LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — In response to a high-speed crash in North Las Vegas that killed nine people last year, federal regulators are calling for increased regulations aimed at preventing speeding on roads across the country.
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed the findings of its investigation into the crash.
The crash on Jan. 29, 2022 at the intersection of Cheyenne Avenue and Commerce Street happened when a driver traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour ran a red light and crashed into multiple other vehicles.
The collision resulted in the deaths of seven members of the same family, along with the driver and his passenger. An autopsy would later find cocaine, alcohol and PCP in the blood contents of the deceased driver, since identified as 59-year-old Gary Dean Robinson.
In its final report, the agency determined the crash "was caused by excessive speed, drug-impaired driving and Nevada's failure to deter the driver's speeding recidivism due to systemic deficiencies, despite numerous speeding citations."
"This crash is the latest in a long line of tragedies we've investigated where speeding and impairment led to catastrophe, but it doesn't have to be this way," NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said. "We know the key to saving lives is redundancy, which can protect all of us from human error that occurs on our roads. What we lack is the collective will to act on NTSB safety recommendations."
In 2021, speeding contributed to about one-third of all traffic fatalities in the U.S., according to the NTSB. The board argues a comprehensive strategy is needed to systematically reduce speeding-related crashes on our roads.
Officials with the NTSB said their investigation into this crash prompted eight new and one reiterated recommendation to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one new recommendation to states and one new recommendation to vehicle manufacturers.
The agency outlined those recommendations as follows:
To NHTSA:
- Require intelligent speed assistance systems that, at a minimum, warn a driver a vehicle is speeding.
- Educate the public about the benefits of intelligent speed assistance technology.
- Update the guidelines for state highway safety programs to include identification and tracking of repeat speeding offenders.
- Develop countermeasures to reduce repeat speeding offenses.
- Conduct research and develop guidelines to assist states in implementing intelligent speed assistance interlock programs for repeat speeding offenders.
- Incentivize the adoption of intelligent speed assistance technology through, for example, the New Car Assessment Program. This recommendation is reiterated from a 2017 recommendation.
To 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia:
- Implement programs to identify repeat speeding offenders and measurably reduce speeding recidivism.
To 17 car manufacturers:
- Install intelligent speed assistance technology in all new passenger vehicles that, at a minimum, warns drivers when a vehicle is speeding.
To the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety:
- Evaluate the safety outcomes of marketing by auto manufacturers that emphasizes risky behavior, including speeding. The evaluation should compare vehicles based on engine size, power and performance and international approaches to marketing. Make the report publicly available.
What is intelligent speed assistance technology?
You may have heard this referred to as speed limiters or speed interlock devices.
The NTSB defines it as technology that uses a car's GPS location compared with a database of posted speed limits to warn a driver when their vehicle exceeds the posted speed limit.
Passive versions of the technology simply warn a driver when they're speeding, and the driver is responsible for slowing down.
Active ISA technology, on the other hand, can include mechanisms that make it "difficult, but not impossible," to increase the speed of a vehicle above the posted speed limit, the NTSB states.
Some versions of active ISA technology can also electronically limit the speed of vehicles to fully prevent drivers from exceeding the speed limit. The NTSB recommends the use of that technology for drivers with a demonstrated history of excessive speeding and speeding recidivism.
