It’s pedal to the metal inside the demonstration vehicle in Arlington, Virginia. The driver has pressed the accelerator as far as it will go. A shrill alarm sounds, alerting the driver that she’s trying to go too fast. But the car stays at the speed limit: 25 mph on one street, 45 mph on another.
What’s preventing the car from reaching higher speeds is an intelligent speed assistance device.
The demonstration occurred on the eve of a new Virginia law that gives judges the authority to order the device’s installation in speeding cases.
D.C. and Maryland passed similar laws in 2025 and this year, and other states have laws in the works or on the books, but Virginia on July 1 becomes the first state in the nation to fully implement the technology-enabled program, officials said.
Pedestrian safety advocates joined Maryland and Virginia officials and device maker representatives in Arlington on Tuesday to mark the region’s adoption of ISA.
Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Lt. Patrick Kepp lost his legs after a 2023 crash. The 19-year-old driver who struck him was traveling at 162 mph and was already known to law enforcement. He said ISA devices work similarly to an ignition interlock for impaired driving.
“We’ve shown the recidivism rate for impaired driving with interlock is significantly lower, and hopefully that these devices can help lower those speeds and keep our roadways safer,” Kepp said.
Michael Cassidy, a retired Virginia judge turned advocate for the devices, said that in his court in Fairfax, “the 100 mile an hour speeding ticket is not uncommon, unfortunately.”
He also said that with some habitual speeders, jail time, fines and driver’s license suspensions only go so far.
“Question is, for a sentencing judge, what happens the day that that license suspension ends or the fine’s paid off,” Cassidy said.
Under Virginia’s law, signed in 2025 by then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin, judges can order the speed-limiting devices for offenders convicted of driving in excess of 100 mph.
Jessica Hart of D.C. Families for Safe Streets was plunged into the advocacy world when her 5-year-old daughter Allie was killed at a District intersection in 2021.
She learned about ISA in 2023 and worked with Ward 6 D.C. Council member Charles Allen to include the technology in his 2025 STEER Act, targeting repeat traffic law offenders.
“It really means a lot to the families who have had this horrible, horrible experience,” Hart said.
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