Big Brother to put an end to speeding in NY

Officials in New York are mulling a bill that would mandate speed limiters in new vehicles that would be set to the local maximum allowable limit. The system would use GPS and traffic sign recognition technology to determine the speed limit.

The system has an appropriately benign and Orwellian name: Active Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA).

Senate Bill S9528 was introduced by Manhattan State Senator Brad Hoylman on Aug. 12 and, if passed, would require any vehicle manufactured or registered in the state of New York to be fitted with the ISA system, starting from Jan. 1, 2024. It cites the results of a study that show such a system could reduce traffic fatalities by 20%.

The bill also calls for existing active safety systems like automatic emergency braking, active lane control, blind-spot monitors with pedestrian detection, driver drowsiness detection, and even a data event recorder to be mandated from the same date.

If you're thinking this sounds like a bad science fiction movie, New York City is already running a trial with 50 vehicles from the city's fleet fitted with an ISA system. The trial will run for six months.

"Speeding ruins lives, so we must take action to prevent it, and New York City is leading by example by implementing new technology to reduce speeds on city fleet vehicles," Eric Adams, New York City's mayor, said in a statement.

Critics of the system argue that in certain circumstances it’s vital to be able to go past the limit, such as during merging. A solution here could be to introduce the limit in stages. For example, first there could be a warning bell if the speed limit is exceeded. Then there could be a second, more serious warning, which if still ignored would then see the vehicle's speed automatically reduced.

Of course, it's not hard to imagine officials also using the system to constantly monitor a driver's speed and automatically issue fines should the speed limit be exceeded.

A saving grace, as Jalopnik notes, is that safety standards for new vehicles, unlike emissions standards, are set at the federal level, which brings into question whether New York officials will be able to implement the bill even if passed.

The bill is currently In Committee, which means it's under consideration. It has not passed the New York State Senate or State Assembly, and if it passes both it would have to be signed into law or vetoed by the governor.

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The system has an appropriately benign and Orwellian name: Active Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA).

Real name: Active Speed Surveillance (ASS).

I am sure that the state of NY will pay for all the extra technology on your car. Let's try it out the NY highway patrol and see how they like it.

There are 1,000s of NY .gov bureaucracy vehicles that could try this out first.

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Originally posted by 229DAK:
There are 1,000s of NY .gov bureaucracy vehicles that could try this out first.

Why that is just a capital idea.

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mandate speed limiters in new vehicles that would be set to the local maximum allowable limit. The system would use GPS and traffic sign recognition technology to determine the speed limit.

Until it miscalculates.
I can imagine being on a 75mph freeway, with a 45mph frontage & the system miscalculating that you've magically jumped onto the frontage & abruptly arresting your speed.

Then they'll add a kill function for the police to use and for hackers to exploit.

NY is great for passing all sorts of laws they can't possibly implement.

This would be a downright dangerous thing to do on the highways here. Driving the speed limit is legitimately unsafe.

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..automatically issue fines should the speed limit be exceeded.

And there of course is the real reason.

Why not just add a small cell blocker to any vehicle that is moving? Takes away the distraction of using your phone while driving. That would probably save more lives.

It is funny you say that. I have been saying for years that if you truly wanted to save lives on the roads you would mandate cell phone blocking tech in cars that only allow GPS and 911 calls. As much as hate govt interference in life I think the juice is worth the squeeze on this one. People on cell phones are a bigger threat to you on the road than drunk drivers.

As for this law, well it is just plain stupid. It's like they didn't even consider the potentially fatal downsides.

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Originally posted by Bluecobra:
Why not just add a small cell blocker to any vehicle that is moving?

You mean beside the facts it would be a violation of federal law, would be difficult to limit to the one vehicle, would negatively impact navigation and other fully-legitimate functions such as music streaming, would also affect non-driving passengers, and would eliminate legitimate location tracking?

No reason. No reason at all.

As for New York states nifty new idea: Frack 'em. I have no plans to go into or anywhere near NYS again, anyway.

I'll bet Kalifornia is dreaming up something bigger and better to top NY.

How would the local municipalities make up the lost revenue from not issuing any speeding tickets?

One can only wonder.

PRNY

How about a auto lane change system that takes control of slower cars in the left lane and moves them over.

easier, cheaper and faster to get rid of big brother

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:

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Originally posted by Bluecobra:
Why not just add a small cell blocker to any vehicle that is moving?

You mean beside the facts it would be a violation of federal law, would be difficult to limit to the one vehicle, would negatively impact navigation and other fully-legitimate functions such as music streaming, would also affect non-driving passengers, and would eliminate legitimate location tracking?

No reason. No reason at all.

As for New York states nifty new idea: Frack 'em. I have no plans to go into or anywhere near NYS again, anyway.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Agree 100%

If memory serves, I think I read about a similar plan that the British government was looking at.
And a 20% reduction in crashes? Overly optimistic.
Speed alone does not cause crashes unless another condition also occurs:
Poor road and weather conditions. Distracted driving. Impairment. Loss of control.
And if New Yorkers sit still for this, then they deserve it.