Virginia Making ‘Super Speeders’ Install GPS-Powered Speed-Limiters. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Virginia has punished reckless drivers by mandating that they install a speed-limiter through a program that took effect in July, raising due-process concerns about how the information collected by this technology might be abused by governments.

Virginia’s Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) program requires drivers convicted of speeding over 100 MPH to install a GPS-monitored speed-limiter, The Wall Street Journal reported. The technology collects precise GPS locations of drivers to determine the speed limit on any given road and physically prevents drivers from speeding, raising concerns that the tech could be used as part of a surveillance state similar to objections raised against Flock Safety license plate readers.

The ISA devices collect information that is managed by the Virginia state government, according to the advocacy group Families For Safer Streets. The information includes GPS location, direction of travel and the speed of the vehicle. There are no explicit restrictions on the use of ISA data in the new Virginia law; however, the Virginia state Legislature proposed a bill on Oct. to provide guardrails on the use of the data collected in the new program.

The proposed regulations do not mandate the deletion of GPS data, and only require that the collected data remains confidential.

Maryland passed a similar “Super Speeder” law that is set to be fully implemented by 2027. Democratic state Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher of Maryland acknowledged the privacy concerns.

“This isn’t being installed in all vehicles […] it’s being installed only in the vehicles of super speeders,” Waldstreicher told NBC News4.

About 100 speed limiters have been installed for Virginia drivers since ISA began in July, WSJ reported. ISA requires convicted drivers to pay for the technology and its installation out of pocket. ISA installation costs $100 and requires a monthly fee of $180. Enrollment mandates have ranged from 60 days to six months.

While most of the 100 drivers punished with speed limiters were speeding over 100 MPH, drivers convicted of racing or racking up too many demerit points on their license can also be enrolled in ISA to avoid having their license suspended, the WSJ reported.

There have been major problems associated with the devices on top of the due-process concerns. One driver’s car was limited to 35 MPH while he was driving on the highway, forcing him to pull over, the WSJ reported. Others have reported similar issues due to what state officials are calling “GPS drift,” where the ISA GPS mistakenly believes the driver is on a nearby road with a different speed limit.