamber of Commerce, say the regulations should be decided by the federal government, which earlier this year established new requirements for automatic emergency braking to prevent traffic deaths. Republican lawmakers also said the proposal could make cars more expensive and discourage drivers.

The law will likely affect all new car sales in the US, as the California market is so large that automakers will build all of their vehicles.

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California often throws its weight around to influence national and even international policy. The country has set its own emissions standards for cars for decades, rules that more than a dozen other countries have also adopted. And when California announced it would finally ban the sale of new gas-powered cars, major automakers followed suit with their own announcements to phase out fossil fuel vehicles.

Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, who sponsored the bill, called the veto a setback for road safety.

“California must lead this crisis just as Wisconsin did when it passed the first seat belt mandate in 1961,” Wiener said in a statement. “However, this veto leaves California with unnecessary fatal risks.”

Speeding alert technology, known as intelligent speed assistance, uses GPS to compare the vehicle’s speed with a posted limit data set. If the car is at least 10 mph (16 kph), the system emits a single, brief, visual and audio alert.

The proposal would require the state to maintain a list of posted speed limits, and that would likely not include local roads or speed limit changes, which could cause conflicts.

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The technology has been used in the US and Europe for years. Starting in July, the European Union will require all new cars to have the technology, even if drivers can turn it off. At least 18 manufacturers, including Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan, have offered some speed limits on some models sold in America, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The National Highway and Traffic Administration estimates that 10% of all car accidents reported to the police by 2021 will be related to speed. That’s especially a problem in California, where 35% of traffic fatalities are speed-related — the second-highest in the nation, according to a legislative analysis of the proposal.

Last year the NTSB recommended that federal regulators require all new cars to alert drivers when they are speeding. The recommendation comes after a crash in January 2022, in which a man with a history of violations ran a red light at a speed of more than 100 mph (161 kph) and crashed into a minivan, killing himself and eight others.

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