New Virginia law will use technology to crack down on speeding reckless drivers

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A new law is aiming to rein in speeding and reckless driving throughout Virginia.

Governor Glenn Youngkin recently signed House Bill 2096. The legislation is designed to use technology to slow down speeders.

Under this law, a person convicted of going over 100 mph could be ordered by a judge to install a speed-limiting device in their car. The device uses GPS data and provides accelerator resistance to make speeding more difficult.

This law is personal for Tammy Gweedo McGee. In 2019, her 16-year-old son Conner was a passenger who was killed when the driver lost control and crashed.

“[The driver] ran off the road, hit a tree, flipped the car,” she said. “He killed all three of them that night because he thought it was cool to speed.”

McGee partnered with Families for Safe Streets to advocate for the bill.

“I think that most people don’t understand that speed is the number one factor in traffic fatalities in Virginia and in most other states … it’s something that we have 100% control over,” McGee said.

The program is called Intelligent Speed Assistance and would serve as an alternative to a driver having their license suspended.

“If you put this piece of technology on that person’s vehicle, they can still go to work and they can still do it legally, and they won’t be allowed to go over the speed limit,” and that’s the wonderful thing about this technology,” McGee said.

McGee believes the technology will help save lives and lead to safer streets.

“They don’t get the right to put other people at harm on our roadways and take someone else’s life so needlessly and so preventably,” she said. “Everyone deserves to be able to come home safe.”

Drivers participating in the program would have to cover the costs of the device. If the device is tampered with, the driver could be charged with a class one misdemeanor. This law is set to go into effect on July 1, 2026.