HB1686

Mr. Chairman, Committee Members, thank you for your attention today. My name is Jeff Rogers, I live in Manchester. I almost died in a crash in 2015. My injuries (fractures to skull, ribs, and pelvis) were indicative of a high-speed impact, but no vehicle remained on the scene. I was hospitalized for six weeks and out of work for six months. Today I'm on the board of the Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire (BWANH). Our mission is to make New Hampshire a safer place for people on foot, people on bikes, and other vulnerable road users. BWANH supports the subject bill, which would enable the Department of Safety to provide certain dangerous drivers – “super speeders” – with the option of installing intelligent speed assistance (ISA) devices to limit their vehicles’ speed as an alternative to license suspension. We support the bill in general, but believe it could be improved by further study. We would like to see the bill receive such adjustments before moving forward. A very similar senate bill, SB 618, that is also undergoing interim study. We believe both bills can emerge improved. In particular, this bill explicitly addresses speeds over 100 mph, but many less outrageous speeding offenses are still extremely dangerous and should be addressed. For example, speeding through a family neighborhood could be deadly at speeds far below 100 mph. New Hampshire, along with the rest of the United States, has been experiencing an epidemic of traffic deaths, and excessive speed is a major factor contributing to this crisis. The trend is worsening; New Hampshire experienced a 230% increase in speeding over 100 mph between 2018 and 2024, and traffic deaths in New Hampshire increased by 47% between 2019 and 2022. Speeding contributes to more than one-third of severe crashes in the U.S., and current enforcement tools are not stopping the most dangerous drivers: 75% of individuals with suspended licenses continue to drive! Giving those drivers the option of using an ISA device so that they can legally drive to work and go about their lives without unduly endangering the public would be more effective in addressing their speeding behavior than the current approach of suspending their licenses. This bill, along with Senate Bill 618, would provide the Department of Safety with another tool to protect the public from the most egregious speeders. It would only apply to drivers convicted of excessive speeding, racing, reckless driving where speed was a factor, or those exceeding a department-defined annual speeding ticket threshold. ISA is a proven technology; it has been used in commercial fleets for over 30 years. Using the technology for super speeders is analogous to the use of Ignition Interlock Devices for drivers convicted of certain DWI offenses. Several states have already adopted legislation similar to the subject bill. BWANH urges the Transportation Committee to stem the rising tide of speed-related traffic deaths by submitting this bill for the study we described above, rendering it then suitable for an Ought-To-Pass vote. Thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding this important safety measure.

I understand and agree with the sentiment behind this bill, however I believe it to be unfair as we can never prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a person is guilty. This has the potential to cause innocent people to lose their lives.