Virginia is now ordering some of its most reckless drivers to install GPS-powered speed limiters that physically stop their cars from going over the speed limit, according to WND.
The state's Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) program was created by House Bill 2096, passed in 2025, and took effect July 1, 2026. The devices use precise GPS locations to determine the speed limit on any given road and then prevent the vehicle from exceeding it, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Under the law, a judge must order enrollment for drivers convicted of reckless driving at more than 100 mph, unless the court suspends their license instead. Enrollment lasts from 60 days to six months, and judges can also offer the program to other reckless drivers as an alternative to a suspension.
About 100 Virginia drivers have had the limiters installed since the program began, according to the Journal. Drivers convicted of racing or racking up too many demerit points can also be enrolled to avoid losing their licenses, the paper reported.
Convicted drivers must pay for the technology themselves. Installation costs $100, and the program carries a $180 monthly fee.
The devices collect the vehicle's GPS location, direction of travel and speed, according to the advocacy group Families For Safer Streets. The new Virginia law contains no explicit restrictions on how that data can be used, and that has raised due-process and privacy concerns.
A bill proposed in October would add guardrails on use of the collected data, though the proposed rules do not require the GPS data to be deleted, only that it remain confidential. Bill Chastain of LifeSafer told NBC4 that the company sends courts drivers' violations if requested, but not their GPS coordinates.
The devices have also malfunctioned on the road. One driver's car was limited to 35 mph while he was on the highway, forcing him to pull over, the Journal reported.
Others have reported similar problems caused by what state officials call "GPS drift." That happens when the device mistakenly believes the driver is on a nearby road with a different speed limit.
"If we can slow cars down a little bit on those dangerous drivers, we can save lives," Michael Travars, president of device maker LifeSafer, told the Journal. LifeSafer is one of two companies making ISA devices for Virginia, and the paper noted that more than 10,000 people die each year in reckless driving-related crashes.
Virginia, Washington, D.C., New York and Washington State have enacted ISA-style programs, and Maryland passed a similar "Super Speeder" law set to be fully in place by 2027. "This isn't being installed in all vehicles [] it's being installed only in the vehicles of super speeders," Maryland Democratic state Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher told NBC4.
In New York, 14% of vehicles account for more than 46% of speeding tickets, according to a Manhattan Institute report. More than 75% of drivers with suspended licenses keep driving anyway, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
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