Key New York City DAs Back Hochul on ‘Stop Super Speeders’

District attorneys in two of the most influential counties in New York are backing the version of the Stop Super Speeders Act that Gov. Hochul included in her executive budget.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his Brooklyn counterpart Eric Gonzalez sent a letter to Hochul, state Sen. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie urging them to insert speed-limiting devices in the cars of repeat reckless drivers — a long-sought reform that hasn’t gotten through the legislature, but now looks likely to pass, thanks to Gov. Hochul’s support.

“Speeding is a public safety emergency,” the elected prosecutors wrote. “From 2020 to 2024, unsafe speed was a top contributing factor to traffic deaths in New York City, playing a role in 317 fatal crashes and nearly 17,000 injury crashes. As prosecutors, we have seen firsthand the human cost of traffic crashes — and we support innovative ways to reduce dangerous driving behavior.”

The devices — known as Intelligent Speed Assistance — limit the speeds of cars by tracking their location and capping vehicle speeds. The district attorneys think the devices could have a similar effect to ignition locks commonly installed on the cars of drivers with a history of drunk-driving offenses.

“ISA technology is targeted, proportionate, and fair. It does not revoke licenses or eliminate livelihoods — it simply prevents the most dangerous repeat offenders from exceeding posted speed limits,” the letter said. “New York should lead here.”

The program would operate as a New York City pilot under the discretion of New York City Department of Transportation and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Details are scant on how exactly the program would be administered, although the governor’s office and the Mandani administration have been in discussions.

The Senate has included the proposal in its one-house budget, but the Assembly did not (the chamber typically does not include budget language without a financial impact, but Heastie has previously opposed versions of the legislation for legal fears that it would impinge on motorists’ right to due process).

Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and Assembly Member Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) sponsored the version (S4045/A2299) of the Stop Super Speeders Act considered by state lawmakers last year.

The statewide bill went through a fraught series of revisions that ultimately watered down its impact. The legislation would have required the devices in the cars of motorists with six or more camera-issued speeding tickets and/or red-light tickets in 12 months and cap speeds at five miles above the listed speed limit while allowing increases in acceleration under certain traffic conditions.

The final version considered by lawmakers would only apply to motorists who had been caught on camera speeding in school zones 16 times (the red-light tickets were excluded). The change meant the bill would affect fewer than 18,000 problem drivers rather than more than 150,000 as originally written.

That bill never made it out of the Assembly Transportation Committee, but passed the state Senate in its heavily amended form.

Now that the governor has made the legislation, albeit with unclear parameters, a budget priority, safe streets advocates are optimistic that the legislation will become law.

“The pain that traffic violence brings is something that no other family should have to experience,” said Families for Safe Streets member Raul Ampuero at a March rally in Albany. “My 9-year-old son was killed on Northern Boulevard in 2018 by a reckless driver. By passing the Stop Super Speeders Act, we can prevent crashes from the worst-of-the-worst drivers and bring New York closer to achieving Vision Zero.”