Late last year, California announced that beginning in 2035, all new cars sold in the state would be required to be zero-emissions. This is part of a push to make electric cars the norm in the Golden State to fight climate change.
“We can solve this climate crisis if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to cut pollution. California now has a groundbreaking, world-leading plan to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035,” Newsom said in a statement.
Now, another Democrat on the west coast has proposed legislation that would add another requirement to residents’ vehicles.
A California state senator introduced legislation that would require cars and trucks sold in the state after 2027 to have technology to make it impossible to go more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.
State Sen. Scott Wiener unveiled the legislation this week. On X (formerly Twitter), Wiener claimed that legislation, S.B. 961, would save lives.
SB 961 does 2 things:
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) January 24, 2024
—Requires vehicles built or sold in CA be unable to drive more than 10 MPH above the speed limit (except emergency vehicles)
—Requires that large trucks built or sold in CA have side guards to prevent cars/bikes from being pulled under the truck in a crash
SB 960 will make CA’s many state-owned roads (“state highways” that are actually city surface streets) safer for all users. Many state roads lack basic features that make them safer for pedestrians, cyclists & bus riders. They lack sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes & so forth.
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) January 24, 2024
Reportedly, there were over 4,400 car accident deaths in California in 2022. In 2021, speeding was a factor in 29% of all traffic fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"I don't think it's at all an overreach, and I don't think most people would view it as an overreach, we have speed limits, I think most people support speed limits because people know that speed kills," Wiener said, according to ABC7.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Wiener added that the bill is “reasonable.”
In 2019, CNN reported that new cars sold in Europe from 2022 onward would have to be fitted with systems to limit their speed. The report noted that these systems could be temporarily overridden by the driver.
