Speeding is one of the most significant factors involved in traffic fatalities, so should the Canadian government consider ordering manufacturers to lower the maximum speeds on their cars?
Every so often, either a municipal police detachment or a force like the BC Highway Patrol will put out a release about speeding drivers.
In response to a post on X (formerly Twitter) from North Vancouver RCMP of two new drivers caught speeding at 180 km/h, a lawyer asked why cars must go as fast as they do.
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One thing to consider before answering the question of whether or not we should reduce max car speeds is what the baseline is for max speeds for cars across Canada.
The highest speed limit across the country is on BC’s Coquihalla Highway, with a 120 km/h limit.
Kyla Lee, a criminal lawyer with expertise in DUI and IRP, suggested that car manufacturers need to do better and the government should hold them accountable.
“There is no reason they need to go this fast,” Lee tweeted.
Stats suggest speeding is the most significant contributing factor to fatalities on the road.
According to StatCan, in 2020, speeding contributed to 25.3% of fatal motor vehicle accidents, less than impaired driving (17.6%).
Lee suggests this wouldn’t be that difficult to implement.
“BC already passed legislation to require commercial vehicles to have speed limiters installed. There is no reason they could not do that for passenger vehicles. It would have to be grandfathered, but they could also offer incentives for after-market limiters to be installed, such as a discount on insurance or a fuel rebate. Transport Canada could also do this as a national rule, although that may be less useful since speed limits have such variance between provinces.”
While no other jurisdictions have undertaken such a feat, Lee did point to what the US is doing with requiring new cars to have passive alcohol sensing devices installed by 2025 as a similar strategy.
What speed would be fair to set as a max if this was attempted?
Lee believes no car should ever need to travel faster than 120 km/h but set it at 130 km/h as a compromise.
“Speed limits are often set artificially low to account for drivers who think it is safe to comfortably exceed.”
She also pointed out that some car manufacturers are experimenting with implementing technology that uses GPS to limit vehicle speed based on where they are.
“At some point, we have to hold car manufacturers legally accountable for creating a product they know is dangerous, they know will be used dangerously, and doing nothing to mitigate that risk. The fact that any new car these days can handily go 200 kph is completely absurd. It is negligent to make a product that manufacturers know full well will be driven at those speeds when it is simply not needed.”
At what point is the government going to create regulations to speed limit cars? There is no reason they need to go this fast. They don’t need to be built to go this fast. Car manufacturers should do better. https://t.co/CdJc6eNp8X
— Kyla Lee (@IRPlawyer) September 13, 2023
We’ve contacted Transport Canada to see if this could be viable.
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