New technology could force speeders to slow down

Last year, the state expanded its ignition interlock system, which allows people convicted of driving while impaired to get back on the road if they pass a breathalyzer test each time they get behind the wheel.

A law sponsor is Rep. Larry Kraft (DFL-St. Louis Park), who was inspired to consider if a similar program could be created to put the brakes on habitual speeders. What if those drivers’ vehicles were equipped with technology that made it impossible to exceed the speed limit?

There is such technology. It’s called an intelligence speed assistance device, and it can either warn a driver when they’ve exceeded the speed limit or physically prevent the vehicle from reaching such speeds. Kraft would like to see the state initiate a program that would allow repeat offenders who have lost their licenses due to speeding violations to get back on the road if they have such devices on their vehicles.

HF3429 would create such a program. On Monday, the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill, as amended, and sent it to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee.

“This bill is about saving lives,” Kraft said. “And it comes from the very simple premise that too much speed causes too much death on our roads. About 30% of the deaths on our roads are primarily caused by speed. … From a risk perspective, roughly for every 10 miles per hour increase in speed, the risk of dying in a crash doubles.”

The bill would create a mandatory intelligence speed assistance program for offenders who have lost their license for a “qualifying speed violation,” which can range from a single instance of driving in excess of 100 mph to three or more instances of lower-level speeding — such as driving 10 mph over the speed limit — over a 12-month period.

Such programs have been put in place in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Washington.

“Research has shown that a small group of high-risk repeat offenders are the greatest danger,” Kraft said.

Mike Hanson, director of the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety, said speeding has become an increasingly common problem on the state’s roads.

“Speaking with the State Patrol, pre-COVID, they would issue between 400 and 450 tickets a year to drivers exceeding 100 mph,” he said. “Post-COVID, that number doubled and then some, to well over 1,000 violations a year.”

A fiscal note estimates that the program would cost $423,000 in the current biennium and $1.04 million in the next.

While the committee’s co-chair, Rep. Jon Koznick (R-Lakeville), has reservations about the potential costs, Rep. Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont) praised the bill.

“We are getting to the root cause of the problem,” he said. “I think the concept is stellar: Holding people accountable for their own personal actions. … And I think the data will prove that this will save people’s lives.”