Oregon advocates are laying the groundwork for a 2027 legislative push that would force some of the state's worst repeat speeders to install a device that physically limits how fast their car can go. The proposal, known as Stop Super Speeders, would target drivers with serious reckless-driving or speeding convictions, including those clocked going more than 100 miles per hour or more than 20 miles per hour over the posted limit. Behind the effort is Michelle Duberry, a Portland mother who lost her 1-year-old son Seamus after a driver struck and killed him in a crosswalk.
According to the Statesman Journal, the devices being discussed, known as intelligent speed assist technology, interact only with a car's accelerator and do not touch the brake system. Zachary Lauritzen, quoted in the same report, compared the tool to breathalyzers or ignition interlock devices already used for impaired driving, saying the technology gives the judicial system tools that slow people down. Duberry told the paper the bill will slow drivers down and save lives.
How the Device Would Work
Under the proposed framework, drivers would cover the cost of the intelligent speed assist device themselves, according to the Statesman Journal's reporting. Installation would run approximately $150, with ongoing monthly costs of about $150 and a roughly $100 fee to remove the device once a driver's requirement ends. Oregon State Police would monitor the program, building on the agency's existing oversight of the state's ignition interlock device system.
Advocates have suggested the mandate should target repeat speeding offenders and drivers involved in crashes causing injury or death where speed was a factor, per the Statesman Journal. The bill's backers point to research cited by advocates showing that roughly 75% of drivers whose licenses have been suspended keep driving anyway, an argument for a device-based approach rather than relying solely on suspensions.
A Firefighter-Turned-Lawmaker's Push
Oregon state Rep. Dacia Grayber, who represents Portland, became involved in the effort after attending a vigil organized with Oregon Walks, drawing on two decades of experience as a firefighter and paramedic, the Statesman Journal reported. Grayber said her legislative priority is saving the most lives in the best way possible. Portland Families for Safe Streets, the local chapter of a group founded in New York in 2014, plans to partner with Oregon Walks, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Grayber to champion the legislation during the 2027 session.
Per Families for Safe Streets, speeding drivers were involved in 32% of Oregon's crash deaths in 2023, a year in which 587 people were killed in crashes statewide. Advocates presenting on the proposal said similar legislation has already passed in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Washington state, framing Oregon's effort as part of a broader wave of state action.
How Nearby States Have Moved
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed the BEAM Act in May 2025, requiring drivers whose licenses were suspended for reckless driving or excessive speeding to install GPS-based speed-limiting devices before regaining driving privileges, according to KOMO News. That law followed a 2024 high-speed crash near Renton that killed a mother and three children. Virginia's HB 2096, which took effect in July 2026, authorizes state courts to order drivers convicted of reckless driving or driving over 100 mph to install active speed-limiting technology as a condition of probation or as an alternative to license suspension, according to LifeSafer ISA. Washington, D.C. has also enacted a program requiring active speed-limiting devices for drivers facing speeding-related suspensions, backed by indefinite license revocation and vehicle registration suspension for those who don't comply.
The push toward device-based enforcement traces back further. In November 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board formally recommended that federal regulators require intelligent speed assistance as standard equipment in all new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S., following an investigation into a 2022 multi-vehicle crash in North Las Vegas that killed nine people, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The European Union began requiring the technology in all newly registered vehicles across member states in July 2024, according to Forbes.
Evidence the Technology Works
Zachary Lauritzen noted that private and public fleets are already working on adopting the technology, per the Statesman Journal. That mirrors findings from a multi-year study of 500 New York City municipal fleet vehicles equipped with active intelligent speed assist systems, which found a 64% reduction in time spent driving more than 11 mph over posted limits and an 82% reduction in speeding on high-speed corridors, according to the European Transport Safety Council. Hoodline previously reported on New York's 7,500-vehicle rollout of similar technology.
Nationally, speeding was a contributing factor in 29% of all U.S. traffic fatalities in 2023, resulting in 11,775 deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In Oregon specifically, state traffic fatalities declined from 587 in 2023 to 539 in 2024 and further to 487 in initial 2025 data, though serious injury crashes on local arterial roads remained elevated, according to Oregon Department of Transportation figures. Portland recorded 39 deadly traffic crashes in 2025, a 38% decline from the 2023 peak of 69 deaths, though excessive speeding remained a factor in nearly half of recent fatal collisions, per the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
Portland has already leaned on fixed speed cameras as one enforcement tool, with PBOT reporting a 59% drop in overall speeding and an 88% drop in top-end speeding over 10 mph at original camera installation sites since 2016. Hoodline reported in June that Portland's camera program issued 69,000 citations as its expansion continued. Similar device-mandate proposals have also gained traction elsewhere, including New York's push to target drivers who rack up high camera ticket totals, covered in Hoodline's report on an Upper East Side mother's crosswalk crash, and a comparable effort detailed in Hoodline's coverage of a Raleigh super speeder crackdown in North Carolina.
